Rico Blanco rocks and rules!
Re-introducing Rico Blanco -- rockstar, actor, a man with serious advocacies!
No, really, Mr. Blanco needs to be introduced once more. His current foray into heady, fire-breathing rock and roll shoves his stature back to among the select first five in modern Pinoy rock. If it's crunch time with 10 seconds to go, the ball goes either to Chief Sandwich Raimund Marasigan, or to Rico Blanco to make the shot that matters.
That's not to diminish the competition. At a time when 6 Cycle Mind has found its rocking heart, Callalily looks bent on pushing pedal to the metal and Bamboo out of the game, Rico Blanco unleashes a debut album that trumps all expectations as to how the other ex-Rivermaya showpiece would sound like.
Rico Blanco and Bamboo Mañalac co-founded Rivermaya in the mid-90s, riding the crest of Pinoy rock's last major kahuna in the wake of The Eraserheads' massive success. The creative partnership between the two musicians dissolved when Bamboo left the band and flew to the US to hone his skills in producing music. In 2004, Bamboo returned to the local rock wars with a group bearing his name, which would explode into the biggest band in the land, if not its most expensive rocking foursome.
Rico Blanco, on the other hand, made another run at restoring Rivermaya's glory days, only to bail out of the group in 2007. On his own once more, he dabbled in his other passions-- writing music for other people's albums, acting on stage and on film, and at one time, a rumored pursuit of The Megastar's eldest daughter, commercial model/actress KC Concepcion.
But the biggest coup of his renewed musical career remains his first solo album entitled "Your Universe." Released in 2008, the record rocks despite the absence of electric lead guitars to bring volume and distortion to bear on the proceedings. Instead, keyboards, violins, brisk drumming, and supple bass lines, even soulful horns, provide a festive backdrop to songs of love in a restive time. The only anomaly is the acoustic guitar accompaniment of an atypical serenade, "Para Hindi Ka Mawala."
The main touchstone appears to be mid-'80s new wave radio staking out the three-year stretch from the fall of synth pop to the rise of guitar-toting miscreants. Opening track, "Say Forever," finds a connection between The Cars and A Flock of Seagulls. The final cut uncharacteristically entitled "Metropolis," with a hushed lullaby for a fadeout loop, is swathed in electronic pulses and bleeps. They bookend a batch of slow and fast numbers, each of which radiates its own distinct attraction.
Three songs easily make their mark. "Yugto" deserves to be the song for any political season, with spiraling riffs and escalating beats leading to the album's most potent call: "Lumiyab ka!" The melodic build-up to a sing-along chorus happily breaks down to eyebrow-melting metal riffage.
"Outta This" plants one foot on out-there electronica without forsaking its quotient of pop hooks. In contrast, "Para Hindi Ka Mawala" animates istambay blues in plain acoustic guitar setting, a kind of three-minute improvisation straight off the fertile head of a musical magician on a playful mood.
In live performances, the trio of "Say Forever," "Yugto" and "Antukin" flare up to thundering, heaven-scaling magnificence. Rico Blanco, with heads-up backing from drummer Robert de la Cruz and bassist Ricci Gurango, turn these songs into powerful sing-along that are equally persuasive for solo dancing in place or for group slam-dancing. All hail to new anthems for changed times.
Songs from Blanco's two-year-old debut still crop up in play lists on the radio or MTV shows. The man himself has moved on to other occupations such as a major acting gig in Twilight-wannabe "Imortal" on ABS-CBN. He essays the role of a wolf in a love triangle with vixen Angel Locsin and vampire foe Lloyd Cruz.
Last month, Sesame Street Philippines partnered with Rico Blanco to launch Sesame Street Kid Ako, an advocacy campaign to attract schoolchildren to start learning at an early age. Rico is writing two new songs to soundtrack the campaign.
From new wave to children's songs, Rico Blanco is having the time of his musical life. The top of the pops always beckons. And right now, Mr. Blanco looks formidable and sounds unstoppable.
Tony Maghirang is a rock icon in his own right, being a respected music reviewer for several publications since the 1970s, including Jingle Magazine, Pulp, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
