Record Reviews

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG ~ AMERICAN DREAM ATLANTIC 075678188824 (Barcode: 075678188824) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1988 Released: 1988 This is the second studio album by the iconic Classic Rock group Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungFind albums by this artist. The four singers / songwriters are supported by bassist Bob GlaubFind albums by this artist, drummer Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist, percussionist Joe LalaFind albums by this artist and several other guests. The album presents fourteen original songs, recorded over a period of several months in 1988 an written or co-written by the group members and the musicians playing on the album, with Neil YoungFind albums by this artist being involved in writing half of the songs on the album. Personal conflicts, ego wars and genuine problems prevented Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young from fulfilling their tremendous potential and the fact that they managed to record only three studio albums is a travesty. "American DreamFind albums with this title" is a truly prophetic title, since the two decades that separate the recording of this album from their groundbreaking debut "Déjà VuFind albums with this title" not only changed the worldwide music scene but also marked the shattering of the America Dream in every aspect: political, social, moral and intellectual. The days of Freedom and Hope were gone and the bleak reality took over. If any other group wrote and recorded these fourteen songs they would have been considered as excellent, but sadly in comparison to their glorious past these songs, which also suffered from the 1980s production malady, sound somewhat pale and underachieved, which gave both the critics and even the faithful fans plenty of opportunity to bitch bitterly. To be fair, in retrospect the album is not that bad at all, surely not in comparison to what passes as music these days. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young did not loose their ability to compose superb melodies, write meaningful lyrics and sing sublime vocal harmonies, which can all be found on this album. If not for the somewhat muddy sound and dreadful synthesizers the album sounds quite nice and surprisingly stands the test of time relatively well, especially so the two David CrosbyFind albums by this artist songs, which are up to par with his usual classics. Overall this is perhaps not the greatest recording by these iconic musicians, but definitely an album worth to be remembered and re-visited periodically, making sure it is not forgotten.

Updated: 19/01/2019Posted: 19/01/2019

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