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American Dream is the ninth album by the band Crosby, Stills & Nash, their fifth studio album 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.

American Dream
Studio album by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Released	November 1, 1988 (U.S.)
Recorded	April 24, 1987 – September 16, 1988
Studio	Redwood Digital (Woodside) A&M (Hollywood) Record One (Los Angeles)[1]
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)

Background

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 up.[4] Five months in prison for Crosby at the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville during 1986 accomplished exactly that, and good to Young's word the quartet assembled to record the second CSNY studio album at Young's ranch in Woodside, California.[5][6]

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. Released as a single, it missed the Billboard Hot 100 completely, as did three of the other four singles released from the album. The only single to chart, "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 (now Mainstream Rock).

Recording

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."[7] 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.[8]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[9]
Robert Christgau	C+[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]

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."[12]

The album was voted number 614 in the second edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (1998).[13]

Track listing

Side one

Side two

Personnel

CSNY

• 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)

Additional personnel

• Brian 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

Production

• 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

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart (1989)	Position
US Billboard Year-End[22]	76

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[23]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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