Album Review: General Luna - Different Corners

By Jackie Dosmanos


Warner Music’s all-girl Pinoy rock outfit unleashed a debut with more hard rock quotient than their male counterparts outside of Tanduay’s annual concerts. Two years later, Gen. Luna’s sophomore release tones done the tensile strength in favor of an eclectic mix of pop-rockers.

The variety has its main advantage of scoping in 10 songs the band’s musicality, extending from the rock balladry of the first three tracks to the noisy bridge in the soft rocking “Arms.” The ladies even try to put a twist on the acoustic normalcy of “Nadama” concluding it weirdly with a nursery rhyme.

All the relative quietude places the lyrics on almost equal footing with the sonic palette. The sharp listener will hear sophomoric lines such as “Araw-araw na lang bang uulan/Eh, bakit pa araw ang tawag dyan?, or “If one day you find /The arms that hold you tender/Will you cradle my remains?” Excuse me, your boyfriend’s a zombie?

A remake of “Kiss From A Rose” could have been a chance to give it some jazz-rock-funk make-over. Instead, it sounds like a cut-and-paste rehash of the original hit by Seal. In their search for a new sound, Gen. Luna may have unwittingly painted themselves in a corner.