3 Lights (RPWL, 2005)

RPWL are currently one of the most creative bands in Germany, and this track shows how much - and how wll - they can mix different inspirations in order to set up a coherent and well structured track. The first part of "3Lights", taken from the album "World through My Eyes", has a strong Genesis influence, something like Ant Phillips era. It's n acoustic ballad, featuring a good melody and airy, gentle sounds.

This album also includes the single "Roses", sung by Ray Wilson.

Then something changes and we move towards a slow tempo instrumental, based on an almost folk mood, but getting soon a modern and electronic background, until the Floydian electric guitar comes in and a dreamy solo opens the soundscape and draws a brighter atmosphere. The finale is made of sound effects, a psychedelic way to link this song to the following one. As you can see, there are many faces to this "3 Lights", but not even a second in it is dull or useless and everything seems to happen in the very moment we need it. Good guys...

We Are What We Are (RPWL, 2012)

With such a title, one couldn't decide whether RPWL are assuming or modest, but their "Beyond Man And Time" CD is so beautiful an album (search in this blog for more) that I'm ready to accept both solutions. This song, in particular, is a brilliant example of  what I'd call a modern progressive rock style, with its pulsing rythms à la Peter Gabriel and the splendid guitar work gracing the long instrumental section.

Maybe their best album to date...

The melody is catchy and original - not a very common combination, I daresay - and the whole band act as one, with the precise gear of a Swiss clock, even if those guys are German! Another very good omen: this is a rather long track (more than 9 minutes), but apparently you reach its end in the blink of an eye. It suggests the cheering consideration that prog rock is always ready to absorb the music buzzing around and nonetheless to keep on its old, recognizable way. Good luck, RPWL!

Hole in The Sky (RPWL, 2000)

A  splendid trance prog track, with strong Floydian influences (and after all RPWL were a Pink Floyd cover band) and a lot of beautiful atmosphere. But there's more than this: the slow sung ballad, well performed by Yogi Lang - has an effective melody and the three parts of the song form a coherent and never tiring set. Those sections are separated in two different sections along the band's first CD "God Has Failed": the first two parts - alled "Fly" and "Crawl to You" - open the album, while part 3 - "The Promise" - stands alone as the ninth track of the record.

The album cover by Stefan Wittmann with photos by Birgit Bittermann.

The insrumental section ("Crawl to You") features a stunning Gilmour-esque electric guitar solo, but with a warmer feeling and a fully melodic touch, getting even more heartbreaking in the last section. Later in their career, RPWL will find a more original sound - you'll read something about this elsewhere in this blog - but the old dreaming and pleasant style will never bore me.

The Fisherman (RPWL, 2012)

I better like to wait some time after a new release to definitely decide a song is worth of a presentation in my blog. This case is differente, because I immediatly liked all the album "Beyond Man And Time" by the German band RPWL and especially this delicious 16 minute track. It'a rather short suite in three movements, being the first and the third the same song and theme and the second a long and fascinating mostly instrumental down tempo. Never mind the Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree smell... it smells so good I don't care where this perfume is coming from.

Thank you for the music, RPWL.

Actually, this track has some magic inside, as I think you need it in order to mix some classical and genuine prog rock with a perfectly up to date electronic music without giving birth to a Frankenstein's creature. RPWL succeed in this task thanks to a suspended atmosphere and a very careful musical architecture. In both music and lyrics I feel an inner sea and its depths, a desperate search for love and self-consciousness. If this seems too much for a song, I'm happy to inform you that all this track is an example of measure and good taste. A miracle? Maybe.