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RPWL - World Through My Eyes CD (album) cover

WORLD THROUGH MY EYES

RPWL

 

Neo-Prog

3.70 | 258 ratings

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Gatot
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars "God Has Failed" (the band's first album) did not really get my attention, probably due to the reason I purchased the CD because of a sticker (written in a language that I don't understand) that said something about Pink Floyd. My expectations were of course that the music must be very close to Pink Floyd. Yes, there was some influence but it's different than Pink Floyd. I gave a chance to their previous album "Trying To Kiss The Sun". It's better but still it cannot bring me up where I can say "I like it". Well, prog is not a matter of like or dislike, I think. But sometimes, I need to view an album on that standpoint as well, despite other elements such as: complexity, changing tempo, structural integrity, etc.

In this "World Through My Eyes", the band's music is now even mature and maintaining the same vein with their previous album. Patience is probably the right word for enjoying this album. I have to wait until halfway through a particular track to get good musical segments. I keep pondering to myself why the band did not compose beautiful segment(s) right at the beginning of the track? For those of you who like an atmospheric / psychedelic style with barely minimum variations of high and low points, this album might suit your taste. Let me now review on a track by track basis.

"The Sleep" track opens with an eastern music nuance similar with what Kula Shaker and Deep Forest have done. What really struck my mind the first time I listened to this track was that its rhythm section - and part of its melody - reminded me to other musician's work. I tried to memorize who has composed similar rhythm before. A couple of days later, finally I got it and I played the song altogether with this track. It's a Def Leppard's song called "Truth?" from Slang album. It's not exactly the same - Def Leppard's one is more upbeat than RPWL's, but they both share similar rhythm. The style of guitar reminds me to David Gilmour's in "High Hopes" of the Division Bell album. There is keyboard sound during quiet passages that sound like "Carpet Crawlers" of Genesis' "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" album. Despite the fact that some musical passages / elements of this track have some similarities with other musicians' works, this is an enjoyable track.

"Start the Fire" is an atmospheric and happy mood track with soft guitar work and some eastern percussion work at some end of the bars. The organ work at the ending part of the track is really stunning combining the 70s sound with modern technology. But I have to wait 4 minutes before reaching this segment. In some passages at background I can hear a sort of clarinet sound that reminds me again of Kula Shaker.

"Everything Was Not Enough" is a mellow track that starts off with soft piano work that once misled me to the illusion of Kayak's Life of Gold intro. My illusion did not come true as when the vocal enters the music it's totally different melody. Acoustic guitar accentuates the piano to accompany voice line. It's a quite plain track, melody-wise. The enjoyment part of this track is probably on the sound produced and the Gilmour guitar style.

"Roses" has a happy mood and moderate tempo track. Ray Wilson on vocals offers a slightly different style. Melody-wise this track does not offer a wide variety of high and low points, the music flows continuously with some passages in quieter mood and slower tempo. Good guitar sound, softer than typical Pink Floyd songs.

The following track "Three Lights" opens with an acoustic guitar followed with vocal line in low / medium register note. The vocal quality reminds me of Gilmour's voice. This track brings me to full enjoyment when keyboard takes the lead in solo and followed with soft guitar solo while simple keyboard sound is played at background to provide the song's atmosphere. Wow! What an excellent segment! It brings this track to the end. The only problem I have is that I have to wait for approximately 5 minutes to reach this segment.

"Sea-Nature" is an excellent track that blew my mind at first listen! It starts off with a drum shot followed with punchy keyboard work in ambient style. If I observe only the keyboard part, it reminds me to the music nuance of Roger Daltrey's song "Under A Raging Moon" from album with the same title. The solo guitar and keyboard that intertwined one another in the middle of the track is really amazing. I notice a variety of nuances and tempo changes that conjure up into a wonderful composition. It's my favourite track. Superb!

"Day On My Pillow" is a moderate tempo track with a clear voice line and wonderful guitar effects and soundscapes. The music flows in a continuous stream with little variations in terms of melody and tonal voice line. The band demonstrates a well crafted combination of keyboard / organ and Floydian guitar sounds during the interlude part. This short interlude creates beautiful musical nuances.

"World Through My Eyes" starts off with a soundscape of female native chants in eastern music nuance followed with male voice. The harmony between vocal and eastern music is nice. Long sustained guitar sounds augment the opening part, followed by vocal and Indian percussion. The music then turns to disco type rhythm with sampling technique. This part is intertwined with vocals and turns quieter during transition. After halfway through the track, the keyboard sound enters in the vein of Pink Floyd signatures. I've seen frequent tempo changes performed in a smooth way. This is probably the best track of this album. It has a strong structure and excellent sound variations.

"Wasted Land" is a moderate tempo track in the vein of Radiohead / Muse that flows almost plainly with minimum high and low variations. Halfway through, this track does not attract me. But the interlude is good before it returns back to original rhythm.

"Bound To Reach The End" has an opening keyboard sound that seems to bring the music of Peter Gabriel's Here Comes The Flood. But when the voice line enters the music, it's totally a different melody. Sometimes this track is enjoyable but It's not something that I like all the time, it depends on mood, I guess.

In conclusion, this album has indicated the band's improvement from its previous album. If the band really pursue a musical direction similar to Pink Floyd, some catchy melodies should be added in their compositions. Having released some albums now, with similar vein, it's the band's decision to stay the music "as-is" in their future releases. Or, they might craft their music with much melodic compositions by still maintaining their existing style - to gain a wider audience.

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Gatot | 3/5 |

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