ZEE: IDENTITY

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Quite possibly the worst album in my entire music collection, Rick Wright's collaborative effort with Dave Harris (formerly of the band FASHION), "ZEE: Identity" is tediously painful to listen to. Released in 1984 at the height of the 80's synth-sound and drum machine craze, much of this album belongs on a cheap B-movie soundtrack of that same decade. This album is heavy on the keyboards and Fairlight synthesizers, and has very haunting (if at times laughable) sonic themes.

Although billed as primarily a Rick Wright Project (for sales purposes at least), Rick was only responsible for co-writing the music. The lyrics and vocals are the responsibility of Dave Harris alone, and they are easily the weakest part(s). Heavily reliant on the studio, the music seems sparse at times, but maybe that is because there are only two members at work here.

Musically, on the Fairlight and keyboards "Identity" is not a complete washout. Rick Wright himself describes this project album as "...a failed experiment." But I beg to differ! At least Rick had got back on the proverbial 'horse' and attempted to write music again (something he hadn't done since 1978's "Wet Dream"). And as mentioned above, he can't be faulted for the poor lyrics and the vocal performance. Wright/Harris also dabble in electronica on the track 'Strange Rhythm'.

The tracks 'Voices', 'Cuts Like a Diamond' and 'Seems Like We Were Dreaming' hark back to the slow, melodic tunes that we normally associate with Wright (think of 'The Violent Sequence' and 'Great Gig in the Sky'), but definitely lack the refinement and beauty of said pieces.

A rare album, that sounds quite unlike anything Rick Wright (or Pink Floyd for that matter) ever recorded. It was never officially released on CD, for good reason. 1/5 stars

I've decided to give my LP of this another go and pay more attention to it's better parts, rather than focus on the weaker elements which dominate the album. In my 'personal pages' I rate this as a 3, but, given the broad scope of this site, I can only say it is for collectors/fans only. Firstly, if you are a Floyd die-hard, then you would have this and find it less than satisfying, maybe even disappointing. For sure, I was taken aback when I heard the 'adult dance/mature 80's pop' sound emanating from the speakers. However, I was quite happy to part with 5 bucks when I found it in a crate of 'New Arrivals - 80's' at a local secondhand shop in the mid-90's. Not what I'd expected for something graced by Wright. However, I can agree that 3 tracks (mentioned by a previous reviewer) are quite listenable ; Voices, Cut's Like a Diamond and Seems We Were Dreaming. They all generate an atmosphere which is familiar to us prog lovers, though the album has very little to do with prog. Wright is credited with backing vox, although I'd swear it's him taking the lead on Seems We Were Dreaming. Dave Harris' vox sound quite similar to Rick's. Equipment-wise, both members are credited with Keys but I'm not a big fan of the Fairlight CMI as it tends to generate very synthetic and cold sounds, which I gather this album is soaked in, but I can hear Wright's Hammond peep through in the mix occasionally. Album opener (and single, I believe) 'Confusion' sounds fine in it's daggy, 80's way, but 'By Touching' and 'How Do You Do It ?' are the album's low points. So, hard to recommend it really, but then again.....

As far as I am aware this album is only available in LP format. Due to lack of success in the sales dept. it also unfortunately received unfavourable reviews from critics and apparently Rick Wright himself. Let's put the album in perspective however. 1984, Rick Wright and David Harris ( of Fashion ) got together to form Zee. A one album wonder? - yes. A desert island classic? -no. But it is IMO the perfect combination of the new romantic 80's sound and Rick Wright's indellible Pink Floyd sound. Although a large part of the keyboard work is synth driven, Wright and Harris combine ably in the vocal dept too and create a rare example of progressive and pop cultures meeting. The album starts with the grooving ' Confusion'. A good way to describe the sound is that is like an upbeat Japan album or slightly less commercial sounding early Talk Talk record. Both artists contribute to the electronic percussion with solid rhythms throughout.' Voices' is dreamlike and poignant yet sounds more like Pink Floyd than any other song here. One of the strongest tracks on Identity. ' Private person' and ' Strange Rhythm' are not the best songs but the latter does show some great atmospheres to close out side one.

' Cuts Like a Diamond' is probably the most accessible and commercial song on Identity. Great guitar work from David Harris. ' By Touching' and ' How Do You Do It' again not brilliant but explore the more funky side to the album. ' Seems We Were Dreaming' closes the album off and is a slow ballad like song with RW and DH providing some nice dreamy vocals. The casette release had ' Eyes of a Gipsy' as a bonus track. In summary this album is a rare nuggett of a bygone era. Not as bad as everyone makes out. Definitely has the 80's sound to it but shows quality musicianship from start to finish. A worthy 3.5 stars.

This album has really nothing to be compared with Rick's prior and debut solo album. The music displayed here is just a collection of electro-beats with little flavours.

In terms of his partnership with Dave Harris, I really wonder why Rick did this choice. I just can say that he was rather poor in terms of input. IMHHO, he was just not the guy to go along with Rick (even in 1984).

There are hardly any great track here. The worse is probably Strange Rhythm and the most bearable one Cut Like A Diamond. Thanks to a fine and spacey intro, the listener is finally brought to some better music. My fave from this album, but to be honest it was not difficult.

If you really want to experience the awful electro-beats from By Touching, then you have to listen to this album. I was wrong about Strange Rhythm. The worse of all is this one (sorry Rick).

It was maybe not a great idea to review this work under the known circumstances, but since I decided to review Rick's work I can't help providing my view about it. The result is not very famous, I'm afraid.

I am amazed to see that one reviewer (with no comment) considered this album as a masterpiece! I would be more on a classic rating as far as this album is concerned. Unfortunately it is one star.

First of all, it's NOT a Richard Wright's solo album. Dave Harris did a lot of composing, however some ideas coming from this album can be found with a bit of attention on Broken China. I would have expected to find it under ZEE. This is a very dated album. It's from the 80s and lacks of originality as a lot of its contemporary. It was an era during which the choice of sounds seemed to be the most appealing factor, so many artists did their best, or their worse to appear very "80s". I just want to mention Camel's Stationary Traveller or Mike Rutherford's Acting very strange as examples. Another must of the period was the Fairlight: it dominated the 80s sound toghether with the Yamaha DX7 and the Rolands, and does it in this album as well. All the percussions are electronic and mainly based on disco rhythms. "Confusion" could be played in a disco also today, but it's not so bad as it could seem. It's not worse than other more appreciated songs of that period, but of course one could expect more than this from Richard Wright. "Voices" is a dark track. It's where Broken China is from. Totally electronic, but don't forget that Richard is a keyboardist. "Private person" is back into commercial, but not properly disco. I don't think that dancing on this rhythm is possible. Not the best track of the album in any case. "Strange Rhythm" is what its title says: strange. Personally I like it. The voice is similar to Bryan Ferry with a touch of David Bowie, so very in line with the era. Not worse than some electronic songs of the white Duke. "Cut like a diamond" is the only Floydian track. The intro is typical from Wright. The sounds is different, but the chord's sequence comes directly from Wet Dreams. The guitar riff could have been played by Gilmour if only he was used to play one octave lower than usual. "By touching" is the track i liked less when I bought the album, however listening to it now, I can recognise the link to Broken China "How do you do it" is the weakest track of the album. Put Michael Jackson's voice on it and you'll have a perfect soft-disco track. Skip it. "Seems we were dreaming" is the most melodic song of the album. A chill out song, very relaxing, even if totally in the 80s as well.

What to say of this album at the end? It's between 2 and 3 stars. A true Pink Floyd fan must have it. It's non-essential for sure. Some tracks are good enough, but some are very weak. I go for 3 stars in memory of Rick and because of the link to Broken China. If you have enjoyed it, you can give a try to this album. If you didn't like Broken China, there's no chance to like this one.