Have you ever wondered what Pink Floyd's epic concept album The Wall would sound
like as a country and western record? No? Well, you can find out anyway with the new album by
Luther Wright and the Wrongs. The efforts of this Kingston, Ontario, Canada cowboy quartet
have payed off with Rebuild The Wall pt. 1. The album sits proudly on Canadian music store
shelves, with a big sticker on it reading "Endorsed by Roger Waters" and a cover featuring the
wall of the original album, now built of haybails. The disc is a song by song reconstruction of
the first LP of The Wall, only now done a full out country style (and not that wussy new country
crap. We're talking banjo, fiddle, and bottleneck guitars here!)
So is it actually worth listening to? Yes, suprisingly. Though some of the arrangements would
make any die-hard Pink Floyd fan cringe and scream, the album is quite good if you approach it with
a sense of humour. Obviously this album was not done entirely seriously. For instance, the intro
speech on "One Of My Turns" has become:
"Golly! What a spread! Are all them yer guitars? This place is like a barn! ..."
And the evil voice in Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 now screams "If you don't eat yer
chicken, you can't have any meat." over some barnyard sounds.
Some of the songs flow quite easily into a country style; such as One Of My Turns or Don't
Leave Me Now. Other songs seem to have been beaten into submission, such as the odd rendition of
Mother which switches between 4/4 and 3/4 time. Another Brick In The Wall part 3 sounds a lot
like Johnny Cash's Rusty Cage.
Still, this cowboy curiosity deserves a spot in every Floyd fan's collection. And don't worry;
the band promises that Rebuild The Wall Pt. 2 is coming soon!