Open edition offset lithographic print measures 11-1/2" x 16-1/2" and is printed on 250gsm Ideal paper. Published in 1996 by Rockoptic & Sonicom, UK.
This Storm Thorgerson-produced image was based on a photo by Tony May. It was taken – using a Hasselblad camera and a flash - at a private swimming pool in South London.
Broken China is the solo album released in the U.K. in late 1996 (and in the US in early 1997) on EMI/Guardian Records by Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard “Rick” Wright. Started soon after finishing his composing and touring duties for the band’s Division Bell, Wright began work on this next project at his personal studio in France.
The record was inspired by a close friend’s bout with depression. Working with studio whiz Anthony Moore, Wright expressed his feelings about what he was observing in his friend’s suffering in the record’s words and music. Having seen Peter Gabriel’s tour in 1994, he saw drummer Manu Katche and bassist Pino Palladino and began to piece together his band for this recording - which when completed included guitarists Dominic Miller (Sting) and Tim Renwick (Pink Floyd touring band) and, on vocals on two tracks, vocalist Sinead O’Connor.
Like all of his (and Floyd’s) compositions, he approached the record as a “concept album” and so it features a number of different musical styles, including African rhythms, computer-generated soundscapes, and classical instrumentation.
One of the founding members of the band that ultimately became Pink Floyd, Rick Wright’s talents as a musical composer were displayed prominently in the early Floyd albums, particularly on their classic early instrumentals such as “Interstellar Overdrive”, “One of the Days”, and “Saucer Full of Secrets”, and then again 20 years later on The Division Bell, where he co-wrote five of the record’s songs. He released his first solo record (called Wet Dreams) in 1978 but, due to a series of events, did not release another solo record until 1997’s Broken China.
