American Dream (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album)

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.Zimmer, Dave. Crosby, Stills & Nash The Biography. Da Capo Press 2000, {{ISBN|0-306-80974-5}}, p. 264. 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.Four Way Street The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Reader. Da Capo Press 2004, {{ISBN|0-306-81277-0}}, pp. 275-276. Article by Dave Zimmer, originally in BAM April 22, 1988.Zimmer, Dave. op. cit., pp. 263, 266.

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.{{cite web|date=January 30, 1971|title=RPM Top Singles Chart|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.3749.pdf|access-date=September 3, 2016|work=RPM|series=RPM archives|publisher=Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada|oclc=352936026|volume=14|issue=24}}

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."Zimmer, Dave. op. cit., p. 266. 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.[http://www.setlist.fm/stats/albums/crosby-stills-nash-and-young-63d6b61b.html Setlist.fm website retrieved 23 August 2015]

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = Allmusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r4839 |title=American Dream - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | AllMusic |first=W. |last=Ruhlmann |work=allmusic.com |year=2011 |accessdate=26 July 2011}}

| rev2 = Robert Christgau

| rev2Score = {{Rating-Christgau|C+}}{{cite web |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1858 |title=Robert Christgau: CG: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young |accessdate=21 October 2012}}

| rev3 = Rolling Stone

| rev3Score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/crosbystillsnashandyoung/albums/album/267878/review/5940606/american_dream |title=Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: American Dream : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone |first=A. |last=Decurtis |magazine=Rolling Stone |year=2011 |accessdate=26 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116111943/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/crosbystillsnashandyoung/albums/album/267878/review/5940606/american_dream |archivedate=January 16, 2009 }}

}}

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."{{cite magazine |title=American Dream |date=1993-01-13 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201132256/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/american-dream-19930113 |archive-date=2017-12-01 |url-status=live |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/american-dream-19930113}}

The album was voted number 614 in the second edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (1998).{{cite book|title=All Time Top 1000 Albums|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1998|edition=2nd|isbn=0-7535-0258-5|page=184}}

Cash Box called the title track "the best thing out of CSN or Y since Deja Vu."{{cite magazine|title=Single Releases|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1988/CB-1988-11-05.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|date=November 5, 1988|accessdate=2022-12-22|page=7}}

{{tracklist

|headline = American Dream

| extra_column = Recording date

| title1 = American Dream

| writer1 = Neil Young

| extra1 = March 3, 1988

| length1 = 3:15

| title2 = Got It Made

| writer2 = {{hlist|Stephen Stills|Young}}

| extra2 = July 28, 1988

| length2 = 4:36

| title3 = Name of Love

| writer3 = Young

| extra3 = February 25, 1988

| length3 = 4:28

| title4 = Don't Say Goodbye

| writer4 = {{hlist|Graham Nash|Joe Vitale}}

| extra4 = September 15, 1988

| length4 = 3:23

| title5 = This Old House

| writer5 = Young

| extra5 = May 4, 1988

| length5 = 4:44

| title6 = Nighttime for the Generals

| writer6 = {{hlist|David Crosby|Craig Doerge}}

| extra6 = March 24, 1988

| length6 = 4:20

| title7 = Shadowland

| writer7 = {{hlist|Nash|Rick Ryan|Vitale}}

| extra7 = April 24, 1987

| length7 = 4:33

| title8 = Drivin' Thunder

| writer8 = {{hlist|Stills|Young}}

| extra8 = March 2, 1988

| length8 = 3:12

| title9 = Clear Blue Skies

| writer9 = Nash

| extra9 = March 28, 1988

| length9 = 3:05

| title10 = That Girl

| writer10 = {{hlist|Stills|Vitale|Bob Glaub}}

| extra10 = May 10, 1988

| length10 = 3:27

| title11 = Compass

| writer11 = Crosby

| extra11 = March 22, 1988

| length11 = 5:19

| title12 = Soldiers of Peace

| writer12 = {{hlist|Nash|Doerge|Vitale}}

| extra12 = September 16, 1988

| length12 = 3:43

| title13 = Feel Your Love

| writer13 = Young

| extra13 = July 21, 1988

| length13 = 4:09

| title14 = Night Song

| writer14 = {{hlist|Stills|Young}}

| extra14 = July 28, 1988

| length14 = 4:17

| total_length = 57:31

}}

• David Crosby – backing vocals, lead vocals (6, 11), acoustic guitar (9, 11)
• Stephen Stills – backing vocals, keyboards (1, 2), lead vocals (2, 8, 10, 14), electric guitar (3, 4, 6, 8–10, 14), synth bass (4), guitar solo (6), percussion (8), acoustic guitar (12), synthesizers (14), bass (14), handclaps (14)
• Graham Nash – backing vocals, lead vocals (4, 7, 9, 12), acoustic piano (4), electric guitar (6), keyboards (9)
• Neil Young – backing vocals, lead vocals (1, 3, 5, 8, 13, 14), electric guitar (1–10, 12, 14), percussion (3, 13), additional acoustic piano (4), all instruments (5), harmonica (11), acoustic guitar (13)

• Bryan Bell – synthesizer programming (5)
• Mike Finnigan – Hammond B3 organ (6), keyboards (12), additional vocals (12)
• Rhett Lawrence – synthesizer programming (12)
• Bob Glaub – bass (1–3, 6, 8–10, 12)
• Joe Vitale – drums (1–4, 6, 8, 9, 14), synthesizers (4), all instruments (7), additional vocals (7), percussion (8, 13), keyboards (9–12), vibraphone (13)
• Chad Cromwell – drums (10)
• Joe Lala – percussion (2, 7, 9, 10), drums (12)
• The Bluenotes – horns (10):
• Larry Cragg – saxophones
• Steve Lawrence – saxophones
• Claude Callilet – trombone
• Tommy Bray – trumpet
• John Fumo – trumpet

Handclaps on "American Dream"

• Niko Bolas, Tim Mulligan, Tim Foster and Brentley Walton

Sound effects on "Shadowland"

• Bill Boydston, Don Gooch, Bill Lazerus, Graham Nash and Joe Vitale

The Volume Dealers Choir on "Soldiers of Peace"

• Kelly Ashmore, Betsy Aubrey, Tom Banghart, Cha Blevins, Niko Bolas, Craig Doerge, Scott Gordon, R. Mac Holbert, Stanley Johnston, Bill Krause, Debbie Meister, Tim Mulligan, Susan Nash, Jay Parti, Steve Perry, Vince Slaughter, Joe Vitale and Paul Williamson

• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – producers, mixing
• Niko Bolas – producer, recording, mixing
• Tim Mulligan – assistant producer, recording, mixing, digital editing
• Gary Long – engineer
• Tim McColm – engineer
• Brentley Walton – engineer
• Tom Banghart – mix assistant
• Bob Vogt – mix assistant
• Bill Dooley – digital editing
• Bob Ludwig – mastering at Masterdisk (New York City, New York)
• Gary Burden – art direction, design
• Henry Diltz – back cover photography
• Aaron Rapoport – front cover photography
• Delana Bettoli – border illustration

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Year-end charts

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=American Dream|artist=Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young|award=Platinum|relyear=1988|certyear=1989|access-date=1 October 2012}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

An early version of the track "Night Song" (with alternate vocals) was a major plot point in the 1986 Twilight Zone episode "Nightsong".

{{reflist}}

{{Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:American Dream (Album)}}

Category:1988 albums

Category:Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young albums

Category:Atlantic Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Niko Bolas

Category:Albums produced by Neil Young

Category:Albums produced by Graham Nash

Category:Albums produced by David Crosby

Category:Albums produced by Stephen Stills

Category:Albums recorded at A&M Studios

Category:Albums recorded in a home studio