ZEE: IDENTITY

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