The American Dream: S/T (1970)

One of my favorite things about music in the internet age is the ability to discover long-forgotten artists from the '60s and '70s.  It never ceases to amaze me how many bands managed a few songs that sound as worthy of inclusion in the classic rock canon as those that found success, yet barely registered at the time, only to be discovered by some online blogger scouring the cut-out bins or keeping up with record labels specializing in unexpected reissues.

I don't know much about The American Dream; a quick web search tells me only that they were based in Philadelphia, one of their members later joined Foghat, and their self-titled debut was the first record produced by Todd Rundgren.  That's about it.

But the music is pretty damn great.  You've got mellow guitar rock with great harmonies straight out of the Crosby, Stills & Nash songbook, as well as blues-tinged pop that sounds like Moby Grape or the Guess Who

Opener "Good News" introduces both styles at once, starting out (after a weird phone call intro) with a lovely CSN-ish folk tune before launching into some Allman Brothers-like hard rock jams.  It's followed by what should be a killer single, the poppy "Big Brother," which merges a guitar riff reminiscent of Clapton's "Let It Rain" with some raging bass work and nice harmonies.  Why this isn't an FM radio staple is bewildering.  And that one segues into a nice twangy bit of Americana, "The Other Side" falling somewhere between CSN and early Steve Miller Band and maybe a bit of Bad Company.

Other highlights are the harmonic psychedelic jangle of "Storm" and "I Ain't Searchin'" and the extended psychedelic jam "Raspberries" that closes out the record.  Some of the rollicking boogie-rock is a bit more on the generic side, but highlights some respectable guitar work (i.e. the Moby Grape-like "Future's Folly," the Jefferson Airplane-ish psychedelic hard rock of "Credemphels").

Here's an audio rip of "Big Brother":
 ...and an audio rip of "Good News":
If you're not Spotify-enabled, you can hear an audio rip of the whole album on YouTube.
 

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