GOD HAS FAILED

I picked up this, the first release by RPWL a couple years after taking the advice of a friend and checking out World Thru My Eyes. It took awhile for the band to sink its hooks into me, but it has, dear friends in music. It really has.

This CD, I fear, is terribly maligned for no good reason I can fathom. I start it up, and from the opening notes of Hole in the Sky pt.1, I'm breathless. Sure, the guitar riffs smack of Pink Floyd. So do many of Steven Wilson's, but I don't see anyone slamming HIM for it. These guys made their living starting off as a Pink Floyd cover band, yes, but they have incorporated the best elements of the Floyd sound and blended it with a harmonic sensibility directly pointing to the Beatles, and have a few other influences as well, not least of which is Steve Hillage (they do cover his Sea Nature on World Thru My Eyes).

Besides both versions of Hole In the Sky, most notable tracks include In Your Dreams, Wait Five Years, and Crazy Lane. These songs soar and the vocals lean on heavy emoting to coat the songs in layers of shimmering bliss.

I still think that World Thru My Eyes is their most well-rounded release to date, but this one holds the keys to my heart, I think. Let's not get so crossed up in how their music classifies, or who they seem to mimic. It is music that is fresh, genuine, and heartfelt.

Don't have it, but love the band so far? Then get it!!!