"American Dream"

1988 Atlantic

 

  

 

PERSONAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

This album was released on the 21st November 1988 a staggering seventeen years after their first studio...that even beats Boston's "Third Stage"!!

This one got some stick off the critics. Neil Young kept his age old promise to Crosby, and the four of them recorded this album.

Just as with "Deja Vu" this one contains mostly solo penned recordings, except for the brilliant Stills/Young compositions "Drivin' Thunder" and best thing Stills had been involved in since God knows when, "Night Song"...this one is the song that should have brought these two back together again. But unlike "Deja Vu" they four shared much more with each other than before. Neil can be heard on most tracks and a uniformity can be felt throughout.

I personally love every bit of this album, from the very quirky title track to the haunting Crosby song "Compass" this has something for everyone. Still's "Got it made" just went to show that he could still write a good song, Nash proved he still had it, Young just shined throughout and Crosby got a chance to prove that he wasn't washed out. (He went on to prove it further with his outstanding second solo album "Oh Yes I Can")

But for some unknown reason it got slammed by the press. They said that the group had become all commercial and had sold out...but CSN had been doing that for years, this one in my mind put them back on track...at least for the time being anyway.