RPWL – Wanted [Limited Edition Digipak] (2014)

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Fresh from last year’s astounding release from Germans RPWL (presented in this blog), comes this latest offering “Wanted” from not only one of progressive music’s finest bands but also one of the genre’s most philosophically articulate.
“Wanted” runs with the concept of a scroll of Plato’s, discovered by Garibaldi, in which he discusses a medicine found by Hippocrates that leads the human spirit into a real and absolute world free of all illusion – which Plato describes as ‘the gift of absolute freedom’.
Looks complicated? Not at all, RPWL makes everything so fluid and intriguing.

The music sets out to hypothesise what would happen if mankind managed to distill this medicine – how the world would change for the better and how it would affect the prejudicial thinking of the world’s major religions.
RPWL carry this off with an album so imaginative and so diverse that an immediate second play is required to reassure yourself that yes, it really was that good. It’s lively, varied, and extremely interesting. Gets your attention so well through layers and layers of different sounds. In fact, on first listen to “Wanted”, I was immediately gripped.

As RPWL last works, “Wanted” sounds closer to what we would call Crossover Prog, with a strong resemblance to 80’s Pink Floyd and especially the warm tone of David Gilmour on vocals and guitars (especially on the middle section, see “Hide And Seek”, “Disbelief”, “Misguided Thought”).
When the band decide to add some distortion, they do so by mixing a heavy-blues sound with Porcupine Tree (“Disbelief”, “The Attack”) that certainly adds points in terms of variety.

But for my melodic ears, this is a band that always offers commercial, somehow catchy Neo Prog tunes like a fresh summer breeze; just check “Swords and Guns”, the rhythmcally bouncy title track, and the lovable “Perfect Day”.
The Hogarth-era Marillion-balladry style of numbers such as “A New Dawn” are exquisite
while the superb musicianship skills of these talented muscians erupts with the awesome instrumental opener “Revelation” and the dark-ish “Hide and Seek” and “The Attack”. The keyboard passages, when apparent, certainly give a note of innovation and variety and would certainly have liked to have more of it in this album.

If you have preconceptions about too much elaborated lyrics, forget that: for fans of any genre, if you could have written your own album with all your favourite ingredients, this is how it would sound.
RPWL’s “Wanted” is beautiful, feisty, intensely articulate and sure-footed with the subject matter without being either pretentious or dogmatic. I must mention especially, even though everyone here delivers, lead singer de luxe Yogi Lang for his brilliant vocals in perfect English and also Wallner for the always tasty guitars, chords and superb soloing.
“Wanted”, yes… no matter your musical preferences, if you like excellent melodies, intelligent lyrics / arrangements and terrific playing, get this CD pronto.
Stunningly essential listening.

01 – Revelation
02 – Swords and Guns
03 – A Clear Cut Line
04 – Wanted
05 – Hide and Seek
06 – Disbelief
07 – Midguided Thought
08 – Perfect Day
09 – Still Asleep (Ltd Ed. Bonus Track)
10 – The Attack
11 – A New Dawn

Yogi Lang – Vocals, Keyboards
Kalle Wallner – Guitar
Markus Jehle – Keyboards
Marc Turiaux – Drums
Werner Taus – Bass

Pre-Order:
www.cdinzane.com/product.php?productid=12798
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