STOCK

Like TTKTS, it wears it's influences on it's sleeve. Only one drawback. A questionable hidden track at the end of a classic piece. One and half minutes of silence and then a lame bossa nova version of the same song. They could have left it off, but... It's still a great CD. Bonus DVD will only play in your PC.

RPWL.. after the initial names of the involved musicians...and if i ever heard a band that sounded like FLOYD,this is the one. These German guys really has the sound and the stuff to make it. Some say that they sound just like Pink floyd...and they DO !! Only they have their own agenda.....first track on this wonderful album is :"Opel" which..i suspect is that same track written by one Syd Barret (Pink Floyd´s first...and foremost singer??) and it is he,who created the cover to this album...no..no its a fact!!!!!! Back to the music... i think this album is a very very good album.....filled to the brim with good music and all of it derivative of the aforementined FLOYD. Nevermind...as this is f..... good. I have never ...and i do mean NEVER heard anything like it !!! If you´re sitting out there...reading this....and you miss....Floydían kinda music... well wait nomore...this is the...ahem...real thing (when you cant get Floyd)...you wont believe your ears...promise !!! The vocals..the guitar licks...the soloing....the superb musiciansship.....ah.....im totally amazed!! And so will you be..when you purchase this absolutely fabulous album!! No ..no... dont talk to me...im listening!!!!!!!!!!

To my point of view, the best album of RPWL. Rather than limiting themselves to the post- Waters era Pink Floyd influences, they now revisit the whole of it, including the psychedelic years. This album is thus much more enjoyable as being more varied in styles while retaining homogeneity. A must for any Pink floyd style music amateur !

This is the first RPWL album I purchased. I now have two others as well. This is a collection of unreleased material, but the individual songs fit together nicely. The opener, 'Opel', is a Syd Barrett song, and very well performed here, in the style of early Floyd, right down to the psychedelic keyboard solo in the middle. 'The Way It Is' is mellower, and in the vein of a Dave Gilmour song. It is, nonetheless, a good song in its own right. The next two tracks are short affairs, and lead finally into 'The Gentle Art Of Swimming', another very Floydy offering, again, well written. 'Who Do You Think You Are' is a little different and less Floyd inspired. A lighter song, it is still a decent effort and, in fact, could be compared to Roger Waters' excellent 'San Tropez' on Meddle. 'Going Outside' is another short piece which really is simply a lead into 'Sun In The Sky'. This is not very Floydy at all! It puts me in mind of something, but I can't recall what. Maybe the female vocals remind me of some tracks on 'Love' by The Cult. 'Forgive Me pts 2 & 3' which end the album, are gentle and peaceful, shortish songs to end the cd, not stunning but very listenable. All in all this is a good album. The musicianship is impressive in the way that the band steadfastly refuses to put in too many solos or 'fiddly bits'. I admire them for that. Yogi Lang, who sings in English, has very little accent and does have a Gilmourish voice at times, though not all the time. This album is quite old fashioned in parts, even coming in at less that 45 mins. Not many do that these days. (Remember how frustrating it was to try taping an album that always had one track that had to be put on the other side of the tape?) Not their best album, but worth a listen. I like this band. 'Trying To Kiss The Sun' and 'World Through My Eyes' are better, though, so, if you like this, you will love them!

Despite this being a 21st century release, Stock has a very dated feel to it. From what I've read the band started out as a sort of Pink Floyd tribute/clone, and their music reflects this. Vocalist Jurgen Lang could certainly pass for Dave Gilmour in the studio without too much trouble. Guitarist Karlheinz Wallner also shows some of the same mannerisms as Gilmour with his slow whining guitar chords and lengthy moody passages, but frankly there are so many guitarists around today that cut their teeth on Pink Floyd records that I don't see this as copying as much as it is a tribute to the broad influence Gilmour has had on several generations of musicians.

This album isn't as heavily derivative of Pink Floyd as the first two. "Opel" would have fit in just fine on albums like Ummagumma, Atom heart Mother, or probably anything leading up to Dark Side of the Moon.

But most of the rest of the album shows some signs of growth by the band. "The Way It Is" has some interesting keyboard passages from Andreas Wernthaler that don't really sound like anything Floyd ever did, and Phil Paul Rissettio's drum work is certainly more prominent than Nick Mason normally was. You can't help but think of Pink Floyd when listening to these guys simply because of Lang's voice, but this is a bit more aggressive a tune than most Floyd stuff. The abrupt ending is a little annoying though.

"Perpetual Response" actually sounds like it is the missing ending for "The Way It Is", and part one of "Forgive Me" must have been an attempt to be clever, but it really should have just been included with the other two parts at the end since it adds no value here.

"Gentle Art of Swimming" has a nice rhythm and an almost hypnotic guitar/keyboard one-two punch that evokes early Roxy Music a little bit, and takes on an almost distorted disco feel at times. This is probably the strongest track on the album in my mind.

The organ-like keyboards on "Who Do You Think You Are" and Lang's more subdued and inflected vocals actually brought to mind Klaatu a little, especially with the backing vocals that aren't heard much anywhere else on the album. This one is much heavy on keyboards than the rest of the album. This general mood continues on "Sun in the Sky", although here the guitar and bass are the more prominent instruments, but overall this feels a bit undeveloped and borders on simply filler.

"Forgive Me - Part 2" is a morbid little ditty lamenting a failing relationship. These kinds of songs usually bore me, and this one is no exception. A bit too self-indulgent and really - who cares besides you and the girl? More of the same on part three, except here there are some decent guitar licks, once again in the vein of Gilmour, although more like his later work with a bit more animation and less interminably extended instrumentation.

There's nothing particularly wrong with this album I suppose, although nothing about it really stands out either. I would have preferred to find it on a cutout discount bin instead of paying full price, since it really is largely forgettable and I doubt I'll ever play it again. It almost rises to the level of good, but not quite. This is yet another case where half-stars would probably be warranted and this would get 2.5, but since that's not the scale, I'll settle for two.

peace

I picked up a few CDs by this band based on one song from MP3.com many years back. It was a real chance to take, but I'm happy I did. The reality is that I still don't know much about the band, but I find the music pretty good. Very assessable to most people as well, I should say.

The first cut, Opel, has moments reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, and also, The Who's "I Can See for Miles." It is a nice trip into psychedelia. It would fit nicely into the late 60's era.

A Rhodes piano, I believe, provides a nice background texture for the floating feel of "The Way It Is". A mellow tune relaxes the senses then transfigures into a synth led slow shuffle which throws some 4/4 between the 3/4 patterns. There's that element of Prog I love. Messing with time sigs.

"Perceptual Response" and "Forgive Me Part 1" both provide a familiar between event interlude. These are nice, but nothing more than musical emotions not to far elaborated upon.

And then breaks in "Gentle Art of Swimming". This is the longest tune on the album highlighted by a drum jam at the near end. The guitar solo, following sounds familiar to something David Gilmore would play. I suspect strong influence.

Here comes a organ effect ala "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", but then the song, "Who Do You Think You Are", turns into a bouncy piece I could imagine Gabriel performing during the Foxtrot Genesis years. Unfortunately, the singer croons it fairly mundanely. Too bad. It would have made this song a special treat, but alas, it remains simply good.

After the short blurb used for effect, "Sun in the Sky" gives us a good sample of the band's vocal harmonies sandwiched by bending, to the point of being out of tune, notes. I like it. It adds a different flavor to what we have heard to this point.

"Forgive Me Part 2" and "Part 3" leave the album sleepily, which impacts the rating. Being that most of what was recorded to this point was a bit low key, I had hoped for something more uplifting.

There is a hidden final track, within the last track, which sounds like the band goofing on a Latin beat. It should bring a smile.

I'd like to rate it 3.5/5

When people compare this band to Pink Floyd, what they really mean is Momentary/Division Bell era Pink Floyd. There is nothing here that is remotely close in quality to classic 70s Floyd. This is kind of a free-for-all collection of unreleased material thrown together to make an album.

The songs are well played but mostly unmemorable. "Stock" is the right title for this because you get fairly stock sounding "art rock" tracks with Gilmour-ish sounding vocals and licks, plus the contrived "Floyd" sound effects added ever so nicely here and there and then given appropriate trippy titles like "Gentle Art of Swimming" to make you believe you're in for something heavy (you aren't!)

"The Way It Is" is a very nice happy song with a pretty chorus that no doubt has couples swaying back and forth at their gigs. "Gentle Art of Swimming" would seem to be the most ambitious piece here but I found it to be pretty mediocre with repetitive pacing, guitar effects, and vocals. There is a nice "ode to Dave" guitar solo for the last 90 seconds that doesn't quite make up for the previous 9 minutes. The best track is a 3 part song called "Forgive Me" (parts 1-3). Largely instrumental, though with some nicely emotional vocals, it is the one that goes for the jugular at least a little. Part 1 starts with nice acoustic over some warm keyboards which are ruined by a segue into pointless crowd noise. Part 2 starts very nice again and goes into the vocal part followed by a mellow ambient end that works well. Part 3 begins with drums and mid-paced vocals leading into a nice solo and then a second verse. Then it gets interesting..finally!! After a couple minutes of dead air, they come back in with this odd "San Tropez" like number that closes the record and makes you wish the previous 40 minutes had been so charmingly different.

It's too band that a band like this who gets a chance to release a nice 2 disc cd/dvd digipak isn't able to pull off something more challenging, rather than something so safe, so predictable. Think of how many other bands would kill for the chance to so something like this with both audio and video but never get the chance.

There are two other notables in the digipak version I have. One, you get a bonus second disc with the same album in 5.1 Surround DVD and a video history. Second, there is a nicely done cover of Syd's classic "Opel" which is a classy choice for a cover song. But all things considered, "Stock" is for fans of this group and David Gilmour only.

I got a nice dual digipak of STOCK just after I purchased "World Trough My Eyes". The dual digipak holds the normal Audio CD plus a bonus DVD with a nice 5.1 audio mix on it. When having heard WTME first, one cannot miss the fact that STOCK is an inferior album. Not really a surprise, since STOCK was released in 2003 and WTME in 2005. In those two years the band definitely grew and got a better, more mature sound.

When listening to RPWL it is no surprise that they started out as a Pink Floyd cover band. Nice Floydian guitar play accompanied by psychedelic vocals. Speaking about the vocals, that's exactly one minor point of RPWL. Yogi Lang's vocals are pretty good, but unfortunately he does not know how to hide his German accent when singing.

I personally think SYLVAN in Germany's best progressive rock band, NOT RPWL. Also Marco Glümann's vocals are much better than Yogi Lang's. Therefore I will rate this album 3 stars maximum.

For what I understand about RPWL, "Stock" is the best album they have ever produced so far. My experience with their album which its title I hate - and I think all people who believe in God would agree with me - "God Has Failed" (how can God has ever failed? Give me a break!) was terrible. That album has "failed" to present good music so that I would not be able to give enough appreciation to the band. No, it's not because of I disagreed with the title, in fact if the title was changed while the music intact I would say the same. "World Through My Eyes" and "Trying To Kiss The Sun" are good albums, but "Stock" is better. Yes, the music is mostly influenced by Pink Floyd but it still differs in some ways another. You might think this band is somewhat similar with Porcupine Tree as well because the main influence is the same.

How does this album differ from Pink Floyd?

Well, I have to be careful on examining the kind of music this album offers as I made clearly that the music of RPWL is heavily influenced by Pink Floyd. Which Pink Floyd? For sure there is basically no such thing in this album that is influenced by Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon" or even "Animal". The main influence that the band has absorbed is more on the psychedelic nature of Pink Floyd music. The first two opening track, for example, are purely psychedelic music and there is nothing that you can draw the lines to map against any segment in "Dark Side of The Moon" or "Animals". As I said in my previous reviews about RPWL, the influence is more from Pink Floyd's "Obscured by Clouds" or the like, or in some way also from "Division Bell" or "A Momentary Lapse of Reason". There are nuances throughout this album which are built around "On A Turning Away" song of Pink Floyd "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" or "High Hopes" of "The Division Bell". However, the first two tracks are excellent tracks that I think you would enjoy them regardless you like rock music or not. Both are accessible. The first track "Opel" relies more on soundscape created through a rhythm section dominated by acoustic guitar and keyboard. The second track "The Way It Is" is similar but this time with short electric guitar solo in Gilmourian style plus "nice" keyboard solo. The keyboard solo like this I have never experienced that Rick Wright of Pink Floyd has ever done in any Pink Floyd album.

Have you ever heard any Pink Floyd song which contains an exploration of drum set by Nick Mason? Well, despite the fact that I think Nick is just a "mediocre" drummer with nothing special that I can differentiate with other drummers in prog or rock music, there has been no such thing that explores drum except those under "Pulse" live version. In fact during Mike Portnoy (Dream Theter's drummer) interview just before Dream Theater played "Dark Side of The Moon" he said that he was getting bored playing drumwork for "Us and Them". That's given a clear picture that there is no such thing in Pink Floyd music which explores drum work. Track 5 of this album "Gentle Art of Swimming" is the best track that I love and it contains excellent exploration of keyboards, sound effects, stunning guitar solo (of course it's Gilmourian!) and wonderful drum exploration (solo) at the ending part of the song. It's really a great track.

How does it differ from Porcupine Tree?

Both bands are heavily influenced by Pink Floyd but Porcupine Tree music varies across albums they release even though the main influence of Pink Floyd is still everywhere in any of their release. Porcupine Tree's music is more dynamic than RPWL while the latter focuses more on building their composition along the ambient nuance and psychedelic elements of Pink Floyd's music. RPWL is more consistent on this approach because in any of their album, 80% demonstrate the facts that they are more focusing on psychedelic and ambient nature. Porcupine Tree's music is much diverse even though the soundscape is still their main focus. Take the extreme poles between "In Absentia" and "Stupid Dream" where the former is much heavier (with some metal elements) than the latter. "Stupid Dream" is in a way similar with any RPWL music - that's to say in general, even though there are differences in musical subtleties. RPWL is similar with Porcupine Tree in its psychedelic approach but both are different in their approach on soundscape.

Conclusion

"Stock" by RPWL confirms its standing as a very addition to any prog music collection. The strengths of the album lie on its accessible composition combining ambient and psychedelic styles and musical nuances. This album may favor those who love the psychedelic parts of Pink Floyd or those who love Porcupine Tree "Stupid Dream" or "Deadwing". I recommend you to own this album. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

This third "RPWL" album which is a compilation of unreleased material, opens on an excellent cover song.

"Opel" is a Syd Barrett one featured on "Crazy Diamond" which is an extensive compilation with most (if not all) of his work. While the original was a pastoral and acoustic ballad; this version is truely fantastic. Totally psychedelic, it reminds me of "Let There Be More Light" from "ASOS". A highlight and a great tribute to Syd (RIP).

The band has never hidden their admiration for this great band ("Floyd"). Throughout their career they will play a lot of Floydian songs. But generally, they will be more inspired with their later period. The Gilmour days. Just like in "The Way it Is". A very good song as well.

With "Sun in the Sky", RPWL shifts towards their second source of inspiration. "Porcupine Tree" of course. Same ambient mood, slow but strong (even heavy backing band). To set the score to parity, "Gentle Art of Swimming" is also a good "PT" influenced song. Fully atmospheric and spacey. Some "PT" fans might say that it is a bit too much of a rip-off which I can understand. But it is so well done! I just like it. This long number (also Gilmour-esque during the guitar solo) is another highlight.

In terms of highlights, "Floyd" and "PT" are drawing : 1 - 1.

"Who Do You Think You Are" holds a bit of the "Beatles" as well as from the very early "Floyd". A naive and childish little song. The weakest so far.

Would you believe that the three mini-suite parts "Forgive Me" is a full "RPWL" song? Although there are no true link between the parts. It is more three different short songs actually of which only "Part 3" is interesting. Just over three minutes of a tranquil ballad wih a great guitar section. The "hidden" track being incredibly poor.

Bearing in mind that the songs from this album were unreleased songs (leftovers ?), it is remarkable that they are so good. They could have been released on offical albums without problems. Three stars.

The comparisson of "Stock" to Pink Floyd is, I think, contrived and somewhat lazy... just like most everything in this album. There is little here to distinguish it even amongst bands like it-- let alone a giant like Floyd.

As a collection of previously unleased material, "Stock" feels appropriately like a bunch of B-Sides, dusted off the shelf and given enough polish to stand on their own without being a total embarassment. There are a few lush arrangements and emotive moments, scattered between lots of airy filler which feels well-intentioned, but just can't muster the energy to be very engaging. RPWL is still struggling to find their sound here, and it shows; with few exceptions there isn't anything here on par with "Trying to Kiss the Sun", and even less so than the excellent "World Through My Eyes".

One for fans only.

Songwriting: 2 Instrumental Performances: 2 Lyrics/Vocals: 2 Style/Emotion/Replay: 2

And with what to start if now "damned-by-all" best of (but it's unreleased material and there should be some kind of difference - nobody wants best ofs, because they just collects material from studio albums, but unreleased is far more interesting) from band that seems to be recommended by everyone, yet having their ratings around 3-4 (so not 4-5). Also, this can serve as my first review in 2010. I planned to write this before midnight, but well, I fell asleep. And this album is very interesting. I know just this one, so I can't compare (and this makes reviewing unique, I'm not obliged to know everything, but it helps) with their studio albums, but I know one thing for sure. This is not bad album and remember, it's my starter. Unreleased material as starter, but it end up pretty well, as I like these songs. Now I can hear this reason that made them unreleased. I wouldn't call it neo-prog, as it's mostly calm music with a lot of acoustic parts (I call it "no-wild-zone"). With pleasant vocals (something I sometimes fail to hear with German bands, you know why).

4(-), but after all, this is a good album. Looking forward to their studio albums

A nice CD/DVD combo!

RPWL has been one of the most recognized Neo Prog bands in the last decade, they are also known (I have to say it) because they were a Pink Floyd cover band, and in some of their songs you can see that reference, (only some songs) they are actually an original and interesting band.

In 2003 they released a kind of compilation album, but not about "The Best Of", no, but about some unreleased material I believe was left out on their first two albums, which is actually something interesting, in fact it could be a brand new studio album.

"Stock", as they named it, features 10 songs (and a hidden track) and a total time of 43 minutes. It kicks off with a Pink Floyd Barrett-era cover, "Opel", I think in some way they wanted to make a tribute to the band that inspires them the most and it is a very nice cover. "The Way it is" is a nice track with that Neo prog feeling all over it, the final part on this song is especially good with excellent use of keyboards and an intrepid guitar solo, the vocals are gentle and the mood quite relaxing when vocals appear. Then, when you think you are listening to the song's dreamy end, you will realize that it is actually a new short piece called "Perceptual Response" which lasts only a minute and a half. And later the same thing happens, because all of a sudden a new short track is playing "Forgive me Pt. 1", almost the same length as the previous song and the same dreamy mood.

But then something more interesting appears with "The Gentle Art of Swimming", a ten- minute song with some kind of dark atmosphere created by keyboards, nice structure and good use of instruments, the instrumental passages are very atmospheric and interesting. This is probably the best song here.

"Who Do You Think You Are", another short song with an introduction that reminds me to some Flower Kings tunes, and then the song turns into a friendly track, but not really that interesting. "Going Outside" it is an unnecessary interlude that leads to "Sun in the Sky" which is a very catchy song whose chorus you would like to repeat.

Next two songs are the second and third part of "Forgive Me", actually I believe that could have been a one part song because dividing it in three short parts make them pass unnoticed. Some instrumental moments that are not that interesting, and the parts with vocals may be a little bit more interesting, but to be honest it lacks of creativity and punch, I mean, when I listen to it I don't feel as enthusiastic as I would have liked. There is also a hidden track, which is like a bossa nova song, not bad but forgettable.

This album is nice, not their best at all because it actually contains some short and not successful songs, but it also features one excellent song, so it is not that bad as some people have mentioned. Also, I must say that the digipack version with CD and DVD is very interesting, you can appreciate the same songs but in video. Anyway, if you like the band you may enjoy it, if you are new to the band, then first I recommend you to listen to any of their studio albums.

My final grade is 3 stars (2.75 actually)

Enjoy it!

RPWL / Stock (2003)

This was the first RPWL album I've listened. It captured my attention with its catchy melodic textures, the fine guitar solos and the strong winks to Pink Floyd. 'The way it is' is a beautiful song. You can also appreciated psychedelic years ingredients in songs like Opel, that reminds to Astronomy Domine. RPWL shows its potential and begin to build a style that, while clearly inspired by Pink Floyd, acquires its own colors. It's very well played and emotionally powerful music, and, therefore, it's an album that will appeal to Floydians like me. A maybe underrated album that deserves more attention.

Four stars.