WORLD THROUGH MY EYES

RPWL's WORLD THROUGH MY EYES is the first and only album I've ever heard from this German band, so I don't know much about their earlier recordings nor about their years as a Pink Floyd-cover band.

When I first listened to this record, the most obvious thing I was expecting was stron Pink Floyd influences, of course. I was waiting to hear psychedelic, spacey landscapes, I was expecting soaring, long-winded guitar solos a la Gilmour, and sarcastic, narcitic vocals like Waters'. All of these, I have to say, is nowhere to be found in this album, which is, at first, a good thing, as it clearly shows that this outfit has finally achieved a sound of their own, something that I have to recognize. Even though they have been included in the "Neo Prog" category, their music doesn't sound like most of the usual representatives of this genre (Marillion, IQ, Arena), and doesn't bear much resemblance with the main influence for all of those bands, Genesis.

Anyway, the music in this album DOES sound like some other Neo-Prog bands (or at least bands that have been listed here as Neo prog), and most of all, like a group like Kino. RPWL's music reminds me a lot of PICTURE, Kino's first (and only) album, a side- project by such Neo Prog greats as John Mitchell from Arena. Just like in that release (which I don't know if it came earlier or actually later than this album, so I can't say which band influenced whom, if it did happen), what we have here is "light" prog music, music with strong pop elements, not much in the way of long solos or complex structures (though we get a few of the former and a couple of the latter), and nice, "listener-friendly" harmonies and melodies that don't cry desperately for prog credentials. The band members are very capable from what can be heard, though none of them really surprised me.

As I said, the music in this sound is somewhat similar to that in Kino's album (or even to that in some songs in a much more recent release like Frost*'s MILLIONTOWN), but while Mitchell's record had a lot of catchy tunes and melodies and songs that stuck in your head, this German band's cd doesn't have a true fantastic song, or one that stays in your memory long enough. With music like this, where it's clear that the purpose isn't to write the most complex pieces ever, I guess more memorable tunes would be in order. That's not the case in this album, which has some good moments but nothing that really stands out. All in all, I'd say that the best tracks are, without a doubt, "Roses" (with a good vocal performance by guest singer Ray Wilson), "Three Lights" and the title track, these two the most prog of the lot, alongside "Sea-Nature", a song that didn't win me over.

An enjoyable record, if not overly exciting. Good for an easy-prog-listening.

Recommended for: fans of "light" neo prog a la Kino; fans of good rock music with some pop elements.

Not recommended for: people that need really complex progressive music; people in search of a hard-rock or metallic experience, and people thinking that this band sounds like PF...

...they may had, in the past. Now their sound is pretty much their own, if not incredibly interesting.