Rick Wright - Wet Dream

Columbia Records

I am reminded of an old bit from WKRP In Cincinnati, where a DJ comments curtly like a bored teenager in regards to Pink Floyd. I never held that sort of dry animosity toward the Floyd--I loved them--but I do hold it in regards to the solo careers of 4 out of 5 of their members.

When it comes to Pink Floyd, especially post-Barrett Pink Floyd, it seems that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Without Roger Waters' painfully over-exerted control, they lack direction, and without the creative forces of the other members, Waters' head often winds up too far up his own ass. And despite how much I enjoy the work the band were able to create collaboratively, the weaknesses are far more tangible than the strengths when they are separated.

When it comes to Rick Wright's 1978 solo debut, I find the album artwork more intriguing than the instrumental selections. Pure instrumentals were harder to come by in the Pink Floyd days, a rare treat that serves the audience better when they are only given restricted access to it. Now, their appetites are only going to be spoiled.

The pieces exist to offer respite from a sweltering heat that does not exist. Caught somewhere between matching the cool of the artificial blue of the pool water on the cover, or the sickly menthol green only seen in cigarette advertisements of the absinthe glass next to it, they struggle between coalescing and remaining immiscible.

The majority of the instrumental pieces--"Cat Cruise" in particular--come across as if they were designed for dramatic climaxes in B-roll drama movies, for people charging down the rainy streets of New York in futile attempts to stop the inevitable. The saxophone work does the album the most favors, Mel Collins' doing the most heavy lifting to make the crisp, reedy, desperate atmosphere work.

The tunes that do have vocals contain this ambient, surrealistic, nearly dream-like quality to them. "Summer Elegy", especially, has a strong flow to it, pairing this semi-romantic fever with a deliberate vagueness that has the potential to be some of Wright's best lyric work. One thing I will say for Wright's lyric work, however: Many of the pieces sound like they were written by a lover scorned--whether Wright's marriage was on the rocks at the time, I can't say for certain, but if it was, he certainly isn't trying to hide it.

Rating: 3.5/5