"To All Those Brave Enough to Face Their Past", August 25, 2001
Reviewer: FloydWaters (5 stars)
Review of Richard Wright's Broken China The artist himself acknowledged in interviews that he knew it wouldn't exactly be a best-seller, and seemed to have accepted it. But it seems a terrible shame to me that a man could pour out his heart-and in such beautiful fashion-and go unheard. Broken China, in my view, is on a level with Mr. Waters' solo work Amused to Death. I do not say that lightly. However, to compare it any further to ATD than to say that they both occupy a high rank among concept albums would be to do both works a disservice. Both are certainly concept albums. However, I would describe Broken China as a complete inversion of ATD. While ATD has a lyrical focus and the music takes a supporting role-just as a bard will accompany his narrative with "mood music," Broken China has a more musical focus, with the lyrics of Anthony Moore in a supporting role (More will be said on this collaboration later)-I perceive it more through wordless emotions than through logic. Where ATD takes a sweeping, intellectual, and ultimately grim look at society as a whole, Broken China is the harrowing, but ultimately inspiring story of two individuals alone: the narrator, Mr. Wright himself, and his future wife (then his girlfriend-her first name is Millie; I do not know her maiden name). Openly emotional in nature, this story will bring you to tears. The "concept" of Broken China is one that touched Mr. Wright's life in a deeply personal manner-the experience of watching his girlfriend endure clinical depression. Mr. Wright wrote this album, in part, as a means to help himself to deal with the aftermath of this painful episode. Needless to say, even being an observer in this situation was an anguishing experience. The album itself is divided into four clear sets, each set containing four songs (16 total). Each part deals with a particular "phase" of his girlfriend's life. Most of it is "narrated" by Mr. Wright, but two songs are sung by Sinead O'Connor, who represents his girlfriend. Here is a quick summary as I understand it, but I feel that in this case I have to be a bit more careful in the stating of my interpretations, since this album deals directly with the lives of two real individuals. I intend to analyse this further at a later time and, perhaps, get the chain of events better straightened out. In Set One, Mr. Wright describes the childhood of abuse his girlfriend endured-some of it probably sexual (ref. "Hidden Fear": "Why do we feel this adult pain/And hold these secrets that don't belong?"). If the title of this set's last song relates the true course of events, she runs away from home. Set Two deals with her womanhood and her attempts to repress all of the pain of her childhood-but the pressure continues to build. Set Three deals with the breakdown (which if I recall, in real life actually happened in a swimming pool at a time when Mr. Wright was away), the depression, and the terrible pain it caused both his girlfriend and Mr. Wright himself. In Set Four she makes a gradual, but eventually successful recovery with Mr. Wright giving her his love and support. After the events of the album itself, of course, Richard and Millie Wright were married-a true happy ending after a harrowing ordeal. In my mind, the recurring metaphor of water that occurs throughout the album proves that Mr. Wright is indeed in control of the project-despite the fact that he has lyricist Anthony Moore working with him, the feelings, thoughts, and sentiments seem to he his. How does this metaphor make me so certain? Mr. Wright, for those of you who don't know, has an absolute passion for sailing, and the image of water would be at the forefront of his thoughts. The fact that he collaborates with another lyricist does NOT mean that it is not his project! These experiences, this perspective, were his alone. Mr. Wright was indeed at the helm of this project, therefore all of the sentiments he expresses in the lyrics, should be treated just the same as if he had written them himself. The sound of the album itself is difficult to describe-quite otherworldly in many places, almost verging on techno for a few tracks (most notably "Satellite"), but nearly classical on a few others (most notably "Hidden Fear" and "Blue Room in Venice"). Yet another instrumental track is reminiscent of The Division Bell's "Cluster One" ("Sweet July"). Widely varying, but always otherworldly, the album shows off the wide range of musical moods and textures that Mr. Wright is capable of producing. In fact, upon playing a song for a friend, she immediately said, "It sounds just like Pink Floyd!" You have no idea how that warmed my heart! Though he often goes unrecognized, Mr. Wright's work truly is an influential, if sometimes subtle part of the Pink Floyd sound. Mr. Wright's vocals are noticeably different on Broken China than any of his earlier work (Wet Dream) or prior. Probably the closest comparison would be to TDB's "Wearing the Inside Out." However, to many of the songs, there a much more melodic quality to his singing-he makes much more use of vibrato than any other Floyd member at any time (ex. "Hidden Fear"), but he seems to take care not to overdo it. Mr. Wright's singing, as fits his personality, is not harsh or overbearing. Though his voice is rather deeper-sounding than fans of early Floyd would be accustomed to, his voice has not in any way suffered over time-it is just as clear as ever. In one final note on the subject, Mr. Wright has said in an interview that in the making of Broken China, he felt freer to experiment with his voice to find a way he felt most comfortable, and to my ear, it came out wonderfully. One final note on the lyrics, though the music is probably the primary focus for most (I will discuss the collaboration between Messrs. Wright and Moore in greater detail later), as well as to analyse some of the finer points, I must say that they are emotionally very powerful. One of the most powerful examples was in "Far from the Harbour Wall", and it goes as follows: "Now, because I could not cope with pain How things are not the same, she's got no remedies. A heartbreaking fall and I fear a change of course I feel like we were born insane, I hear the love, I fear the love For the heart is so low, see how it grows apart." My heart really went out to Mr. Wright here-it sounds as if he's blaming himself for everything that's happening to her, and how painfully strong the love is that he has for her. Oh, how that hit home with me-I could feel it so strongly. I cried like a baby when I heard this, because I felt his pain as if it were my own...just as it seems Mr. Wright felt HER pain as HIS own, not to mention his own private pain from what he was seeing. "To all those brave enough to face their past," says the album's dedication. Indeed-it took a great bravery for Mr. Wright to do this. He may be quiet, and he may not be combative, but there is no denying that he is truly brave. The same applies to Mrs. Wright for agreeing to let him create Broken China and to eventually decide that she was all right with letting him tell the full story about her. This is an album about an issue that affects one out of ten people. ONE out of TEN-think about that. "We were cut off from our lives, by a wall of pain, It can't be seen, it's so routine, it has no face or name." --"Along the Shoreline" It HAS a name, and it CAN be treated. I think that is part of the reason that Mr. Wright put out this album-so that perhaps someone out there somewhere might be spared the suffering that the two of them endured. This is the deep bravery that arises out of love-this is what offers hope even in the darkest of circumstances. This is the secret of Broken China. "To all those brave enough to face their past."

Good review, chap!

Cheers,

Mark

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When Bucks Fizz’s tour bus crashed they all survived. When Metallica's bus crashed Cliff Burton died. Why?