RICHARD WRIGHT

The 4-star rating is for Floyd fans (which I am one). For the casual listener or non-Floyd fans, I'd rate it at most a 3 star album.

For Floyd fans, you'll find this album is a kind of light, easy-listening version of Floyd - and while that might not sound very appetising, I do mean it in the best sense. Snowy White does a nice Gilmour imitation, and Mel Collins' work will remind many of a certain Dick Parry. Wright's keyboard and synth work are in the "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" vein.

As other reviewers have noted, the best songs on this album are the instrumentals. While I find the vocal tunes to be pleasant (my nod goes to "Holiday" as the best vocal song), I really wish Wright had saved the vocal numbers for another album.

As much as I enjoy this album (and have been listening to it quite often of late), it also frustrates me. Listening to it, I can't help but feel it was kind of tossed off quickly, without the kind of care and attention that Floyd usually went into when making albums. I wish that Wright had spent more time in the studio, and had been intent on making a major statement. The album could also have used Gilmour's touch on the guitar (not the soloing Gilmour of THE WALL, but the Gilmour of DARK SIDE and WISH YOU WERE HERE, adding varying layers of rhythm work and other overdubs). Whereas Floyd tunes had 3 or 4 different guitars on a tune, Wright's album usually only has White's one. The album also could have been mixed better.

Pleasant album, and one that seems, with a little more work, not too far away from having been a major Floyd album. sigh.

Rick Wright's , Pink Floyd keyboard player debut solo album . Believe me, in fact it is almost lost Pink Floyd album ( somewhere around "WYWH"and "DSOTM" period).

Album contains midtempo epic songs,which sound as very Pink Floyd music! Rick Wright sings in similar to Waters manner, and plays keyboards in very PF style. Snowy White adds great guitar line and solos, when Mel Collins plays excellent sax. In total, the music is very Floydian, melodic, based on keyboards, but rich in guitar,sax and drumming.

Yes, after some listening you can note, that music is a bit more melodic, lighter, not as dark ( in fact -not dark at all), with some jazzy arrangements. So - a bit different from original Floyd music, but potentially could be their another album. And you feel mostly Waters absence ( mainly in sound and record atmosphere).

I think that album is nearest Floydian work of all ex-PF members solo albums ever, and strongly recommended to all classic period PF fans.

Wow.... just discovered this.... like unearthing lost treasure. Anyone into Pink Floyd MUST hear this, although sadly it's hard to get hold of.

Perhaps because Richard Wright is no longer with us I find it quite a moving process listening through and also because it is such a melancholic album with many of the about relationship break down. This theme is prescient as the album was made around the time at which Richard's days in Pink Floyd were numbered, given the dominance of the band by Roger Waters.

However, this album confirms to me how important Richard Wright was to the classic sound of Pink Floyd... never a virtuoso player, his musical personality is there in the 'feel' of his playing, in those wonderful elegiac 'Great Gig'-like chord progressions, and in his distinctive vocals.

The whole album is a laid back affair with instrumentals and songs interspersed more or less evenly throughout. The production is beautiful and the playing by Mel Collins and Snowy White is absolutely exemplary.

Wonderful stuff...

A bit bleak...

The Pink Floyd keyboardist's second solo album is a rather bleak affair. Apparently a concept album about depression, the mood is suitably gloomy, mellow and dark throughout. The sound perfectly depicts someone who has given up on life because there are virtually no signs of aggression or fear, or any other emotion apart from those of depression itself. The music comes off as rather flat, and with just a couple of exceptions, it basically stays in the same mood throughout its hour long running time. I find it very difficult so stay interested for the entire album and the good moments are too few and too far between. It could easily have been shortened.

Some tracks are almost ambient and often feel like mere transportation to get to the vocal parts. There are no real up-tempo songs, but there are a few glimmering passages with drums and David Gilmour-like guitar licks. The drums are sometimes looped and sound a bit sterile and lifeless and too contemporary for my taste. Night Of A Thousand Furry Toys is probably the best track on the album and it reminds me of Steve Hackett's Darktown. Same kind of atmosphere and feeling.

Wright's vocals are perhaps not the strongest, but there is a certain charm in them and it is not because of the vocals that I complain about this album. Indeed, I find some enjoyment in this album, but it is not enough to impress me. Pink Floyd's last couple of albums, Momentary Lapse Of Reason and The Division Bell are much better than this and Wright's first solo album Wet Dream is also more to my liking than this.

Floating against the current

As many reviewers have pointed out before me, this album is very Pink Floydian in its sound and feeling. Particularly, it sounds like Dark Side Of The Moon - especially the more mellow, piano dominated parts of that album as well as its sax solos. At the time when this album was released, Pink Floyd - under the leadership of Roger Waters - were going in something of a New-Wave direction, looking towards the 80's. This current culminated with albums like The Wall and The Final Cut. Wright, on the other hand, opted for going in the opposite direction, looking back towards the 60's and adopting an (updated) psychedelic sound.

Wet Dream is a very fitting title of this album since the music is indeed both 'floating' and 'dreamy'. It is also very laid-back and jazzy in about the same way that the music of Supertramp is jazzy. Keyboards, guitars and saxes are the dominant lead instruments. The primary keyboard instrument is the piano. Wright's vocals are perhaps not very strong, but there is nothing wrong with his voice.

Overall, this music is rather inoffensive and too laid-back to be of great interest to me. Still, in my opinion this album is actually better than many Pink Floyd albums, even better than some of the most highly regarded Pink Floyd albums! But, then again, I was never a very big fan of that band.

Good, but non-essential album. Recommended for fans of Pink Floyd.

01. Mediterannean C Richard Strong of the songs have always been simple to piano, but sensational in terms of melody. And here in the introduction to the disk that you have. Then a beautiful array of synthesizers and beautiful saxophone of Mel Collins, remember what the sound of Floyd, but we are talking about one of the guys who helped build this sound right? Although the melodies used by Rick here has a melancholic tone used by the different Floyd. The guitars are very well orchestrated by Snowy White (no, he is not the opinion of Gilmour despite much).

02. Against The Odds A lovely guitar melody begins with the piano. The charming voice of Richard always first appears, it is strange at the beginning of Pink Floyd he always did so many voice, the star of a few Wright was disappearing in the band). Belo chorus, charming, unassuming, quiet and serene. If the disc was not produced by itself I would say that Richard had been Alan Parsons, as the timbre of battery it is certainly the same as the boy was wearing the band.

03. Cat Cruise Truncated, full of melodies reverse and full of tension, as is usually a soundtrack. The presence of the saxophone has only lead to more melancholic music. The bottom of Larry Steele is always discreet and 'escort' the melodies.

04. Summer Elegy Virtually the disc is composed of pianos, and this reminds me a little Summer Of'68 (think it was good that even the intention) .. Sensational double the vocals, as only he could do, and did very well, is not a great singer but a great melodist and has a very nice voice .. The land always remind me pretty much the style of Gilmour, which only makes me more encucado and he was sure that even if the guitars recorded this disc. And speaking about it, if not the timbre of the battery of feet together I swear that it is actually Reg Isadore Nick Mason, too, because the style is exactly the same. I have a huge impression that the guys have a force that, while Roger wrote The Wall and The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking.

05. Waves A 'q' of ELO here, some sounds the boxes, a phrasing of a saxophone and bass bacana always very well played by Mel. Most of the track is controlled by the sax and the keyboards in the background, which has always been an ability to Richard, the work song and not just by him, is what the music for and not what he wants. This is sensational.

06. Holiday A very beautiful ballad that tells the story of a day / a weekend off, away from all the filth and doideiras in the world, two in a distant and beautiful world. Two souls swimming in an aquarium. A beautiful passage of the guitar solos and synthesizers are united only an agreement to return for Mr. Wright, his vocal melodies and sad. It is almost an invitation unforgettable, who loves going out with / like and get away a little. End repeated until the message is understood, with an unexpected and very cool solo at the end.

07. Mad Yannis Dance The layers of keyboard is increasing little by little, with the guitar melody in a hypnotic way, a little synthesizer and bass and join the same melody, a guitar and a percussion always painfully little to the bottom, also mark the saxophone presence. A waltz strange, this is it!

08. Drop In From The Top A groove, with Hammonds raised and full of 'land guitarrísticos'. More of a jam session same studio. Still does not have good melodies' behind the cameras.

09. Pink's Song Do not know from where came the idea of 'A Song Of Pink', but if it was not inspiring muse of Roger I do not know anything. The voice once again has the stamp of quality Wright, the guy has a good taste and both are simple melodies but an unparalleled beauty. This track is a mixture of sadness and beauty, with a further contribution of flutes of Mel.

10. Funky Deux How could no longer be, as well as the name suggests, a 'funk session', this time having enough space as the style calls for the low Larry Steele appear. Indeed it is a psychedelic funk full of keyboards and to fund some good HAMMONDS. And a ton of good and heavy soils of saxophone and guitar. A jam of mind 'lively' end it in style.

Most of the disc is instrumental, but not one of those instrumental full of musicians and a very righteous touch of soul, what we have here is instrumental in the line 'New Age', calm and beautiful songs with melodic passages and sad.

www.progshine.com

The lost Pink Floyd album of 78

After the release of the album Dark Side of the Moon, the band Pink Floyd finally took its most successful formation, with Roger Waters in control of the band in almost every aspect of it. Due to that control, Waters outshone most band members, if not all of them, as far as writing the music and the lyrics goes, for at least three Floyd albums (Animals, The Wall, The Final Cut and a little bit in Wish you Were Here), what made two band members release two solo albums, being Richard Wright's Wet Dream one of them and the other David Gilmore's David Gilmore album.

I usually say that this album is the lost Pink Floyd album because Wet Dream sounds a lot like a Pink Floyd album from the early 70's, a period when the band had a more democratic writing process, when all the band members contributed for the songs and for the album in general. However, this album has two big difference from the other Pink Floyd albums: it's atmosphere is MUCH lighter and brighter, contrasting greatly with Floyd's dark and gloomy mood, and it has a much broader usage of saxes and flutes than Pink Floyd, making it stand out from the other albums Rick Wright had done so far.

As far as the style of music goes, i think that the album sits comfortably between The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish you were here and Meddle, since you can notice Wright's style of composition from those three albums in Wet Dream. However, since there are no other composers, except from Wright himself, the music in Wet Dream flows somehow differently from the usual Pink Floyd music.

The highlights go to Mediterannean C, Cat Cruise, Waves, Mad yannis Dance and Funky Deux.

Grade and Final Thoughts

Though being a very good album, Wet Dream does not exceeds its floydian counterparts in the quality department. However, it is still a terrific album, and deserves recognition and a fair grade. On a side note, i really wonder why Richard Wright put such an unusual name in his album, which relates to nocturnal emissions. . . But anyway, 4 stars it is then.

I have been listening this albums lots of time during this last fortnight. At times distractively in my car, at times with a much more dedicated focus (as now).

I always have the same feeling of a very appealing record which sounds pretty much as Floyd during some tracks (Night of a Thousand Furry Toys). But the majority of the music features atmospheric music. It reminds me furiously the B-side from Low (Bowie). Hidden Fear is such track.

This album is very relaxing; almost new age at times (Runaway). Some short instrumental tracks are being added and don't necessarily improve the quality of the work (Unfair Ground, Interlude or Drowning). Some others are more extended and do have more character like Satellite: it has a Floydian feel but I also tend to hear some Roxy influences (the bass play is close to the one available during the intro of Manifesto). It is a good instrumental track.

Rick is also doing well on the vocal side, even if some more passion could have been incorporated, the elegance of Woman of Custom is another pleasant moment of his Broken China.

My fave song from this work is probably Far from the Harbour Wall. It starts as an early Floyd song (ASOS period) and combines a fine melody together with more experimental passages. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. So poignant.

Actually, the last part of the album is more attractive and features several very good songs like Reaching for the Rail which holds an excellent vocal performance from Sinead O'Connor.

One of the most emotional part of this album is without doubt the excellent instrumental Sweet July (at least IMHHO). Another great Floydian track. The shadow of the band is not alien to Along The Shoreline which is pretty close to the last Floyd album (Division Bell).

And finally, Breakthrough is a beautiful closing number: another fine vocal part from Sinead, a quiet melody. I miss some good guitar to close, probably. It will be available on the live at the Royal Festival Hall from David and featuring Rick on the vocals.

This work needs your investigation. I would rate it with seven out of ten. Still, I prefer to upgrade it to four stars than the other way around. Rick brought me some marvellous musical moments and each time I will listen either to his solo work or to a great Floyd song, it will sound differently. A prominent member of the rock music is physically gone, but he will always be spiritually present. Thanks a lot Rick.

This album has really nothing to be compared with Rick's prior and debut solo album. The music displayed here is just a collection of electro-beats with little flavours.

In terms of his partnership with Dave Harris, I really wonder why Rick did this choice. I just can say that he was rather poor in terms of input. IMHHO, he was just not the guy to go along with Rick (even in 1984).

There are hardly any great track here. The worse is probably Strange Rhythm and the most bearable one Cut Like A Diamond. Thanks to a fine and spacey intro, the listener is finally brought to some better music. My fave from this album, but to be honest it was not difficult.

If you really want to experience the awful electro-beats from By Touching, then you have to listen to this album. I was wrong about Strange Rhythm. The worse of all is this one (sorry Rick).

It was maybe not a great idea to review this work under the known circumstances, but since I decided to review Rick's work I can't help providing my view about it. The result is not very famous, I'm afraid.

I am amazed to see that one reviewer (with no comment) considered this album as a masterpiece! I would be more on a classic rating as far as this album is concerned. Unfortunately it is one star.

As many of us, I am thinking more of Rick these days. It is true that I never considered him as he ought to be and things have to be put into perspective here. Now more than ever.

First of all, his song writing capabilities should have been better recognized while he was a permanent member of the huge band we (almost) all love. Not only did he contribute to several great songs from the band, but in his first solo album Wet Dream he just confirmed this.

Mediterranean C which is the opening track is truly superb. But it is only the first of many songs in which Mel Collins appear as a fantastic asset.

There are also truly Floydian accents like Against The Odds in here; but this is no wonder I guess. Lyrics are quite explicit:

I don't want to talk no more tonight. We've gone through this before. Now we ask for more. Seems to me we can't escape at all. Words have no meaning. To hold such a feeling. Can there be a way out of here. I don't know. Why we go on so. I don't want to fight no more tonight. Every time's the same. Both of us to blame. I don't want to talk no more tonight...

Another one is the beautiful and melodic Summer Elegy. On the soft side of course, but really catchy. It is actually on par with the superb Waves which features some fantastic sax again from Mel.

Rick was very clever while he hired Snowy White to hold the guitar on this album: he is just remarkable. Just listen to the passionate and melodic Drop in from the Top.

Pink's Song is one of the emotional one from this album: an obvious wink to dear old friend Waters: Patiently, you watched us play parts you'd seen before. Even then, we sometimes asked: would you keep us for? Sadly, then, you lost yourself. So you had to leave.

The only filler of the album is the closing instrumental Funky Deux. But apart from this one, the album is pretty enjoyable all its way through. I will sentimentally raise my rating from a seven out of ten to four stars.

I just wonder why Rick has been catalogued as a Prog Related artist on this site.