Search - Gary Wright :: Dream Weaver

Put on your platform soles

S. R. | 11/27/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dream Weaver, what else can be said about this oft-parodied slice on 1970s rock and roll? First of all it has genuine, authentic killer riffs and melodies. This album is without guitars (mostly), Gary does it all with his keys and synths."Love is Alive", "Dream Weaver" all smack of the 70s, but this is okay, the grooves all hit their mark squarely. "Blind Feeling" my personal favorite still gets heavy rotation in my yearly catalog of music. A bit melodramatic for today's fans but who cares, it all works. It's over the top, yet very understated. Most people who don't know this record, but know "Dream Weaver", may consider Wright's music to be Pink Floydish or too artsy/progressive, but that's a big misunderstanding. On Dream Weaver Wright mines funky grooves and blusey gospel riffs and beats. Many songs are in a more rythm and blues groove than in the "Dream Weaver" spacey mode. To me it's a quintessential 1970s effort that cannot be pigeon-holed into one simple genre. The 70s was a decade one could get away with something like this. It was given a state of the art recording at its release and still sounds very good today, albeit dated, but I like the dated sound. Good for any occasion, any party, anywhere."

Gary's Masterpiece, Set the mold for all that followed

Paul R. Rogers | Dixon, Ca, USA | 01/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can clearly remember one moonlit night in January 1976, When the FM DJ announced this album, before he played the entire first side ( this was about 8 years befor the continuous running cd for those of you born after Carter was president). He stated that it was almost an exclusively synthesized album from the legendary Gary Wright. Then I heard the opening few seconds of the swooshing orchestral sounds of Dreamweaver, and I was hooked. This album meant so much to me in '76. In February '76, One of my best friends died from accidental shooting while playing with his dad's pistol. He asked me a few days before he died if I thought this song was cool, cause he loved it. I whole heartedly agreed with him. Then I got the news in the empty school hallway over the loudspeaker, walking my way to my first class and running late with a pass. I was very depressed for months after that, insomniac over it. Dreamweaver, ridiculously, spoke to me. I was asking, praying, that the Dreamweaver would help me make it through the night. I really just wanted to fly away to the bright side of the moon. I just wanted to leave this world behind. It was very painful to me in life at that time. For two months, I revelled in that song. And as I was pulling out of my depression, Love is Alive lifted me out of pain into ultimate joy. God only knows how much these two song mean to me to this day. One soothing to me in a time of death. The other pulling me out of death into rebirth, and moving on with my life. Thank You Gary. Oh, and did I mention, the rest of the album is great too, a watermark. Although smaltzy by today's standards, I believe a cover version with reworking of the arrangement could update these two great and awesome pop singles. Maybe I'm sentimental. Maybe I could be a genius like Gary too."

SYNTH-DRIVEN ROCK AND POP

Pieter | Johannesburg | 06/01/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album of synth-driven rock presented quite an innovative mix of textures when it was released in 1975. Love Is Alive and Let It Out have beautiful melodies and female backing vocals framing Wright's rock vocals, giving the latter a soulful feel. Feel For Me is a similar mix of pop and R&B. Can't Find The Judge has a funky rhythm and strangled vocal whilst Made To Love You is a gentle pop ballad. The pace picks up for Power Of Love with its strong rock riff and soaring vocals. Dream Weaver itself is a masterpiece of synthesizer tinkles and whooshes with evocative imagery and poetic lyrics. Although this album makes extensive use of the synthesizer, the arrangements are still in a rock/pop format and the overall sound is nothing like Kraftwerk or the later synth-pioneers like Eurythmics, OMD or Gary Numan. But it remains a minor classic with its memorable and melodic songs."