CD Review: Rockabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions of Journey

When boss lady Elke asked if I’d be interested in reviewing one of the CDs in the Rockabye Baby series, I agreed without hesitation. Having just turned 30, I’ve scads of friends who are contemplating baby making, and it’d be nice to give them something other than a rubber ducky.

I figured many of our readers are in a similar boat, and that it’d be the honorable thing to take the hit and listen to one of these things all the way through. It’s just my luck this had to be Journey instead of the Pixies.

The verdict? Surprisingly…it’s not bad. Granted, you know each and every song on Lullaby Renditions of Journey, but they’re rendered much more pleasant and tolerable when stripped of Steve Perry‘s vocal histrionics. Everything’s done on either percussion or keyboards, and those keyboards mimic xylophones, toy pianos, glockenspiels, and chimes with equal aplomb.

The whole album sounds like nothing so much as a slightly more high-tech music box. There are occasional frog croaks and cricket chirps laid in at the beginning and end of songs, making the whole package so soporific, I had difficulty making it through to the end without feeling the need to curl up.

It’s not special in any way, but if you’re looking for something that will chill your kiddo out, while not driving you batshit crazy (I’m looking at you, Raffi), you could certainly do worse. This is pretty much the “String Quartet Tribute to…” for the ankle-biting set.