American Dream | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 1, 1988 | |||
Recorded | April 24, 1987–September 16, 1988 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 57:31 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | ||||
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young chronology | ||||
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Singles from American Dream | ||||
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American Dream is the fifth studio album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, and their second with Neil Young. Released in 1988 on Atlantic Records, it peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. To date, it is their final album of original material to receive either a gold or platinum citation by the RIAA. [2] It is the highest-selling album by Neil Young in the 1980s. [3] The album is dedicated to Jan Crosby, Anne Stills, Susan Nash and Pegi Young.
Neil Young promised David Crosby in 1983 that he would reunite with Crosby, Stills & Nash if Crosby could solve his problems with drugs and clean himself up. [4] Five months in prison in 1986 for Crosby at the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville following his 1985 arrest for possession of illegal drugs and a semi-automatic firearm in West Palm Beach, Florida accomplished exactly that, and, good to Young's word, the quartet assembled to record the second official CSNY studio album at Young's ranch in Woodside, California with his handpicked production team. [5] [6]
The title song, written by Neil Young, is a satire of then-sensational political scandals involving Oliver North, former presidential candidate Gary Hart and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, and was promoted with a filmed music video directed by Julien Temple that featured members of the band portraying exaggerated caricatures of North (Stills), Hart (Nash), and Swaggart (Crosby) with a disguised Young acting as narrator to their "downfall" and a Punk Rocker. Released as a single, it missed the Billboard Hot 100 completely, as did three of the other four singles released from the album but managed to peak at No. 4 on Album Rock Tracks Chart (now Mainstream Rock). The only single to chart in the US, "Got It Made", peaked at No. 69 on the Hot 100, though it charted much higher on two format-specific Billboard charts— #11 on Adult Contemporary and #1 on Album Rock Tracks. In Young's native Canada, the single "American Dream" was a substantial hit, peaking at #3, while "Got It Made" peaked at #16. [7]
David Crosby recounted, "The whole thing, the recording of American Dream, it got stretched out. And we did not have, really, the best group of songs to work with. Then, even though we did not have enough good songs, we ended up putting fourteen of them on the album! I think that was stupid." [8] For the first time in the group's history, none of the songs from a studio album became standard items in the group's live repertoire. [9]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [10] |
Robert Christgau | C+ [11] |
Rolling Stone | [12] |
Writing in Rolling Stone , critic Anthony DeCurtis wrote that "Despite pleasant melodies, the occasional interesting song, and the signature harmonies, American Dream is, for the most part, a snoozefest." [13]
The album was voted number 614 in the second edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (1998). [14]
Cash Box called the title track "the best thing out of CSN or Y since Deja Vu ." [15]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
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1. | "American Dream" | Neil Young | March 3, 1988 | 3:15 |
2. | "Got It Made" |
| July 28, 1988 | 4:36 |
3. | "Name of Love" | Young | February 25, 1988 | 4:28 |
4. | "Don't Say Goodbye" | September 15, 1988 | 3:23 | |
5. | "This Old House" | Young | May 4, 1988 | 4:44 |
6. | "Nighttime for the Generals" | March 24, 1988 | 4:20 | |
7. | "Shadowland" |
| April 24, 1987 | 4:33 |
8. | "Drivin' Thunder" |
| March 2, 1988 | 3:12 |
9. | "Clear Blue Skies" | Nash | March 28, 1988 | 3:05 |
10. | "That Girl" |
| May 10, 1988 | 3:27 |
11. | "Compass" | Crosby | March 22, 1988 | 5:19 |
12. | "Soldiers of Peace" |
| September 16, 1988 | 3:43 |
13. | "Feel Your Love" | Young | July 21, 1988 | 4:09 |
14. | "Night Song" |
| July 28, 1988 | 4:17 |
Total length: | 57:31 |
Handclaps on "American Dream"
Sound effects on "Shadowland"
The Volume Dealers Choir on "Soldiers of Peace"
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Year-end charts
Chart (1989) | Position |
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US Billboard Year-End [23] | 76 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States (RIAA) [24] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
An early version of the track "Night Song" (with alternate vocals) was a major plot point in the 1986 Twilight Zone episode "Nightsong".
Decade is a compilation album by Canadian–American musician Neil Young, originally released in 1977 as a triple album and later issued on two compact discs. It contains 35 of Young's songs recorded between 1966 and 1976, among them five tracks that had been unreleased up to that point. It peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1986.
Long May You Run is a studio album credited to the Stills–Young Band, a collaboration between Stephen Stills and Neil Young, released in 1976 on Reprise Records. It peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold in the United States by the RIAA. The album is the sole studio release by Stills and Young as a duo.
CSN is the third studio album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, released on Atlantic Records on June 17, 1977. It is the group's second studio release in the trio configuration. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart; two singles taken from the album, Nash's "Just a Song Before I Go" and Stills' "Fair Game" charted on the Billboard Hot 100. It is currently the trio configuration's best selling record, outselling 1969's Crosby, Stills & Nash by 200,000 copies. It has been certified quadruple platinum by RIAA.
Daylight Again is the fourth studio album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, and their third studio album in the trio configuration. It peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the final time the band made the top ten before the death of David Crosby in 2023. Three singles were released from the album, all making the Billboard Hot 100: "Wasted on the Way" peaked at No. 9, "Southern Cross" at No. 18, and "Too Much Love to Hide" at No. 69. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA with sales of 1,850,000.
Oh Yes I Can is the second solo studio album by David Crosby. It was released on January 23, 1989, 18 years on from his previous solo release, If I Could Only Remember My Name.
This Note's for You is the 18th studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released April 11, 1988, on Reprise. The album marked Young's return to the recently reactivated Reprise Records after a rocky tenure with Geffen Records.
Looking Forward is the eighth and final studio album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, and their third with Neil Young. It was released on Reprise Records in 1999 and peaked at number 26 on the Billboard 200, with total sales nearing 400,000.
Replay is a compilation album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, appearing in 1980 on the Atlantic Records label. It contains no material with Neil Young, but does include CSN solo projects. It peaked at No. 122 on the Billboard 200, their first album not to chart in the top ten.
Live It Up is the sixth studio album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, and their fourth studio album in the trio configuration, released on Atlantic Records in 1990. It peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard 200 with current sales of 300,000. It is the first of their studio albums not to gain either a gold or platinum certification by the RIAA. It was issued in all formats at the time and was later released for streaming.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, released by Rhino Records in 2005. It peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard 200, debuting at that position on April 2, 2005 with first week sales of 33,000 copies, and spending eight weeks on the chart. Its current sales sit at over 640,000. The album was dedicated to Cass Elliot with great thanks to Neil Young.
Man Alive! is the 8th studio album by Stephen Stills, released in 2005. It is a mixture of old and new recordings. Some were dated in the notes of the box set Carry On as follows: "Ain't It Always" from December 1976, "Spanish Suite" from April 1979 during the sessions of his unfinished 1979 album, "Feed the People" from 1989 but with everything but the backing vocals replaced later, and "I Don't Get It" in 1991. Zimmer's biography of Crosby, Stills & Nash places "Acadienne" with songs for the CSNY Looking Forward album, and based on the personnel it is from April 1998. Dates of the others are unknown. "Drivin' Thunder" appeared the CSNY album American Dream in 1988, but Stills wrote new lyrics for the version on this album. Stills introduced "Heart's Gate" as a new song in concert in 2003. Graham Nash sings on "Acadienne", "Feed the People", and "Wounded World", which he co-wrote. Neil Young plays on "Different Man" and "Round the Bend", while Herbie Hancock plays on "Spanish Suite". Stills drew the back and front cover.
CSN is a box set by Crosby, Stills & Nash, issued on Atlantic Records in 1991. It features material spanning from 1968 through 1990 from their catalogue of recordings as a group in addition to selections from Crosby & Nash, Manassas, and their individual solo albums. It peaked at No. 109 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The set is "dedicated to the loving memory of Cass Elliot, without whom most of this music may not have been made." A two-disc distillation of the box was released for other markets later in the year.
Wind on the Water is the second album by Crosby & Nash, released on ABC Records in 1975. Cassette and 8-track tape versions of the album were distributed by Atlantic Records, to which Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were signed. It peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified gold by the RIAA. Three singles were released from the album, "Carry Me", "Take the Money and Run", and "Love Work Out", of which only the first charted, peaking at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Whistling Down the Wire is the third album by Crosby & Nash, released on ABC Records in 1976, the second of the duo's three-album deal with ABC Records. Cassette and 8-track tape versions of the album were distributed by Atlantic Records, to which Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were signed. It peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified gold by the RIAA. Two singles were released from the album, "Out of the Darkness" and "Spotlight," of which only the first charted on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #89.
"Just a Song Before I Go" is a song by Crosby, Stills & Nash that appeared on the 1977 album CSN. It was also released as a single and reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks ending August 27 and September 3, 1977, becoming the band's highest-charting hit. It is also one of the band's shortest songs, with a running time of only 2:14. In Canada, it peaked at number 10.
Illegal Stills is an album released by American musician Stephen Stills on 7 May 1976. This was Stills second album on Columbia Records and his fourth solo album overall. After it was released he would start an album and tour with Neil Young. It was released on CD in 1991 (Columbia CK-34148). The album charted at number 31 in the US on release, but wasn't a critical success.
Thoroughfare Gap is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stephen Stills, released in 1978. It was a critical and commercial disappointment that only charted at number 84 in the US. This album is now available as a three-album set on two CDs with Stills & Illegal Stills, having never been released on its own on CD.
Carry On is a compilation album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, issued on Atlantic Records in 1991, generally for the European and Australian markets. It is a two-disc sampler of their four-disc box set, CSN, released two months previously in the United States and the United Kingdom. It features material spanning 1968 through 1990 from their catalogue of recordings as a group in addition to selections from Crosby & Nash, Manassas, and their individual solo albums. It was reissued on 30 June 1998 on the WEA International record label. This compilation should not be confused with the Stephen Stills box set of the same name released in 2013.
Analog Man is the eleventh and latest solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh, formerly of the James Gang and lead guitarist for the Eagles. The album was released in mid 2012, on the label Fantasy in the United States and the United Kingdom, It is also his first new solo studio album to be released since 1992's Songs for a Dying Planet, 20 years prior. The album features 10 new songs, and was co-produced by Walsh, Jeff Lynne, who also performs various instruments and backing vocals on the album, and Tim Armstrong from the punk band Rancid who co-wrote and plays guitar on one of the album's songs. The album also features contributions from the former Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, the former Barnstorm members, Kenny Passarelli and Joe Vitale, former James Gang members, Jim Fox and Dale Peters, David Crosby and Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills & Nash and also a duet with Little Richard.
Neil Young Archives Volume II: 1972–1976 is a 10-CD box set from American-Canadian folk rock musician Neil Young that was initially released in a limited deluxe box set on November 20, 2020. The release is the second box set in his Neil Young Archives series, following 2009's The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972, and covers a three-and-a-half-year period from 1972 to 1976. The track list was officially announced on the Neil Young Archives site on September 20, 2020, with the first single, "Come Along and Say You Will", being posted to the site as the Song of the Day on October 14. The set then went up for pre-order on October 16, 2020, as an exclusive release to his online store, with only 3,000 copies being initially made available worldwide. After selling out the following day, Young announced several weeks later that a general retail version, as well as a second pressing of the deluxe box set, is expected to be released to market on March 5, 2021. This was followed by the release of a second single, "Homefires", on October 21, and a third, an alternate version of "Powderfinger", on November 3.