The Dream Academy - The Morning Lasted All Day - A Retrospective (2015)

With their varied instrumentation, intimate song stylings, and poetic, allusive lyrics, the Dream Academy always stood apart from their 80s British rock brethren; that they dedicated their hit song, Life in a Northern Town, to Nick Drake and minimalist composer Steve Reich spoke volumes as to the reach of their intellectual and artistic ambition. Indeed, though they were together for only three albums and a handful of singles, Nick Laird-Clowes, Kate St. John and Gilbert Gabriel left behind a body of work as captivating as that of any of their contemporaries, their solid songwriting, unusual arrangements and innovative production touches (thanks in part to co-producer David Gilmour of Pink Floyd) only sounding better with age. Such a band deserves a proper retrospective; and so we at Real Gone Music enlisted none other than the band s own Nick Laird-Clowes to put together the definitive Dream Academy collection, a 2-CD, 24-track set chock-full of rarities and even including a new track ( Sunrising ) recorded for this release! Alongside such hits as Life in a Northern Town and The Love Parade and key album tracks, The Morning Lasted All Day features such nuggets as the unreleased songs Living in a War (with David Gilmour on guitar), The Chosen Few (with Gilmour playing electric and slide guitar) and The Last Day of the War (a lost track recorded right after Life in a Northern Town ); the unreleased and much requested instrumental of Power to Believe from the John Hughes-directed film Trains, Planes & Automobiles, co-produced by Hugh Padgham; the rare B-side Girl in a Million, and the long-lost 12-inch side The Demonstration. Careful listeners will also hear musical contributions from The Smiths Johnny Marr, Fleetwood Mac s Lindsey Buckingham, Polystyrene of X-Ray Spex and Eagles songwriter J.D. Souther, while the liner notes by Nick Laird-Clowes offer a look inside the artistic inspiration and recording process for each song as well as the stories behind the band's origins and three albums. Remastered by Laird-Clowes, and sporting photos taken from the band s personal archive as well as from a lost session by the legendary Arthur Elgort, The Morning Lasted All Day just may be the best double-album released this year, new or old!