The Piano Guys say "It's Gonna Be Okay"

2016 has certainly been a rough year for world events and culture. In May 2016 my home country of the Philippines was surprised and shocked when Rodrigo Duterte (aka captain murderfest) was elected President of the Philippines. In July, Alfie's home country, the UK, was surprised and shocked when its citizens voted for Brexit. Then just a week ago, the USA was surprised and shocked when its citizens voted to elect Donald Trump as President of the United States. And don't even get me started on all the pop culture legends -- David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Gene Wilder, Muhammad Ali, Alan Rickman to name just a few -- passing on!

I doubt if The Piano Guys knew all that would happen when they first started collaborating on their latest album, Uncharted -- but its release on October 28 could not have come at a better time. It's as though they knew that we would need the healing touch of their music to uplift us and inspire us to keep going, even in a world gone topsy-turvy. They have a magical way of blending the classical sounds of cello and piano with contemporary hits to make beautiful music that every generation can relate to.

I can't get over how perfect the name of their album is, not just for the music itself but for the present time. The Piano Guys became famous with their videos, and three of the videos for this album were shot in literally "Uncharted" (at least for them) territory -- Scotland, Mexico, and Jordan. The music is "Uncharted" in the sense that they've combined so many different styles, from pop music icons Justin Timberlake, Adele, Coldplay to modern composers John Williams and Hans Zimmer to classical composers Mozart and Handel.

I've listed Uncharted's song list below. To be honest, I could listen to any of those songs again and again, because The Piano Guys are one of my favorite musical groups, but I have a special fondness for Pirates of the Caribbean, Fight Song/Amazing Grace, and the Jungle Book medley.

• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Can’t Stop The Feeling
• Indiana Jones and The Arabian Nights
• Okay
• Celloopa
• Holding On
• Tour de France
• Uncharted
• Fight Song/Amazing Grace
• Sky Full of Stars
• Hello/Lacrimosa
• Jungle Book/Sarabande

Finally, I can't publish this review without mentioning the tragedy that befell The Piano Guys just a few days before the release of Uncharted. Pianist Jon Schmidt's 20 year-old daughter Annie went missing, and after weeks of frantic searching, her remains were found at the bottom of a cliff. I can't even imagine what Jon and his family are going through. Every time I listen to Uncharted, I think of Annie and her dad and mom and the rest of the Piano Guys family. Somehow it makes the album even more meaningful. When I listen to "It's Gonna Be Okay" or "Amazing Grace", I imagine telling Jon and his family the same thing. I think a lot of people are listening to Uncharted and thinking the same thing.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Uncharted to facilitate my review The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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