Hands up for Mad Scientist Rock? Yes please!

On paper, it’s a crazy idea – a history of life on Earth in 55 minutes of exuberant pop music, interspersed with amusing but fact-packed narration, tracing evolution from the first “hellish months” of our planet through to our precarious present…and beyond.

A mad idea indeed – but one most splendidly accomplished.

Steve Morricone’s warm burr guides us through the entire span of evolution like the voice of the favourite biology teacher you wish you’d had, segueing this series of joyous, blistering pop gems. I never thought I’d be dancing round the room to a eulogy on the development of the spinal column, but here I am: “Come on baby, shake your backbone!”

Every song is an inventive, energised celebration of existence, from the joys of the “rudimentary gill” to the marvel of the “prehensile tale”. Trust me, only the chronically un-evolved could fail to love it.

And if this wasn’t enough, the whole thing is beautifully packaged with a gorgeous 14 page booklet containing all the lyrics and narrative.

Mad, exciting, educational (!), and awesome.

Without doubt, the concept album of the millennium so far.

(Amoeba to Zebra released May 25th. www.wrathrecords.co.uk )

http://www.myspace.com/being747

By Eric on May 29, 2010