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GOD HAS FAILED

RPWL

Neo-Prog


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RPWL God Has Failed album cover
3.36 | 171 ratings | 16 reviews | 15% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Studio Album, released in 2000

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Hole in the Sky (8:22) :
- Part 1: Fly
- Part 2: Crawl to You
2. Who Do You Think We Are (4:15)
3. Wait Five Years (3:00)
4. What I Need - Part 1: Leaving (1:56)
5. What I Need - Part 2 (5:19)
6. In Your Dreams (6:47)
7. It's Alright (5:21)
8. Crazy Lane (4:43)
9. Fool (5:27)
10. Hole in the Sky (2:39) :
- Part 3: The Promise
11. Spring of Freedom (5:52)
12. Farewell (5:50)
13. God Has Failed (2:16)

Total Time 61:47

Line-up / Musicians

- Yogi Lang / vocals, keyboards, co-producer & mixing
- Karlheinz Wallner / guitars, co-producer
- Chris Postl / bass
- Philipp Rissettio / drums

With:
- Manfred Feneberg / percussion (10)

Releases information

ArtWork: Stefan Wittmann

CD Tempus Fugit ‎- 20487 (2000, Germany)

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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RPWL God Has Failed ratings distribution


3.36
(171 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(15%)
15%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(51%)
51%
Good, but non-essential (28%)
28%
Collectors/fans only (4%)
4%
Poor. Only for completionists (2%)
2%

RPWL God Has Failed reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Gatot
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
1 stars Before I post this review, I have been thinking so long. My opinion remains unchanged. Sorry .. I have to express what I feel. I don't intend to demean the efforts that the band have made. I put myself as prog lover. Put it in a business sense, I am the "customer" of prog bands. And .. this is my review ... honest ...

I purchased this CD last year for two reasons: 1. a lot of my prog friends talked about this band as new prog band , 2. There is a label at CD case that says "Um dos melhores albums do progressivo estilo Pink Floyd". I don't know what it means, really. It may read .. don't buy this album.. it's PINK FLOYD rip-off! Indeed, it is. Well, actually I never complain on any band that plays in the vein of prog pioneers such as Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Yes or Pink Floyd. Got no problem at all with DARIUS, NIGHT WATCH, CITIZEN CAIN, PARALLEL or 90 DEG. But this band, I mean this album, is too much in cloning Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree. I can smell it right at the first track. Even worse, on track 6 "In your Dreams" it's DEFINITELY PINK FLOYD "Sorrow" from A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It's exactly forced to be the same! The result is even worse than the original. This band lacks originality in composing its music. They are not really "in the vein of PINK FLOYD" but really "100% clone of PINK FLOYD music". I regret having this CD. Beside its cloning to PF, let me tell you other reasons.

First, musicianship is mediocre. No such thing as stunning guitar or keyboard. Melody is OK but it's not accompanied with sufficient skills in playing the instruments. Vocal is terrible. The music seems empty. It sounds like pop music. Second, production is so weak. The band should hire Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree in creating sound effects. They intend to produce some effects as PINK FLOYD or PORCUPINE TREE have always produced in their albums. The sonic quality of this CD is poor. The band should learn from Porcupine Tree.

I do not recommend you to purchase the CD. It's better you borrow from friend. If it fits you, you may buy it. This album is far from being good. I don't understand why my prog friends in my home country recommend me this band. Uuggg hhh .....!!!

Review by progaeopteryx
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars For me, originality comes in many degrees. A cover band that only plays songs from the band they are covering clearly lacks originality, although they can take the original arrangement and modify it to their liking. Would that be slightly more original? How strong do influences on a band need to be before its music is considered unoriginal? There are probably a wide array of opinions on this and it is this issue that surrounds RPWL's debut God Has Failed (much like Starcastle's, Anekdoten's, or Mangala Vallis' debuts).

RPWL began as a Pink Floyd cover band in 1997 and this is who they've been compared to on God Has Failed to the point of being labeled a "clone." There is no doubt in my mind that this is their most obvious influence, sometimes to the point of being a copycat. Vocalist Yogi Lang often sounds like a young David Gilmour and guitarist Karlheinz Wallner does a fair imitation of Gilmour. However, Wallner's imitation only shows its face from time to time, whereas Lang's voice often sounds like Gilmour. To me, it is clearly these two gentlemen who give God Has Failed that clone-like impression. The rest of their sound is obviously neo prog, kind of giving it a more Ayreon feel with a slight Beatlesque-ness.

There are two songs that are almost rip-offs. In Your Dreams sounds very similar to Pink Floyd's Sorrow during the verses, but oddly during the choruses resembles Calling All Stations-era Genesis. It isn't a direct copy to me, but the bass and guitar are suspiciously similar to Sorrow during the first verse. As you listen further into the song, it clearly loses it's Floydness. Again, is this unoriginal, or just a strong influence? The second song that sounds like a rip-off is the title track. The acoustic guitar in places sounds like a slower version of Floyd's Pigs on the Wing. Lang's vocals are an almost perfect impression of Gilmour's on this song. Aside from these two songs, the remaining eleven tracks are a mix of Pink Floyd/Ayreon influences and neo prog, again with Lang's Gilmour-like vocals.

So, the question you have to ask yourself is: "Is originality a big issue for me?" If the answer is yes, you probably will have problems with this release and should avoid it and consider getting one of RPWL's later releases as they've shed most of their Floydian influences over time. If the answer is no, then you'll really enjoy this if you're interested in Floydian neo prog. The musicianship and production are extraordinarily well done.

For me, just because a singer imitates another singer, it isn't enough to distract me from enjoying the music. Remember the Gabriel-like vocals of Fish, Cyrus, and even Peter Nicholls? There are a lot of guitarists influenced by Gilmour out there and that doesn't bother me either. I'm slightly suspicious of the two songs that closely resemble Pink Floyd songs noted above, but again, it's not enough to persuade me to simply dismiss this band as a "clone" and give it a low rating when there is more than enough other material on the album that is original. Further, with most neo prog bands showing Genesis and Marillion influences, it's somewhat refreshing to hear one that takes a Floydian approach to neo prog. Overall, four stars (with the caveat on originality).

Review by ClemofNazareth
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk Researcher
2 stars The only word I can think of to accurately describe this album is – ponderous.

(pǒn’dərə-s), adj. “lacking grace or fluency; labored and dull”

In this first offering from RPWL the band’s Pink Floyd clone-band days shine through, if you consider blatant riff-lifting and vocal parroting to be ‘shining’. I might be just a bit more tolerant of the lack of originality if the band hadn’t taken other liberties rather insulting to their prospective fan-base. First, the title – “God Has Failed”, is clearly intended as a mildly sensational attention-grabber, since the lyrics and music fail to make the case for exactly why or how God has failed. And I was actually kind of curious.

More egregious in my mind is the seemingly slapdash manner in which the various multi- part tracks were arranged, with seemingly little connection to each other or to themselves (“Hole in the Sky”, “What I Need”). Other than a modestly interesting guitar riff and rhythm on “In Your Dreams”, every track here sounds like David Gilmour either singing Pink Floyd outtakes, or David Gilmour singing Chris DeBurgh tunes (“Crazy Lane”), or David Gilmour singing – I don’t know, Icehouse? (“Fool”).

Finally, the seventy-one minute length on this particular album is about sixty minutes too long. Normally I’d appreciate getting plenty of music for my money, but in this instance the band pretty much lays out all they have to offer on the first couple of tracks.

Really, I was inclined to not comment on this album at all, but after shelling out twelve bucks for what turned out to be a very disappointing album (even more so than Stock, which at least had a couple of modestly original tracks), I felt it necessary to warn off others from making the same mistake.

In my opinion two stars are too much, but after reading reviews from fans of the band I can see at least they seem to find value in it, so that fits the definition of two stars.

peace

Review by ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars As Progaeopteryx has mentioned in his review, "RPWL" started as a "Floyd" cover band. And you can definitely notice it when listening to this album.

The similarity though is not to be found with the early "Floyd" days and their psyche / space rock period. It is more their very later work that is to be taken into consideration. The Gilmour days. You know, the optimistic ones... This album is fully reminiscent of "A Momentary Lapse Of Freedom". Very much inspired by this to say the least.

I belong to the ones who were fed up by Roger and his attitudes. Couldn't really stand this. So, when he left, I was not at all "disgusted" wth David's work which I just seem to like very much.Three and four stars respectively for "AMLOF" and "Divison Bell".

If like me you happen to like these two albums, you will have a very good time while listening to "Hole in the Sky" (really good), "Who Do You Think We Are" (this title reminds me another one of course), "In Your Dreams", "It's Alright", "Fool" and"Farewell".

In terms of vocals, it is important to mention that Yogi Lang has a very good English accent (which is barely the case for German vocalists) and a very soft and pleasant tone of voice. In terms of musicianship they are all skilled professional IMO.

I guess that the music of the band is the sort of like it/ hate it. I belong to the former category. Their songs are very melodic, catchy, very accessible. At times poppish. So, what ? I don't always need to listen to intricate music. At times it is very pleasant to listen to good but not complex music. At least it is my opinion. There are a lot of Gilmouresque guitar breaks (in the style of "Mostly Autumn" and I just love them.

OK, "Crazy Lane" is mellowish and not really great, I admit. But there is always the opportunity to press next. And it is the first one so far to deserve this treatment. But if you happen to like "Sister Jane" from "Tai Phong" you might like this one too.

This album will not blow you away with its originalty of course. Only a good and very melodic work. Not made to be analized in its deepest details but nice enough to be discovered. Three stars (but it deserves seven out of ten). Since there are talks on the forum to have the current rating system being changed into a more accurate one, I will come back on this album as soon as it will be possible to use half stars and I will upgrade it to 3.5.

Review by ProgShine
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars 01. Hole In The Sky Part 1: Fly Part 2: Crawl To You A bang, as if they were voices of films, and a fingering that Floyd is not know what there is (laughs). The keyboards imitating violins, a footprint at the same time Neo former, identical to the voice of David Gilmour, but the few who learn to distinguish. One of those refrões short but certeiros. And every time the dialogues comes into play, which gives a very warm feeling, that's the truth, listen to this track gives me the feeling of home. The guitar has the timbre of Karlheinz perfect for the climate.

02. Who Do You Think We Are This is totally out the top and George Harrison tune, Beatles on vocals. Man, this band is the best that could have influence. A climate sensational from start to finish.

03. Wait Five Years Beautiful guitar, vocals in the background, as if they were being sung by some extra ground, an angel (at least is the impression I have). Then the music takes you.

04. What I Need ... Leaving Sensational, it's time to open the shop, sounds, and guitar ... fingering with orchestra. Beautiful!

05. What I Need ... What I Need The guitar around here, but with a voice and a slightly acute impeccable interpretation of the great Yogi. Chorus full of emotion and vocal, even I am impressed how the songs are beautiful. When the battery from Phil and Chris to come down in the song the whole thing is already won (laughter), because we won.

06. In Your Dreams One more fully Floyd, but without crisis. Though I do not love the stage Floyd / Gilmour with RPWL staff is excellent! I would say that the band followed the steps of the gang. Excellent voice and the melodies of half do it, soon after the 'conversation', also another strong point of the disc, the various dialogues and in the middle of songs. The low and simple way to striking unintentionally command the whole thing, while the keyboards give the tone and melodic guitar all the beauty of the battery while the whole sustenção that they need. Final surprising as it should be.

07. It's Alright This one is almost a soul / pop, but do not be fooled by its nature is excellent. Basically, the bottom of the rock is good and full of details you find out with fascinating melody.

08. Crazy Lane Again the villain (or would be guitar, laughing) the story begins a track and full of emotional climates. And again the chorus timeless and brilliant, full of simple melodies that touch the soul background, in a way that only the best bands / composers can.

09. Fool Fool begins as a ballad. What continues to the end (more laughter), but an excellent way to tell if ticket. Some bodies are highlighted in the final.

10. Hole In The Sky Part 3: The Promise Birds logo of guy, a great way to start, then the guitar melody of the first part of the theme (since this is the third party) enter and recognize the man. This time it's time to mourn their sorrows guitar without fear. 11. Spring Of Freedom Spring Life begins (pardon me the pun), and with it the sound full of line breaks for guitar and bass striking. I think that something sensational sounds and noises in the middle of songs.

12. Farewell Many of synthesizer chords of this range would be excellent at any sound, gives the incredible support all the rest, little attention in such details, but get them from now see, everything collapses. A great song!

13. God Has Failed An outcome worthy of his position, a mixture of the season The Final Cut (the sad melodies and bucolic), with a bid later, full of pianos and guitars. Very nice! This disk is for being heard or two, or a good state of mind, because it is quiet, beautiful and without a shadow of doubt pearl.

www.progshine.com

Review by Marty McFly
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars The problem is that I don't believe much in this whole "clone" thing, more like I do believe in influencing each other. So it doesn't matter when vocalist sounds like Gilmour (here), or in other cases (bands) for example like Gabriel / Wilson / Anderson (Ian). The music is great and this is important. Being prog is too, but guess what, I believe in another thing that relates to this and does have a weight in reviewing. I rely a lot on my feelings with just addition of knowledge and facts. This is not masterpiece, I'm that sane not to push it that far, but it's far too good album to be drowned under liquid surface of prog water's good rating. If something that's good here, it's atmosphere. And guitar solos. And again, like in previous review (unreleased material CD), vocals seems pretty harmonic to me. Reminds me (far into future) album Parzivals Eyes.

4(+), because I'm pleased, prog goals were more or less fulfilled a because this good albums doesn't deserve being mocked more than it's necessary. I'm not willing to take this responsibility on my back and carry the burden away. Maybe my rating system can be little bit weird and my measure system twisted out, but be sure in one thing. This is beauty music, pleasant and nice. And it's prog, the album that made their breakthrough.

Review by Gerinski
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Indeed this can undoubtedly be called a post-Waters Pink Floyd clone, although I should stress that I do not necessarily attach a negative meaning to the term "clone". There are always styles, and after all much classical music from the same period resemble eachother and yet we do not say that Schumann was a clone of Mendelssohn. The music can still be good, although it may not rate too high in the chapter of "personality" or "originality".

At any rate this is really like listening to PF's "A momentary lapse of reason Pt. 2", and the fact that the voice of Yogi Lang sounds so much like David Gilmour makes it even more evident.

However the music and the interpretation fall short from their original inspirators, especially the guitar solos are far from Gilmour's. And a couple of songs are too shamelessly clones of actual PF tracks especially "In your dreams" which starts exactly as PF's "Sorrow".

Nice and pleasant music, well built and well played, but certainly not original and below the level of the real Pink Floyd. If you like PF's "A momentary lapse of reason" and you don't mind some cloning it's an enjoyable album.

Review by octopus-4
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams
3 stars Are they Pink Floyd clones? Yes. Is it that bad? No.

This album opens with some gimmicks in pure Roger Waters style, including screams during the song. However "Hole in the sky part 1 and 2" is closer to Porcupine Tree than to Pink Floyd. The guitar doesn't sound like David Gilmour (also when RPWL play Pink Floyd covers live). What makes it very similar to Pink Floyd is the use of background noises, voices, echoes, in a perfect Roger Waters style. Also the electronic sounds in the slow instrumental coda seem to be taken directly partially from The Dark Side of the Moon and partially from Ummagumma while an acustic guitar harpipng and soft drumming in Mason's style lead the song to its end.

Starting from the 2nd track it's like they are travelling in time: "Who do you think we are?" looks like a late Beatles song. Nice pop that turns into prog in the chorus. Also the choirs are Beatlesian. Sorry but I like it. The guitar solo doesn't have anything to do with Gilmour again. I try to imagine Bryan Josh in RPWL. That would be a real clone.

The acoustic guitar on "Wait five years" seems coming from the A-side of Meddle. This is a slow and short song mainly acoustic with some electric guitar in the middle and slide at the end.

"What I Need ...Leaving" is just a short opener to "What I Need ...What I need". Some acoustic guitar and keyboards plus gimmicks. The B-Side of Atom Heart Mother. There are clues of Fat old Sun (children voices), If or Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast (acoustic guitar). The second song is more in line with Porcupine Tree.

Now let's move forward: "In your dreams" is a clone of "Sorrow" in the first part, so we are in 1986 with A momentary leapse of reson, but the chorus is Genesis (or Phil Collins). of the 80s. A nice mix of the two big bands. Waters is always present with his background voices.

"It's Alright" starts as Tears for Fears but the chorus is Porcupine Tree. Another nice pop song with some Gilmourian chord passages. Nice pop.

"Crazy Lane" is nothing more than a love song in Fish era Marillion style. This is what I think the general meaning of neo-prog.

"Fool" reminds again to Porcupine Tree more than to Pink Floyd. Very melodic but powerful. The guitar solo is nice and I think it sounds halfway between Gilmour and Rothery. The track is closed by some gimmicks.

"Hole in The Sky Part 3" doesn't add anything to part 1 and 2 apart of the excellent guitar solo. Porcupink Floyd, let's say...

"Spring of Freedom" starts with a sequence of chords from Sysyphus, followed by "pizzicato" guitar like in Marillion's Childhood's end. The chorus is again in Porcupine Tree style.

"Farewell" could have been a great closer if it wasn't followed by another track. It's neo-prog but I hear a King Crimson influence here, other than Porcupine Tree and Marillion.

The album is closedcby the title track. A 12 strings guitar and voice with a country-rock flavour. The Final Cut or Dylan? I think Waters was sometimes inspired by Dylan, so both.

When Marillion appeared at the beginning of 80s they were marked as Genesis clones. I remember Genesis fans very concerned refusing to listen to them. My opinion was that Marillion were doing things that Genesis were no longer doing and the "clones" were actually better than the originals.

This applies to RPWL as well.

Good music is good music even when not original. If you already own all the albums of Pink Floyd, Marillion and Porcupine Tree this is a good album full of nice songs. If you don't own them already and have to choose which to purchase, pick the originals first.

Review by kev rowland
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Reviewer
3 stars The first I had heard of both of this band and label was when I received an e-mail from Artur in Poland raving over it. I was soon in contact with label boss Dirk Jacob, and the debut album from RPWL is now on the player. Actually, although this is their debut they have risen out of the ashes of another band, Violet District, which I have reviewed in these pages before. Digging through the files, I see that it was Artur who put me onto them originally as well, some four years ago.

With three of the four members of the band having played together since 1992, it is no surprise that they have a good rapport with each other. The music is quite dreamy and reflective, yet always with lots of melody and ideas. It is easy to see why Artur was so impressed, as the music is full of ideas. Sometimes there are elements of late Seventies Genesis, while at others it is Pink Floyd or even The Beatles. Most of the music slowly builds, as opposing to impressing with intricate speed runs up and down scales.

This is music that can be enjoyed without hesitation, music that is direct and allow the listener to enjoy it for its' own sake.

Originally appeared in Feedback #60

Review by The Crow
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars God Has Failed was the debut of RPWL, Pink Floyd tribute band!

And obviously, on this album the British influences are very obvious, especially in the guitar arrangements, vocal melodies and instrumental interludes.

Despite everything, it reminded me of other bands of the time like Spock's Beard and Mostly Autumn. The truth is that I do not understand the Neo-Prog label too much, since God Has Failed is more of a symphonic prog typical of the end of the last millennium.

So, if you like this type of very guitar oriented symphonic rock and don't mind bad singers, you can give God Has Failed a try! I think that the album has its moments, but as a whole it's too dull, repetitive and even uninspired.

Best Tracks: Who do You Think We are (the verses are rather mediocre, but the instrumental guitar interlude, as well as the solo, are excellent), What I Need (good chorus, if somewhat repetitive), In Your Dreams (I love the guitar arpeggios that accompany the verses) and Fool (good slide guitar)

My Rating: **

Latest members reviews

3 stars RPWL is one of my favorite modern bands. It's nice to look back and listen to their old albums to see their evolution. They started as a PF cover band, as many of you may know, and you can see that big influence on their first record. It not only has reminiscences of early Pink Floyd records but al ... (read more)

Report this review (#2965111) | Posted by progrockeveryday | Sunday, October 29, 2023 | Review Permanlink

4 stars 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 reas ... (read more)

Report this review (#164092) | Posted by beebs | Sunday, March 16, 2008 | Review Permanlink

5 stars This is a definite must for any collection. I fell in love with this band when first heard it. They definately have that pink floyd sound that everyone else talks about, but I would not at all say it is a rip off. They do have a unique sound of their own. Melodic and dreamy at times, upbeat at ot ... (read more)

Report this review (#6423) | Posted by the_3d_man | Wednesday, January 12, 2005 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Totally agree with the positive comments on this album. This is an album that is chock full of melody and do not agree one bit that the production is not good. So, lets bring in Steve Wilson and make it more Pocupine Tree flavoured then? Nope, there is enough within this band to do their ow ... (read more)

Report this review (#6421) | Posted by | Tuesday, December 7, 2004 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Well, reviewing such an album is not easy... as the other reviewers said, it is more than Pink Floyd influence, it is a clone. Or at least a clone of the melodic Floyd. So, the rating will depend on what you expect. If you're looking for originality, pass your way. But if you're in the mood fo ... (read more)

Report this review (#6420) | Posted by | Wednesday, November 17, 2004 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Never have i heard such a Pink Floyd clone...that GOOD !! RPWL are exactly that good..its like Floyd have returned and in good form!! Whoooaaaaah im really excited about this group....they´re really Floyd ..ahem.. i think ...nobody ive heard sounds like Floyd..like this outfit!!! Great songs ..g ... (read more)

Report this review (#6417) | Posted by Tonny Larz | Wednesday, March 17, 2004 | Review Permanlink

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