WORLD THROUGH MY EYES

WTME is a five star if you enjoy a mix of Peter Gabriel' UP, Genesis' Calling All Stations and Selling England By The Pound and obviously Pink Floyd. It is scary how good these guys have become. They have really stretched out on this CD which features a range of spiritual overtones against a backdrop of middle eastern influences and Genesis / Floyd like soundscapes. The opening song Sleep, opens with a dreamy Indian flavored tune that builds to a floating middle section of vocals that brings you to a airy plateau. Start The Fire begings with strong rhythms and moves into a powerful interplay of instruments, which evolves into a short, excellent keyboard riff featuring organ. Everything Was Not Enough is a lovely tune of reflection with beautiful piano and vocals that are gradually joined by bass and guitar, and finally drums and synths. The next song, Roses, provides one of several surprises on the disc with Ray Wilson of Genesis providing the vocals. This song helps us realize just how under appreciated Genesis' last recording, Calling All Stations was. RPWL does an outstanding job of providing a soundstage similar to Banks and Rutherford and it proves that Tony and Michael gave up to quickly on the last version of Genesis. But hey, this is RPWL and the next tune, 3 Lights, is absolutely stunning, opening with Wallner's guitar and Lang's vocals it slowly builds into an emotional powerhouse of atmospheric guitar and keyboards. For the next tune they go deep into the bag and pull out an old gem written by Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy entilled Sea-Nature, which appeared on Hillage' 1978 release Green which was produced by none other then Pink Floyd' Nick Mason. They give this tune a wonderful treatment with excellent guitar and bass riffs and techno keys. Day On My Pillow provides dreamy, soulful keys and guitar with lyrics that I discribe as Lennon like. World Through My Eyes has the kitchen sink in it. I swear I am listening to Gabriel' Up with an Indian influence and even a small dash of Fripp for a moment. The song is fantastic. Wasted Land paints a picture of Futility in a strange sort of way humans live their lives these days. To bring the Standard version of the CD to a close, we have yet another twist of spiritual insight from Bound To Reach The End. I wish this disc would never end. The best that RPWL has yet to bring us and I can't wait to see what they come up with next. Not a weak song on the album and if you are an proghead that dreams of the old days with Banks and Hackett sailing you off to another place, RPWL does it in their own special way.This is an essential disc not matched by anything I have heard lately.