RPWL – World through my Eyes Live

Relatively soon after the release of the blu-ray/2xCD called True Live Crime (2024), the Germans who have been operating under the name RPWL for years but in the meantime only house the “L” of Lang (Yogi, vocals and keyboards) and the “W” of Wallner (Kalle, guitar) as band members again come up with a double live album. This on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of their highly regarded album World through my Eyes, one of the better albums of their long-term career. The band still consists of the two aforementioned original members supplemented by Marc Turiaux on drums, Markus Grützner on bass, Butsch Keys on keyboards and the two background singers Caroline von Brünken and Carmen Tannich. The same line-up as on True Live Crime.

Isn't it too soon to release another live album? Yes and no, there are certainly some double tracks on it and the standard favourites are on both albums but the entire album World through my Eyes is performed in its entirety and thus forms disc 1. It also all sounds a bit more "live" without sacrificing the sound quality because that is very good. It is a bit more direct, a bit more honest if you like and that is fine because they are all excellent musicians. The somewhat bland songs from the anniversary album, and there are a few, really benefit from this live setting and in this case I prefer to listen to these performances. Of course, the highlights of the album, Sleep, 3 Lights and the title track also come across as more powerful and that alone makes the purchase of this double album justified.

As already stated, on disc 2 we certainly come across the ever present tracks like Roses, The Shadow and of course Hole in the Sky as well as the better tracks from the excellent latest studio album Crime Scene (2023), Victim of Desire and King of the World.

Lang is a fine singer, no more and no less, and he does his job thoroughly and steady. A very good move is therefore the use of the two background singers as mentioned before because that makes a big difference vocally. Moreover, he regularly takes care of a keyboard solo, which relegates keyboardist Butsch Keys more to the background, where he does a fine job. The rhythm section plays as well as ever and bassist Grützner in particular is allowed to come to the fore every now and then. The big crowd favourite is always Wallner because this man can play so wonderfully. His solos are certainly indebted to David Gilmour but he has also created his own signature by now and I can enjoy that immensely. New Stars are born, once added as a bonus track, gets a dazzling, long performance partly due to his amazing solo and thus forms the highlight of disc 2.

I can only say, for fans of RPWL this is another mandatory purchase and for those who don't know the band yet (do these people exist?) this could be a nice introduction, although I would rather opt for one of their better studio albums, Beyond Man and Time , Tales from outer Space or Crime Scene.

Music 85

Cover 60