Flame-Sky Diver wrote:It's a brilliant concept album. It tells the life story of Richard's wife. There are 8 vocal tracks and 8 moody instrumentals (some of them very short) on the album, so it's not basically an instrumental record. The recording line-up is fantastic (Pino Palladino, Manu Katch?), Tim Renwick plays most of the guitars and Sinead O'Connor is a guest on two tracks sung from the main character's point of view. The style and mood of the album is very special, I can't really say it's similar to any Floyd album or any other Richard Wright album, but it's really great, well-thought arrangements, great production, strong music and strong story. Compared to Floyd solo albums, I think it's closest to Amused To Death, it has similar kind of arrangements, but it's much more focussed on music than Roger's album.
Great review, that sums it all up very nicely Glad someone enjoys the cd as much as I do.
nosaj wrote:I wasn't really impressed with this album (bought and sold it within weeks). Maybe another listen would change my mind.
Finally picked it up again last night and gave it a chance - it's not bad at all, if slightly dreary in parts (but that's the point I guess). I remember liking the instrumentals when it came out, but not the vocals...now I like the vocals with the exception of what's her name's two performances.
As far as a concept...it's a bit flimsy; I mean, it's more thematic to me than a real coherent concept - which doesn't bother me.
What I was wondering, is whether some of these songs were potential Division Bell songs rejected by Davey boy? Or whether some of the instrumentals actually grew out of DB sessions (there were a fair number of instrumentals from the sessions aparently).
It's a mediocre offering, but about what I'd expect from Rick. I liked his version of breakthrough with him singing on Daves live shows.
To call it a concept album is totally reaching. There's no way that there is any conceptual structure here...just a little theme (which you'd have no idea about if Rick hadn't said it was there).
Some typical Wright-like piano and chord-structures (similar to wet dream) and some standard studio musician tinkerings.
I give it a 4 out of a possible 10.
I ordered it, I hope it will be mailed soon, so my parents can bring it to me to the hospital. I think I will like it, I like Sinead O'Connor and if it sounds floydish...I hope he uses that good ol' Ghostie trumpet from shine one....
I think BROKEN CHINA could've been a Floyd Album if the other guys participated.
It sounds a bit mystic and pessimistic - it's a "downhill mood" on the whole album. The songs are quite strong and in Along The Shoreline Rick uses the same keyboard sound as in Run Like Hell on the 1994 tour.
Some solo albums are better than the average group album. Amused to Death is one of them. Another one is Broken China. I never listen to TDB, but Broken China is one of my favourites (as is Wet Dream, of of which I like everything, exept the title). Give Broken China a try before collecting all of the PF studio albums from before and after the seventies.
What surprises me the most is how similar it sounds to AMLoR, the overall mood and atmospheric synths... sometimes I think I'm listening to 'Signs of Life' or 'Terminal Frost'. It's a good album, not great, too much of a profesional musician sound to it and really dreadful lyrics (cold as ice-type of metaphores? c'mon is there anything more cliché than that?). Some tracks remind me of Delphines Software's "Another World" BG music, which is quite good and Eno-esque. The Sinead tracks are standouts and so is Furry Toys (sounds like the music George Michael and the Spice Girls could have made back in the 90s had they had any kind of talent back then) and the very Run Like Hellish Along The Shoreline (bass figure and keyboard solo, and the guitar solo also reminds me of some other 80's 8 bit NES game music) There's the overall fixation of Rick with the sea, and sailing and all that, in the lyrics and SFX that give the album cohesion and makes it more interesting thematically than the forgery on The Division Bell.
I recall some rumours about Wright wanting to record another PF album after TDB. Was that after of before releasing Broken China?
2. How is it compared to a) a floyd album and b)to the others solo work
1. Yes.
2. a) Depends which Floyd album. It's quite different from all Floyd albums, but (as danielcaux wrote) you can hear some things resembling of AMLOR instrumentals. Also, "Along The Shoreline" sounds like it was ripped from TDB. The rest of is quite darker.
b) Quite different, even from Rick's older solo work.
Glad someone enjoys the cd as much as I do.
