A tribute to Richard Wright

Richard Wright, keyboard-player and backing vocalist for legendary rock band Pink Floyd, died on the 15th of September following a bout with cancer.

Pink Floyd came about in 1965, and Wright was there right from the beginning. He co-founded the band with Roger Waters, Nick Mason and short-time guitarplayer Rado Klose, after a brief period in pre-Floyd bands like 'The T-Set' and 'The Abdabs'. Wright would remain in the band right up until the last album and tour, and participated in the 2005 Live8 reunion concert. That would turn out to be the last Pink Floyd concert ever, if one is to believe statements from guitarist David Gilmour and Waters.

During the Pink Floyd glory years, Wright's keyboard and piano underlined the elaborate progressive rock of all their albums, and between Floyd activities he also found time for a solo career. His first solo album 'Wet dream' was released in 1976, and he handled the vocals and the writing of lyrics himself. A rock album in the vein of success-era Floyd, the album sadly went largely unnoticed and even today it is rarely seen or heard of. As good as it was, Wright would better it 18 years later with his second solo album 'Broken China'. The album's lyrics dealt with his wife's battles with depression and suicidal thoughts, and again the lyrics and vocals were handled by Wright himself, with two exceptions. On two of the records emotional tracks, Wright got Sinead O'Connor to contribute vocals. The best of these, and the best track on a good and underrated record, is the song 'Reaching for the rail'. This album, like his previous solo one, sounds rather like mid-tempo Pink Floyd with Wright singing. In latter years Wright toured with David Gilmour, and as a special surprise, they performed the song 'Breakthrough' live at the concerts, which can be seen (and heard) on the DVD 'David Gilmour live'.
At the time of his death, Wright was working on a third, instrumental, album.

In addition, he formed a band called Zee with Dave Harris of the band Fashion.
They only released on album (Identity in 1983), which failed to register much notice, just like the rest of his non-Floyd material. The album is one for completists, as it has very little to do with Pink Floyd and rock music in general, as it has more of an electronic music feel.

An underrated musician and writer, Wright's work is there for all to appreciate on such Pink Floyd classics as 'Shine on you crazy diamond', 'Run like Hell' and on former Floyd vocalist Syd Barrett's first two albums. To someone like me, who is a big fan of 70's rock music, Wright is another in a long line of musicians that worked hard for their bands success and will be missed. He was 65 at the time of his death, and leaves behind a wife and three children.
In one of life's small twists, his daughter Gala is married to musician Guy Pratt who played bass in Pink Floyd after Waters' exit.

Who are... Volbeat!

Sorry for the long wait for blog-updates! Here we go with another danish band in the 'Who are...' category!

Who
Volbeat were formed in 2001 by singer Michael Poulsen, formerly of death/thrash metal band Dominus. That band released 4 albums, including one in 1997 called 'Volbeat', from which the new band got it's name.
In addition to Poulsen, the band features Anders Kjølholm (Bass), Jon Larsen (drums) and Thomas Bredahl (guitars). Unlike Dominus, Volbeat's music is radio-oriented and influenced by Poulsen's love of 'The Sun records legacy'. His admiration of people like Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley shines through, and lends a slight rock 'n' roll flavour to the hard rock of their albums. The band has achieved significant mainstream approval in Denmark, which is uncommon for native hard rock and metal bands. Thus, their second album was the first metal album to reach #1 on the Danish sales list.

Releases of note

Soulsweeper (debut single, 2003)
I only wanna be with you (second single, 2004)
The Strength, the sound, the songs (debut album, 2005)
The Garden's tale (succesful single from second album, went to #1, 2007)
Rock the rebel, metal the devil (second album, went to #1, 2007)
Maybellene i hofteholder (single from third album, 2008)
Live: Sold out (DVD, 2008)
Guitar gangsters & Cadillac blood (third album, 2008)

In depth
Rock the rebel... has so far been Volbeat's most popular album. Lead off by single 'The garden's tale', with it's English/Danish lyrics, the album sold a lot on the back of some heavy rotation on Danish radio stations. The influence of Johnny Cash and Presley was even more prominent here than on their first album, not least in songs like 'Sad Man's Tongue' and 'Mr. & Mrs. Ness'. Following the release of this album, Volbeat were handpicked to open for Metallica and later for Megadeth.

Best and worst
The jury is still out on what the best album is, but it's either Rock the rebel... or Guitar Gangsters. It's early days yet for the latter album, but lead off single 'Maybellene i hofteholder' (Maybellene in garter-belt) and the duet with The Storm-singer Pernille Rosendahl, 'Mary Ann's place' are among the band's best tracks. Worst is hard to say with so few releases that are kind of similar in style, but since I'm not much of a music-DVD person, we'll go with Live: Sold out.
Anyone with an interest in contemporary hard rock with a rock 'n' roll influence would do well to check out this fresh band.