Dreamtime (The Stranglers album)
Encyclopedia
Dreamtime is an album released by The Stranglers
in 1986. The title track was inspired by a belief of the aboriginal
peoples of Australia
- called Dreamtime
. This album appears to be a natural evolution from Aural Sculpture
; it contains a mixture of upbeat and thoughtful tracks and includes the addition of pedal steel guitar to complement the horns. Highlights include "Always the Sun", which became a frequently-played live track and "Shaking like a Leaf", with its "Swing"-like feel.
Epic Records
were certain this album would be a big success on the back of the much hyped single "Always the Sun" which Epic were sure would go 'top three', and early signs were good with the single receiving substantial radio airplay.
However a lacklustre PR campaign led to its disappointing chart placing in the UK singles chart (#30). The band blame a lacklustre marketing campaign for this turn of fortune.
This meant that Dreamtime only reached #16 in the album chart, the lowest charting studio album during Hugh Cornwell's recording tenure with the band (1977–90). However it should be known that the UK album chart at this time still included compilation albums as well as studio albums, unlike today. In terms of today's charts Dreamtime would have appeared in or around the top 5. Still, the band felt that the album's commercial potential was never fulfilled, especially with regard to the lead single.
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
in 1986. The title track was inspired by a belief of the aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
peoples of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- called Dreamtime
Dreamtime
In the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
. This album appears to be a natural evolution from Aural Sculpture
Aural Sculpture
Aural Sculpture is an album recorded by The Stranglers. It was also the name given to a one-sided 7-inch single given free with a limited number of copies of their Feline album in 1983...
; it contains a mixture of upbeat and thoughtful tracks and includes the addition of pedal steel guitar to complement the horns. Highlights include "Always the Sun", which became a frequently-played live track and "Shaking like a Leaf", with its "Swing"-like feel.
Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
were certain this album would be a big success on the back of the much hyped single "Always the Sun" which Epic were sure would go 'top three', and early signs were good with the single receiving substantial radio airplay.
However a lacklustre PR campaign led to its disappointing chart placing in the UK singles chart (#30). The band blame a lacklustre marketing campaign for this turn of fortune.
This meant that Dreamtime only reached #16 in the album chart, the lowest charting studio album during Hugh Cornwell's recording tenure with the band (1977–90). However it should be known that the UK album chart at this time still included compilation albums as well as studio albums, unlike today. In terms of today's charts Dreamtime would have appeared in or around the top 5. Still, the band felt that the album's commercial potential was never fulfilled, especially with regard to the lead single.
Track listing
All songs written by The Stranglers- "Always the SunAlways the Sun"Always the Sun" is a song by The Stranglers, first released as a single in October 1986, the second single from the album Dreamtime. A remixed version was released as a single in December 1990...
" (4:51) - "Dreamtime" (3:43)
- "Was It You?" (3:40)
- "You'll Always Reap What You Sow" (5:13)
- "Ghost Train" (5:04)
- "Nice in Nice" (4:03)
- "Big in America" (3:18)
- "Shakin' Like a Leaf" (2:36)
- "Mayan Skies" (3:56)
- "Too Precious" (6:44)
2001 CD Bonus Tracks
- "Since You Went Away" (2:53)
- "Norman Normal" (4:33)
- "Dry Day" (5:02)
- "Hitman" (4:21)
- "Was it You?" (7" Version) (2:57)
- "Burnham Beeches" (3:50)
The Stranglers
- Jet BlackJet BlackJet Black is an English drummer and founder member of punk rock / new wave band The Stranglers.-Early years:...
- drums & percussion - Jean-Jacques BurnelJean-Jacques BurnelJ. J. Burnel , is a Franco-English musician producer and songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist with the British rock band The Stranglers.-Life and career:...
- bass & vocals - Hugh CornwellHugh CornwellHugh Alan Cornwell is an English musician and songwriter, best known for being the vocalist and guitarist for the punk/new wave group, The Stranglers, from 1974 to 1990.-Career:...
- guitar & vocals - Dave GreenfieldDave GreenfieldDave Greenfield is the keyboard player with English rock band, The Stranglers.-Biography:He is noted for his trademark style of playing rapid arpeggios...
- keyboards & backing vocals
Additional Musicians
- Alex Gifford - saxophone
- Hilary Kops - trumpet
- Martin Veysey - trumpet
- B.J. Cole - pedal steel guitar
- Simon Morton - additional percussion