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This 1985 self-titled debut album from The Dream Academy is a truly incredible work of art. Don't be fooled by their "one-hit wonder" status--their leader, a man named Nick Laird-Clowes, is one of the most fascinating (he's had a mind-blowing personal life) & brilliant artists in history.
Nick was in his late 20s by the time this album was released on Warner Bros., & actually, he'd already put his visionary genius on display on two albums before this, even if barely anyone at all ever noticed. In 1977, his band Alfalpha released their lone album, a self-titled effort, on the EMI label--it's a very mellow, breezy, acoustic-guitar based record (imagine the Dream Academy mixed with America (the group)), & it finds Nick writing songs that have a winning childlike innocence, blissfully celebrating the "simple pleasures" of life, & as well as some tracks that show a hunger to "go far" in the world, yet not feeling there's any great hurry & enjoying the time in between. The album tanked commercially, & Nick proceeded to form another band called The Act (which featured Mark Gilmour, David Gilmour's brother, on guitar). The Act released their lone album "Too Late at 20" in 1981 on Hannibal Records (the album was another commercial bomb), & it was quite a different affair--unlike the laidback Alfalpha album, the Act album is a full throttle rock `n' roll album, & the music reflected Nick`s desperation--Nick was no longer content to just "watch the world go spinning by"--instead, he declared you've got to "get it while you're young". Quite simply, these 2 records are an entirely necessary piece of the Dream Academy legacy, & are easily two of the most criminally overlooked records in history--the Alfalpha record does have some throwaway tracks, but out of its 13 tracks, a majority of them are brilliant, & the Act record, which was written entirely by Nick Laird-Clowes, is a near-flawless masterpiece. If you truly love this Dream Academy record, you really owe it to yourself to hear those 2 albums as well. It's fascinating to hear Nick in those 2 very different contexts & to see how they point the way to The Dream Academy.
This album has a very lush, synthesizer-heavy sound & layered vocal chants. That said, it's easy to see how this record will appeal to fans of Enya, but if those surface aspects are mainly why you like the album, it's likely you won't have any interest at all in the 2 pre-Dream Academy records I just mentioned. It's quite inaccurate to call this a new age record--I think of it more as a singer-songwriter album given an incredibly mesmerizing, pastoral production. The dreamy, atmospheric sound lends itself marvelously to the material--David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd, of course) was brought in, & he ended up co-producing all but one of the tracks on here, & he deserves a lot of credit. The first 8 songs were all written by Nick with keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel (the last 2 tracks are Nick solo compositions), & they had a very special relationship as well. Drum machines are heavily used, but to terrific effect. Likewise, Gilbert's use of synths on here is simply masterful--he uses them to give the album a lush, warm sound that's never bland, grating, or lifeless. Plus, there's a lot of other instrumentation as well--there's lots of sparkling acoustic guitar on here, as well as masterful contributions from Kate St John--she graces the album with oboe, French horn, & saxophone work in all the right places, giving additional beauty to the songs. Also, David Gilmour plays guitar on "Bound To Be", & Peter Buck (of R.E.M.) plays 12-string Rickenbacker on "The Party". The album's sound is breaktaking & unique--to say it has a "generic `80s sound" is totally unfair & inaccurate.
As for the songwriting, it's simply brilliant. Not only is the music itself brilliant, but so are the lyrics, all of which were written by Nick. "Life In A Northern Town" is a wistful eulogy with a chorus chant that's been repeatedly sampled, & it finally gave Nick the hit he so richly deserved, & it's a great album opener, but it's a case where an album's big hit is the mere tip of the iceberg. "The Edge of Forever" is a wonderful, emotional song about lovers drifting apart. "Johnny (New Light)" is a dramatic, deeply moving up tempo track with lyrics about the negative effects that technological advances can have on people. "In Places on the Run" is a beautifully sad recollection of a dream. "Bound To Be" is a propulsive song that captures the thrill of meeting someone you really think might be "the one", & the following song, "Moving On" is a haunting, contemplative song where, to put it very simply, you realize that certain person isn't "the one" after all. "The Love Parade" is another haunting, yet danceable, track about erotic temptation, & the album comes to a rousing, anthemic conclusion with the confident, vividly-detailed story-song "The Party" (which sounds like it could have been a leftover from the Act album)--the track ends with a strongly-flanged reprise of tracks from earlier in the album, & it manages to be shockingly effective. This all ends up making the album's last song, the relatively stripped down & short acoustic ballad "One Dream", feel like a bonus track. Nick's lyrics cut extremely deep--at times, he zips through the lyrics, trying to cram a lot of words into a relatively small amount of space, but he has a way of powerfully "tying things together" with precisely-rendered, dramatic lines, & his gasping, sincere vocals work perfectly & really put the lyrics over. Occasionally the vocal melodies are very minimal, but even that works--the melody of "Life In A Northern Town" gives the song a peaceful gentleness, & the "hanging-around-one-note" melody on the "Baba O'Riley"-esque "This World", a song about junkies, adds an ominous quality. There are lots of great vocal chants & bracing use of effects like the screams on "Life In A Northern Town", & the cash-register sound on "Bound To Be"--the album ends up being thrillingly dramatic without ever sounding forced or obnoxious.
To put it simply, the album works like pure magic, & it's one of the greatest albums ever made. Nick Laird-Clowes, heavily inspired by a long list of artists such as the Beatles, Brian Wilson (whom he would later work with), & Nick Drake, ends up with this strikingly original & brilliant album.
Their follow up album, 1987's "Remembrance Days", is clearly inferior to this one, but it's still pretty darn great in its own right. Their last album, 1990's "A Different Kind of Weather", is a major disappointment despite some great moments. The Dream Academy additionally have some terrific non-album tracks to their credit. Also worth checking out are Kate St John's '90s solo albums "Indescribable Night" & "Second Sight" (which put her own stunning, elegant magic on display), as well as Nick's return to record-making with his solo album "Mona Lisa Overdrive" released under the name Trashmonk (it originally came out in 1999 & was re-released in 2001 with 2 bonus tracks). (Gilbert Gabriel has also kept busy with his Futura Sound project.)
Nick Laird-Clowes is, quite simply, an absolute, criminally-underrated genius, & you can't go wrong with this self-titled 1985 desert-island masterpiece by The Dream Academy.
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Don McGillivray
Had this as a cassette in the 80's and bought ...
Reviewed in Canada on March 30, 2016Lomberg ,Ute
Wieder gefunden obwohl nicht gesucht!
Reviewed in Germany on February 3, 2014