Parzival’s Eye is the name that Chris Postl from RPWL (Vocals, Bass, Guitars, Keyboards) gave to his solo project who released this album in 2009. He was joined by singers Christina Booth (Magenta), Alan Reed (Pallas), as well as guitarist Ian Bairnson from Alan Parsons Project, fellow RPWL’er Yogi Lang on keys, drummer Hannes Weigend and more guitars from Ossi Schaller. The result is an incredibly polished album that contains the fluidity and grace that one would expect from RPWL, along with some wonderful guitar passages and solos that definitely are more into the neo-prog and Steve Hackett arena, but really for me this is all about the quality of the songs and the quality of the guys singing them.
I have been a fan of Alan since his days with Abel Ganz, and have followed him through Pallas and the many projects through the years. He has a wonderfully clear voice, able to hit seemingly any note with ease then provides as additional warmth to the tone. On this album he has a female compatriot who is able to match him and harmonise when the need arises, or take on the lead as she has on so many incredible albums. Chris has managed to bring together a group of players that bring his songs to life, provides them with a vibrancy and passion, and the result is a neo-prog album that is immediate and enjoyable, and just gets better the more I play it. There are times when it crosses into melodic rock, but that isn’t a bad thing when an album is as classy as this, and it just goes to show that 4/4 can be used as a valid time signature in prog!
The website hasn’t been updated in a number of years, it was a one-off project after all, but it is well worth checking out.
www.parzivals-eye.com
