By Michael Popke

The moniker RPWL came from the initials of each original member’s surname: Phil Paul Rissettio, Chris Postl, Kalle Wallner and Yogi Lang.

“Of course, the name was a joke,” admits vocalist/keyboardist Lang. “Since the day of our very first album production, we didn’t have a name. But the record label made very clear that they couldn’t release an album without a band name. Silly idea, I know. But as long as the spirit of the band is still the same, we keep the name.”

And 10 years later, the name remains the same — even though some of the members have changed.

Meanwhile, RPWL’s sound has evolved from a Pink Floyd cover band to something that Radiohead and Genesis fans can equally appreciate. The band, which recently split with InsideOut Music after that label ran into financial trouble, has formed its own label: Gentle Art of Music. To celebrate its 10-year anniversary, the German band released “The Gentle Art of Music,” which traces the collective’s evolution via 11 songs from five albums on one CD. A second disc presents 11 acoustic reinterpretations of other songs from RPWL’s back-catalog. (The band’s newest album, “Beyond Man and Time,” is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on March 13, 2012.)

Goldmine caught up with Lang and guitarist Wallner.

RWPL's lineup most recently consisted of (from left) Markus Jehle (piano/keyboards); Marc Turiaux (drums); Yogi Lang (vocals/keyboards); Chris Postl (bass); and Kalle Wallner (guitar). Postl parted ways with the band in August 2010, opening the door for Werner Taus to pick up bass duties. Photo courtesy Freeman Promotions.

Q: When and why did RPWL move beyond being a Pink Floyd cover band?
Yogi Lang: In 1997, we met to jam over old Floyd songs. We all were involved in a lot of studio work and missed playing live on stage. To be honest, we didn’t have the time to rehearse a lot. To play the music we grew up with gave us the possibility to have fun on stage again, and that was what we wanted to do at that time. But, by and by, the urge to write songs and do our own music came back. The deciding step was that we did our first album together. A guy from a record label heard a tape with a couple of songs we did and wanted to release it. Some weeks later, we were on the front cover of a rock-music magazine.

Q: How did the band’s sound evolve from heavy Pink Floyd influences to what it is today?
Kalle Wallner: We’ve never been a strict Pink Floyd cover band. Everyone in the band was able to compose songs, so it was a natural step to write our own songs as a band. I think it is a good thing that every album sounds a bit different, and the last one [2008’s “The RPWL Experience”] is far away from our debut. This shows the development of each musician and the entire band. We’re not standing still, but still go on. The solo works of Chris, Yogi and I are yet another demonstration of the creative potential of RPWL. So I’m really looking forward to what’s coming up next.

Q: What has been the highlight of the past 10 years?
KW: When we started off, it was just for fun. Nobody expected that anyone could be interested in what we were doing. Meanwhile, we did so many albums and tours that it might be hard to pick out only one highlight. All the 10 years have been a big highlight for me. Of course, when we came to the States for the Rites of Spring Festival [in 2004] for the first time, and so many people in the audience sang along with our songs — that was a really big moment for me.

Q: “The Gentle Art of Music” might be many listeners’ first exposure to RPWL. How did you choose which songs to include?
YL: We compiled the first disc as some kind of time travel. Beginning with our first album, “God Has Failed,” you can follow the musical path of the band up to our last studio album, “The RPWL Experience.” It was interesting and unbelievable at the same time, sitting there listening through 10 years of our own history. Every record is also a fragment of our personal life. We took at least two songs off each studio album for the first disc.

Q: Why did you opt to record a second disc with acoustic arrangements? And how challenging was it to incorporate strings, horns and Indian instruments into those songs?
YL: It came clear to us that a simple “best of” compilation wasn’t able to reflect all our musical experiences. We love to work with friends and other artists. It was so much fun to re-record the songs on the “Revisited” part of the album. It is always special to get input from other artists. I mean, you have a certain way you see and feel your songs. Other artists add other aspects to the songs. It was a very inspiring atmosphere in the studio and a great way to celebrate the birthday of a band.

Q: The packaging for “The Gentle Art of Music,” a sturdy, oversized digibook, is unusual. Why did you design it that way?
KW: We wanted to do something special for our anniversary. It should look like a book — the book of the first 10 years of RPWL — like a “book of life” or a diary. We wanted it to be a retrospective. That’s why we did our first press picture for the cover again. And, of course, it should be a preview, as well. So this is the reason for the two discs: The first is the compilation of what we’ve done; the second shows the potential the band has.

Q: So, the cover photo on “The Gentle Art of Music,” featuring band members sitting in a movie theater, is intentionally similar to a photo that appeared in the packaging to “God Has Failed” …
YL: Yes, of course. We thought that it would be a great idea to go into the same location. By the way, the cinema has also changed a lot, not just us!

Q: Congratulations on RPWL’s slot at CalProg in October. How do you rate the band’s success in the United States?
KW: RoSfest 2004 was our very first show in the States. We enjoyed it a lot; people were very friendly, and we had some very nice chats. But our second show at RoSfest in 2008 beat it. We met so many people again, and we had a really good time. For me, personally, it was a special thing to play twice — with RPWL and Blind Ego, my solo project. At the second RoSfest, we felt quite confident in having our first real release with “The RPWL Experience.” All albums before were imports, and the band was only known by fans of the art-rock/prog-rock scene. So I think the band is quite new for U.S. people.

Q: How do prog fans in the United States differ from those in other parts of the world?
YL: Music lovers in the States listen very carefully to our music. It gives us the chance to have a very intense connection with the audience. I like that very much, because music is a kind of conversation, not a monologue.

Q: RPWL collaborated with former Genesis and Stiltskin singer Ray Wilson. What do you remember most about those sessions?
KW: When we wrote the song “Roses” in 2002, we always thought that Ray’s voice would fit it perfectly. It was great to hear that we were right! When I listened to the track for the first time, I was deeply impressed. Ray has an awesome voice, and I really enjoyed the live shows we did in Europe.

Q: The album titled “9” seems to be a hard one to find. What’s the story behind that album? And is it now a collector’s item?
YL: At the time of “9,” everyone was quite busy with their solo material. So we decided to have a short break and do something that was absolutely different from the usual production process. First of all, it had been my dear wish to release the rest of the live tracks that were actually meant for the “Start The Fire” live record. In addition to those five songs, we gave each of the four band members the chance to write and arrange a song on their own and record it with the whole band. So we had nine tracks on this album. Why not call it “9” and produce a limited edition of 999 pieces? It sold out in less than three weeks. You’re definitely right calling “9” a collector’s item, and we’re very proud of this special release.

Q: Kalle, tell how the Blind Ego project with John Jowitt and John Mitchell came about, as well as Blind Ego’s plans for the future.
KW: Over the years, I had so many songs in mind that never fit RPWL. So I decided to initiate Blind Ego. I met John Jowitt and John Mitchell at many festivals, and we always had a great time. So I asked the guys if they were interested in being a part of my new solo project. I never thought of a band, but I liked the idea of having many guests on the album. So I released “Mirror” in 2007. The songwriting for the second Blind Ego record,  “Numb,” was within a smaller time period, and I decided to work only with Paul Wrightson as a vocalist. “Numb” is a bit rockier than the first one. I’m pretty sure that I will release a third album after the upcoming RPWL release. In the meanwhile, RPWL will be the main focus.

Q: What’s next for RPWL and the band’s own label?
KW: First of all, we released Yogi’s solo album this autumn [“No Decoder”]. And, of course, we are working on the upcoming RPWL album. It is quite an exciting feeling to hold your business completely in your own hands.

By Stephen M. H. Braitman

Progressive rock, as a mainstream music genre, blew out its welcome in the punk era where the D.I.Y. ethic effectively shut down music that was pretentious and pompous. Pretentiousness and pompousness were still to be found, even in punk and post-punk intellectualism, but prog rock’s distinctive elongated grandiosity left the limelight.

However, like rockabilly, country blues, swing music, and disco, it never went away. Unlike those other ancient music forms, progressive music has actually grown stronger as a niche genre than it ever was mainstream. A short breeze through Google listings will show robust activity world-wide with hundreds of bands categorized as prog on a dozen or more labels solely dedicated to the music. Comparable to the success of metal and jam bands, prog rock knows who its audience is, and its audience knows what it likes.

(Dig deeper into progressive rock.)

From a collector standpoint, prog has many opportunities for discovery. And profitability. Some of the highest selling records on eBay and elsewhere now are progressive rock. This is due to a few factors.

First, many of the more distinctive, odder, and strange releases were on small labels with limited marketing (Spark, Delta, Stable, Cube, Nasco), or they were simply swamped by the dominance of Yes, Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and the other major acts of the time.

Second, many of the records being sought now were not originally identified as progressive rock when first released. In the late ’60s and throughout most the 1970s, there was so much experimentation and (mind/music) expansion that no one really could keep up with all the tangents being explored. Prog rock 35 years ago pretty much meant rock with a symphony orchestra, or at least a band playing like a symphony. Now it can mean a much wider range, from some of the jazz rock fusion ensembles of the ’70s to heavy metal with a Lord of the Rings complex. German experimental bands like Neu and Can have been accepted under the prog rock banner, as well as some of the more idiosyncratic English folk rock bands, and, yes, even “On The Corner” by Miles Davis.

Third, the influence of progressive rock on music around the world had an immense impact, with completely separate lines of development spinning off the original sources. Italy, Peru, the Scandinavian countries, even the Philippines all had their prog rock bands and thriving scenes. It is a keenly competitive game finding many of those original vinyl LPs. It’s a challenge, and often a major investment. A copy of the 1972 album by Tarkus from Peru last sold on eBay in 2009 for $3,050. The “One” album by Norwegian band Flax from 1976 topped out at $900+ in its last eBay appearance last November.

Not all prog rock is highly valued, or at least much can still be had for relatively bargain prices: Traffic Sound (Peru), Terco (Brazil), Crucis (Argentina), Kozmic Muffin (Spain), and Egg (U.K.) all sold for under $100 last year. One can argue quality, or quantity, or ignorance as factors affecting value, but generally it’s still happy hunting grounds for the savvy collector.

Searching for unknown treasures still yields good results if one is willing to expand the parameters. The fact is that almost any obscure album from the 1970s (extra points for unpronounceable name; double extra points for incomprehensible cover art) that is not instantly recognizable as something else can be called prog rock. It’s a genre that one never needs to explain, yet fits so many in its very big tent.
The Prog Rock Archives (www.progarchives.com) is the definitive starting point for all things prog, from histories and discographies, forums, buying and selling, and even listening: They have a comprehensive list and links to progressive rock radio programs around the world. This Quebec-based Web site could hardly be more comprehensive.

Stephen M. H. Braitman is a music writer and collector. The first LPs he ever purchased for himself were Tim Buckley’s “Goodbye & Hello,” Kaleidoscope’s “Beacon From Mars,” and Pink Floyd’s “Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.” He is also a music appraiser; visit www.MusicAppraisals.com.

Steve Hackett
Live Rails
InsideOut Music
4 stars

By Michael Popke
There is no shortage of live Steve Hackett albums, but it made sense for the former Genesis guitarist to capture these 2009 and 2010 performances in London, Paris and New York. After all, they were in support of Hackett’s most critically acclaimed solo album in years, “Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth.” Six of that album’s eight tracks wound up on “Live Rails,” a two-CD, 20-song set that keeps the train theme chugging while also relying on early- and mid-period Genesis material, such as “Fifth of Firth,” “Los Endos” and “Blood on the Rooftops.”

Hackett eschews stage banter and lets his guitar do the talking, along with a crack five-piece band. An international-flavored intro builds excitement before Hackett and company launch into “Every Day” — a bouncy treat from 1979’s “Spectral Mornings,” anchored by Hackett’s definitive soloing. “Tubehead,” from “Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth,” boasts double-bass drumming bordering on metal and is one of the noisiest songs in the Hackett catalog (even recalling GTR).

Some songs sound instantly familiar (“Ace of Wands,” “Fire on the Moon”), even if you’ve never heard them before; their arrangements are that rooted in the classic-prog tradition of Genesis and Yes — not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Hackett seldom misses with this material.

The Genesis songs, however, elicit the loudest applause. And there’s nothing wrong with that, either.

Their third release elevated Yes into supergroup status

(No. 37 in a continuing series on artists who should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but are not)

By Phill Marder

Many observers believe the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has an extreme bias against bands that fall into the Progressive Rock category. Especially Progressive Rock fans.

Truth or illusion?

Well, there are approximately 260 inductees currently listed in the Rock Hall. Three are considered Progressive Rock bands…Pink Floyd, Genesis and Traffic. That’s about one percent.

Genesis was a Progressive Rock band under the wing of Peter Gabriel, then became a hit making machine when Gabriel left and Phil Collins took over lead vocals. I never thought of Traffic as a Progressive Rock band, but they are listed on several Progressive Rock websites, so what do I know? Pink Floyd certainly makes the grade.

But several Progressive Rock mammoths – the already profiled Moody Blues, Rush and Jethro Tull, for instance – have received the coldest of shoulders from the Rock Hall’s nominating committee, thus far. As has the band atop many Progressive Rock band lists…Yes.

To make the prejudice against this genre even more obvious, Yes was on Atlantic Records most of its heyday. And almost everyone on the Atlantic Records’ roster has been inducted, deserved or not.

Ernesto Lechner, writing in “The New Rolling Stone Album Guide,” points out, “You can say a lot of nasty things about progressive rock, and many people have – most frequently, that the genre emphasizes musical chops over soulful expression.”

To Lechner’s credit, he doesn’t seem to agree with that viewpoint, adding, “…in the case of Yes, the British band’s often overbearing pretentiousness resulted in moments of rare grace and beauty…“

But even the compliments are tinged with disparagement. Anything progressive seems to carry the same label from most critics…pretentious, bombastic etc. If Lou Reed had been around in the 1700s or 1800s, today’s critics probably would have favored him over Beethoven and Bach.

But that we’ll save for a future discussion. For now, let’s get back to Yes – and why this super group belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

First off, Progressive bands don’t usually have hit singles. After all, 10- to 20-minute pieces don’t lend themselves to top 40 radio. Still, Yes has managed several, including the startling “Owner Of A Lonely Heart,” startling because it climbed all the way to No. 1 in 1983, and 1972’s “Roundabout,” which peaked at No. 13. 1971’s “Your Move,” 1984’s “Leave It” and 1987’s “Love Will Find A Way” and “Rhythm Of Love” all also hit the top 40. Only “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” reached the top 40 in their homeland, but that stopped at No. 28 there. However, “Wonderous Stories” climbed to No. 7 in 1977 and “Going For the One” made it to No. 24 later the same year. The next year, “Don’t Kill The Whale” made it No. 36.

On the album charts, where progressive bands shine best, Yes placed 24 entries in the United States, 12 reaching the top 20 with seven entering the top 10, making Yes one of the highest charting album bands in Billboard history. In the U.K., Yes was even bigger, reaching the top 20 with 14 long-players, 11 climbing into the top 10. In addition, 1973‘s “Tales From Topographic Oceans,” probably the band’s most controversial release, topped the UK charts as did “Going For The One” four years later.

“Topographic Oceans” is a two-record set, each of the four sides consisting of one long piece. I bought it when it came out, but didn’t play it much. A few years back, I tried it again on CD, figuring I now had more time and patience to enjoy it. But, the years didn’t make much difference. It has its moments, but often I find myself anxiously waiting for Elvis or Bo Diddley to interrupt.

Lechner noted, “depending on your point of view, ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ is either prog rock’s absolute nadir or its dreamy masterpiece” and Bruce Eder, writing in allmusicguide.com, agrees, saying, “No album has more divided both fans and critics of Yes alike. At the time of its release, critics called ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ excessive, representing the height of progressive rock’s self-indulgent nature. Originally inspired by Jon Anderson’s reaction to a set of Shastric scriptures, the album displayed a sublime beauty in many parts, and immense, mesmerizing stretches of high-energy virtuosity for most of its length.”

Anderson, of course, served as the group’s distinctive lead vocalist from its formation until just recently when ill health forced him to step down. He was replaced by Canadian Benoit David, who sings lead on the group’s upcoming release “Fly From Here.” Though Yes has survived a ton of personnel changes over the years, replacing its figurehead may prove the group’s final gasp, no matter how good David is.

The classic lineup remains the group that gave us “The Yes Album,” “Fragile” and “Close To The Edge” classics in 1971 and 1972. The key was the addition of guitarist Steve Howe, who can play rings around almost any other rock guitarist. Howe joined Anderson, keyboardist Tony Kaye, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Bill Bruford for “The Yes Album,” which helped the band turn the corner after two so-so LPs.

The next change came for “Fragile,” when keyboard whiz and showman extraordinaire Rick Wakeman took over for Kaye and that five also gave us “Close To The Edge.” Alan White replaced Bruford for “Tales From Topographic Oceans” with only Anderson and Squire remaining constants over the years. But even Anderson stepped aside for “Drama,” on which Trevor Horn served as vocalist.

Basically, the inductees should include Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman, Bruford, White, Kaye and Trevor Rabin, who contributed guitar and keyboards on various albums.

One thing I find with Progressive Rock recordings – and particularly those of Yes – is that no matter how many times I’ve listened previously, each hearing brings something new thanks to the virtuosity of the players.

The players in Yes are great musicians and this should not be held against them. Great musicians often put their heart and, yes, their soul into their playing. I won’t be around to have the last laugh, but I would almost guarantee that 50 years from now, the music of Yes will have endured while the recordings of several of the artists already inducted into the Hall of Fame will have been long forgotten.