a shame

Let's hear it for the Dave fans.

I definitely agree about "Near the End", and I almost added it.

About Mr. Wright as a lyricist...well, it's a little hard to know what his capabilities really are, because he was not given quite the same opportunities to find out what his full potential is, compared to the other members. Plus, most of his efforts were written at a young age. What he might write now might be a bit different. There's really no way to tell--I'd say lyrically he's an unknown quantity by now.

I'm not going to repeat what Fulghum, Stratman and Floydwright already expressed; I just want to point out a couple of things. First of all I don't care WHO writes the lyrics (David, David's wife, who really cares?) as long as I like them. It' just so stupid... I never heard any Tom Waits' fan complaining about his wife writing with him. And Kathleen Brennan co-writes TW's songs since the 80s.
About Rick I think is obvious that he simply isn't interested in writing lyrics! He considers himself a musician and I have to say I agree with him. Again, I like Anthony Moore's lyrics, they are probably ten times better than anything Rick could write himself, so, fine! Why should I be bothered?

mad yannis--For the most part, I agree with you. I do think a lot of people get overly worried about who does the writing. I would say I am interested in who writes, but it's not a deal-breaker for me if not everybody is a one-man-show.

I definitely agree that Mr. Wright seems to consider himself a musician first, and so his primary interest is with the music...but I'm not sure we can accurately judge what his lyrical capabilities are at this point. Finding something less interesting doesn't mean your aptitude for it is less. I happen to be very, very uninterested in math, for instance, but when I had to take it in school, I usually made high marks (A's most years including introductory calculus, B's two years...algebra is hell!). The thing was, I knew I did not like it and did not want to spend my life doing it. But that didn't prevent the high marks. I don't know what the case is with Mr. Wright, but I think that given the passage of over 20 years since he last wrote, we don't really know what he can do now. And as for the past, it's not as if he got a lot of practice, compared to the other Floyds.

On Division Bell: Gilmour was capable of writing some average lyrics for a rock album. The other lyricists probably helped to express his feelings, but the lyrics on Division Bell are nothing special really. But as long as it's got some great music (Cluster One, Marooned, Poles Apart, High Hopes...), I don't care so much. Maybe if Division Bell had a more sharp and understandable concept, the lyrics would fit better, but concept is largely about the lyrics. Dave obviously did not have the courage to make it more Floyd in these terms. Richard was the one who wanted Division Bell to be more conceptual. But this have not happened. Still, the Division Bell is a thematic album at least. This is what I lacked in AMLOR (besides many other things I lacked there....), although I've read the theory about it being about the nuclear danger. Overall - David Gilmour was always better in music than in lyrics. Anyway, Sorrow and High Hopes are great lyrics I think, plus there are some more great lyrics on his solo albums like Near The End for instance. It's pretty hard to write such good lyrics as Roger does.

On Broken China: Broken China is a wonderful record and I'm happy that Richard made it even more Floyd-like with the storyline expressed by the lyrics running through the record.
Anthony Moore is Richard's friend, not a hired person and the lyrics he wrote are great and express what Richard wanted them to express, not a rock babble and cliché. I was pretty surprised when I first heard it and read the lyrics. It was so Floydish. It was like ... Hey Roger, I can do a concept album too! ... and it's the same reason why to make this album as on Amused to Death. The personal feelings, the message one can give to the world. Both Roger and Richard wanted to give a message and also to get something out of themself. Kinda therapy, like on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album.

Although I think we're rather in disagreement about Mr. Gilmour, I seem to remember Mr. Wright actually referring to Broken China as a therapeutic experience for him. Those weren't his EXACT words, but it's good to see that you felt that aspect of it as you listened. But I doubt he did it just because he wanted to prove something to Mr. Waters...he said in a video interview that even during the PULSE tour he'd intended to make a solo album for awhile, but he'd wanted it to be all instrumentals. Then the idea grew in him after one song was given lyrics...and from there, it expanded. It sounds like in some ways its growth was rather spontaneous.

That thing about proving something to Roger was my first thought when I listened to the record and read the lyrics for the second or third time. It would be sad of course if this was Richard's reason. I was so nicely surprised.

On David Gilmour: His lyrics are definitely not what Roger's are. They are certainly different, maybe I can't compare them and say which I like more. But I must say I like Roger's lyrics more. I think that there are more people who write lyrics in the style of David Gilmour, than people who write lyrics in the style of Roger Waters, which is again why I like Roger's lyrics less, although both have written some very personal lyrics. Also, Roger's lyrics were a part of the Pink Floyd's success in the 1970s. The concept running through the albums was a standard thing for Pink Floyd. AMLOR was a big disappointment for me. Division Bell was better, but still, they couldn't replace Roger's efforts completely. And without Roger are not the same Pink Floyd, because he was very important. I mean, David could have tried to make it in his own way, but the result - AMLOR - does not deserve to be titled Pink Floyd in my opinion. So in 1993, when composing the new album. David, Richard and Nick realised that it won't be Pink Floyd if they just collect some rock songs like David did on AMLOR. Division Bell deserves to be called Pink Floyd.