American Dream

For the Mike Jones album, see The American Dream (Mike Jones album)

American Dream
Studio album by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Released	November 1, 1988 (U.S.)
Recorded	April 24, 1987 - September 16, 1988
Genre	Rock
Length	57:31
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Niko Bolas, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young chronology
Allies (1983) American Dream (1988) Live It Up (1990)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

American Dream is the 1988 reunion album for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Released on November 3, 1988, there was great anticipation for the quartet's first studio album in eighteen years, but all four performers were at various ebbs in their songwriting. The harmonies still sounded intact, but critics found the songs too placid and trite. The title song, written by Neil Young, was a satire of sensational political scandals involving Oliver North, former presidential candidate Gary Hart, and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Other songs included "Got It Made," written by Stephen Stills with help from Young, addressed CSNY's earlier fans expressing happiness that they were secure and comfortable in their personal lives yet simultaneously urging them to remember their earlier idealism. It also included "Compass," David Crosby's lament on how much time he had wasted on drugs.

American Dream was meant to be a concept album on the meaning of American dreams and aspirations, but critics and fans alike felt that CSNY had fallen short of their goals. Writing in Rolling Stone, critic Anthony DeCurtis wrote, "Despite pleasant melodies, the occasional interesting song, and the signature harmonies, American Dream is, for the most part, a snoozefest." Writing in their 1991 book The Worst Rock and Roll Records Of All Time, Jimmy Guterman and Owen O'Donnell were especially vicious, rating American Dream as the fourth-worst album ever. As ardent detractors of Crosby, Stills and Nash, the two authors declared that they had not expected anything worthwhile from the trio anyway and took Young to task for his songs, which they felt made the album especially bad. Guterman and O'Donnell declared that Young's contributions to American Dream were flops that he never would have put on any of his solo albums. "Here, of course," they wrote, "they were the highlights."

David Crosby, in fact, agreed that the album had too many songs and that the writing was not up to par. "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."

American Dream peaked at number sixteen on the Billboard charts and went platinum. Young moved on and revitalized his solo career, while the remaining trio turned to touring and recording occasional albums together.

Track listing

1. "American Dream" (Young) – 3:15

• Recorded March 3, 1988

2. "Got It Made" (Stills/Young) – 4:36

• Recorded July 28, 1988

3. "Name of Love" (Young) – 4:28

• Recorded February 25, 1988

4. "Don't Say Goodbye" (Nash/Vitale) – 3:23

• Recorded September 15, 1988

5. "This Old House" (Young) – 4:44

• Recorded May 4, 1988

6. "Nighttime for the Generals" (Crosby/Doerge) – 4:20

• Recorded March 24, 1988

7. "Shadowland" (Ryan/Nash/Vitale) – 4:33

• Recorded April 24, 1987

8. "Drivin' Thunder" (Stills/Young) – 3:12

• Recorded March 2, 1988

9. "Clear Blue Skies" (Nash) – 3:05

• Recorded March 28, 1988

10. "That Girl" (Stills/Vitale/Glaub) – 3:27

• Recorded May 10, 1988

11. "Compass" (Crosby) – 5:19

• Recorded March 22, 1988

12. "Soldiers of Peace" (Nash/Doerge/Vitale) – 3:43

• Recorded September 16, 1988

13. "Feel Your Love" (Young) – 4:09

• Recorded July 21, 1988

14. "Night Song" (Stills/Young) – 4:17

• Recorded July 28, 1988

Personnel

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

• David Crosby: Lead Vocal (6,11), Acoustic Guitar (9,11), Backing Vocals
• Stephen Stills: Lead Vocal (2,8,10,14), Electric Guitar (3,4,6,8,9,10,14), Keyboards (1,2), Bass Synth (4), Guitar Solo (6), percussion (8), Acoustic Guitar (12), Synths (14), Handclaps (14), Bass (14), Backing Vocals
• Graham Nash: Lead Vocal (4,7,9,12), Piano (4), Electric Guitar (6), Sound Effects (7), Keyboards (9), Backing Vocals
• Neil Young: Lead Vocal (1,2,3,5,8,13,14), Electric Guitar (1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,12,14), Percussion (3,13), Additional Piano (4), All instruments (5), Harmonica (11), Acoustic Guitar (13), Backing Vocals

Additional personnel

• Joe Vitale: drums (1,2,3,4,6,8,9,14), synth (4), almost all instruments (7), sound effects (7), additional vocals at the end (7), percussion (8,13), keyboards (9,10,11,12), vibes (13)
• Bob Glaub: bass (1,2,3,6,8,9,10,12)
• Joe Lala: percussion (2,7,9,10), drums (12)
• Niko Bolas: hand-claps (1)
• Tim Mulligan: hand-claps (1)
• Tim Foster: hand-claps (1)
• Brentley Walton: hand-claps (1)
• Brian Bell: synth programming (5)
• Michael Finnigan : b.3. organ (6), keyboards (12), additional vocals (12)
• Rhett Lawrence: additional synth programming
• The Volume Dealers Choir: last chorus (12)
• Bill Boydstun: sound effects (7)
• Don Gooch: sound effects (7)
• Bill Lazerus: sound effects (7)
• Chad Cromwell: drums (10)
• The Bluenotes: horns (10)
• Larry Cragg: horns (10)
• Steve Lawrence: horns (10)
• Tommy Bray: horns (10)
• Claude Cailliet: horns (10)
• John Fumo: horns (10)

Production

• Producers: Niko Bolas, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young. Assisted by Tim Mulligan

References