RPWL - Live - Start The Fire

Year of Release: 2005
Label: SPV
Catalog Number: SPV 48612 DCD
Format: CD
Total Time: 128:29:00

As you might expect, the bulk of RPWL's live CD Start The Fire is comprised of tracks from their then current album World Through My Eyes? it was recorded on their World? tour of 2005, after all. Most of this live set was recorded during their performance on WDR's "Rockpalast" show. But, they do touch upon their previous 3 albums and include a few covers to boot. You needn't think too hard about which artist's material they chose. Of course, it's Pink Floyd (or members of). And because Ray Wilson is a guest, there's a Genesis cover, too -- a hurried version of "Not About Us," which is otherwise fairly faithful to the original on Calling All Stations.

Don't let the mix on the first two tracks fool you into thinking this is a sub par recording. It's not, though audiophiles might quibble with me; the sound is clear and distinct. Now, the performance and the live mix might not be as crisp as it should be, but that is a minute flaw compared to the really poor, muddy mix heard at first. "Sleep" is a little too quiet, Lang's vocals seem buried. While it could have been just a case of the dynamics of the song not translating live, the sound is a muddy on "Start The Fire," too, although Lang's vocals are a little more distinct here. I don't think these were recorded during their "Rockpalast" performance.

Commencing with the third track, the sound improves dramatically - and so does the band's performance. "Who Do You Think We Are" is one of two tracks from their debut (as RPWL), God Has Failed. The mellow, slinky Floydisms are intact in this live rendering and "Day On My Pillow" (from World?) sounds like the RPWL I recall from the album version. As the set progresses, the band becomes much more in sync, Lang in better voice. In fact, the rendering of "Roses" is extraordinarily clear, crisp, the vocals even more distinct here than on World? itself. The guitar solos chime and ring out, the keys create soft yet firm beds to support the driving percussion and throbbing bass. If anything, this seems just a little too crisp, giving just a hint of coldness, even if the performance is impassioned.

From Stock comes "The Gentle Art Of Swimming." The beauty of the studio version is here in the live version, although for the instrumental middle part, everything is rendered? heavier, the bass bruisingly so, the guitar just a little more assertive (though a little bloopy-keyboard like) ? The turbulence I heard in its studio incarnation, becomes something much more violent, more menacing live.

"Wasted Land" is good, especially in the guitar department, but I find Lang's vocals a bit lacking here. Not awful, just flatter than I'd like. But the song moves along like a juggernaut and has the requisite rock muscle. The equally heavy "Trying To Kiss The Sun," closes out disc one.

"World?" opens disc two, and is rendered in a dreamy fashion, with delicate, shimmery guitar dancing across the dynamic drumming of Mani Muller before wild and widdly keyboards launch themselves into spacey, psychedelic realms. This is a different take than on World?, yet the drumming retains a tribal rhythm underpinning, especially as we head into the middle portion of the track. It is a relaxed and languid track, lending itself to exploring the sonic realms -- gettin' noodly with it, as it were -- as we get from Wallner as he solos thirds of the way in. Cool stuff really, though there does come a point where you think it's going to be a shorter version of "World?"

Then we're given the covers block, beginning with Syd Barrett's "Opel." Guitars grind out a dirty groove as an audio clip in the background sounds like a didgeridoo droning. Even if it's not faithful to the Barrett original, it's faithful to what RPWL laid down for Stock, and explodes from the speakers during the organ solo which verily plows its way through the riff, everything coming out the other side angry and snarling. A slinky, slithery and suitably moody "Cymbeline" follows, Wallner's guitar ringing out notes clear as a bell, his soloing just terrific, Jehle's organ creating roomy, expansive atmospheres. In fact, for a good part of this track, the whole feel is as if the band are playing an outdoor venue, where the space their filling reaches to the sky.

The trio of Floyd tunes concludes with "Welcome To The Machine." Okay, even knowing that RPWL began life in another incarnation as a Floyd tribute band, Lang for the first time really, eerily sounds spot on Gilmour. RPWL's performance has a bit of a rawness. This is not a negative, it lends this performance a lot of power. Swirly, squelchy audio effects flit about, while bass (and probably keys) pulsate dangerously. And it ends on such a high, you'd think that ought to end the set?

Nope, two more tracks follow -- "I Don't Know" and "Hole In The Sky." Compared to the dark heaviness of the Floyd covers, these songs seem lighter, airier. "Hole In The Sky" is rendered beautifully, but not perfectly (a bit off in the vocals). Of course, as always, the key element for me is Wallner's guitar playing and here he just slices through solos with a glinty, clean edge. And so, forget what I said about "Welcome?" being the note to end the set on, this is the one - high, true, clear, epic, crying guitar notes that just carry you up to some astronomical heights. (Hyperbole? Maybe).

The last track is a studio take of "New Stars Are Born," which had hitherto been unreleased. Echoing guitar starts us off, to which first vocals, then percussion are added. Soon keys join in to watery effect. This is no different from any of their Floyd-esque material, and thus fits in quite well here, or would have on any album. It was previously found, in a shorter version, on the special edition of World. It has the requisite noodly, moody, floaty atmospheric solo section that is quite absorbing, featuring more crisp solos from Wallner.

Well, aside from a shaky start with a pair of less than stellar performances, this live document from RPWL is quite good? it might be hyperbolic to suggest that Wallner's guitar playing is sublime, though I sometimes think so. I'd recommend it without hesitation to fans and "newbies" alike. I hope they are at least as good, if not better, come May 2008.

Distributed by InsideOut; also released by Tempus Fugit (TF V? 20)

* Some odd asides: In my review of World?, I commented that "Day On My Pillow" reminded me at times of Ambrosia ? who happen to be playing on the Friday night of RoSFest.
Tracklisting:
Disc One: Sleep (10:05) / Start The Fire (4:48) / Who Do You Think We Are (4:35) / Day On My Pillow (6:20) / Roses (6:45) / Not About Us (4:55) / The Gentle Art Of Swimming (8:45) / Wasted Land (5:40) / Crazy Lane (4:23) / Trying To Kiss The Sun (4:59)

Disc Two: World Through My Eyes (11:40) / Opel (5:50) / Cymbaline (15:12) / Welcome To The Machine (7:20) / I Don't Know (4:22) / Hole In The Sky (10:45) / Bonus Track: New Stars Are Born (full studio version) (12:39)

Musicians:
Yogi Lang - vocals, keyboards
Karlheinz Wallner - vocals, guitars
Chris Postl - vocals, bass
Manfred M?ller - vocals, drums

Guests:

Markus Jehle - keyboards
Ray Wilson - vocals, guitar

Discography:
God Has Failed (2000)
Trying To Kiss The Sun (2002)
Stock (2003)
World Through My Eyes (2005)
Live - Start The Fire (2005)
The RPWL Experience (2008)
The RPWL Live Experience (2009)
Gentle Art Of Music (2010)
Beyond Man And Time (2012)
A Show Beyond Man And Time (2013)
Wanted (2014)
RPWL Plays Pink Floyd (2015)
RPWL Plays Pink Floyd - The Man And The Journey (2016)
A New Dawn (2017)
Tales From Outer Space (2019)
Live From Outer Space (2019)

The RPWL Live Experience (DVD) (2009)
A New Dawn (DVD) (2017)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin DE

Added: January 28th 2008
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: www.rpwl.net
Hits: 4375
Language: english