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Richard Wright - Broken China CD (album) cover

BROKEN CHINA

Richard Wright

 

Crossover Prog

3.99 | 235 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

progaardvark
5 stars If you exclude Richard Wright's collaboration with Dave Harris on their 1984 Zee project, Broken China was Wright's second solo effort released 18 years after his debut solo album. A lot has happened to Wright over all those years and it culminates in this deeply personal and moving solo album. Broken China, in my opinion, is the best of all the Pink Floyd solo albums and carries the essence of what Pink Floyd used to mean to people. Wright delivers this with his deep, personal lyrics, haunting atmospherics, and exceptionally well done compositions. These aren't ordinary songs. They're also not really complex (like in the Gentle Giant sort of way), but they have layers upon layers of sound that invoke a different kind of complexity that can only be appreciated with repeated listens. The album goes through a lot of emotional moods, from sadness and bleak darkness to joy and happiness.

Broken China also features a number of talented guests including the beautiful voice of Sinéad O'Connor, the guitar work of Tim Renwick and Dominic Miller, and the drums of Manu Katché. Their contributions add immensely to the overall atmosphere of Broken China. Although I enjoy this album immensely, it isn't quite a masterpiece, though very, very close. Some of the short instrumental tracks between songs seem too undeveloped to me. Maybe the minimalism of these pieces were intended by Wright to evoke some sort of emotion. Perhaps I'm just missing their point? Still, it is much better than his debut album and I think it's quite a bit better than Division Bell. I'll give Wright the benefit of the doubt and round up my 4.7 to a five-star rating. An almost masterpiece that is highly recommended. Essential for Pink Floyd fans.

progaardvark | 5/5 |

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