Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44267 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2008-06-10
• Released on: 2008-06-10
• Running time: 4377 seconds

Customer Reviews

Best Orb in the New Mellinium
Orb fans may be aware of 3 other 2007 releases: Alex's trip through his favorite 70's dub and reggae classics on I'll Be Black, an ambient journey with The Art of Chill 4, and a collection of past works on Orbsessions Volume 2 (much better than Volume 1). The Dream combines the best of these elements to create the finest Orb CD in the new millennium. Picture a triangle where the points are the styles of the above mentioned albums and then place a point right in the middle of the triangle. That would be The Dream.

Joined by Youth and a host of other past collaborators, Alex Paterson (the nexus of The Orb) crafts The Dream in the same league as Orbus Terrum, U.F. Orb, and The Orb's Adventures... Dub penetrates the album; most notably on "Lost & Found" and, in prime dancehall fashion, on "Mother Earth." Showing an ability to drop a groove, "Vuja De," "A Beautiful Day," and "DDD (Dirty Disco Dub)" hint at grooves found on Cydonia and Orblivion. The more ambient tunes are the title track, "The Truth Is...," Katskills," High Noon," "Orbsonia," and my favorite: "Codes" which could easily be placed in between Floyd's "Echoes" and Zeppelin's "No Quarter" in a mix.

"Codes" is a great example of why I love The Dream: the entire album is layered and complex without getting in the way of the good groove. This type of `layering different sounds' only comes from the experience Alex and his longtime co-conspirators bring to the table. The Dream lacks the pedestrian feel of the Transit Kings release from 2006 while perhaps absorbing some of the engineering skills, resulting in a lush, full sound. All the tracks are good- there's not a filler in the bunch.

The Japanese release, which I have, contains the track "Let The Music Set You Free" which may not appear on other releases. It's a solid track - a reggae feel with a solid groove and melody. It's worth tracking down.

great return to form
If you like the positive, trippy side of The Orb, you'll love this. I bought it quite a while ago, gave it a few listens, and hadn't been back. Last week I randomly hit Katskills in a shuffle, and was mesmerized into an inside-out exploration of something I'd dismissed. I saw The Orb last time they were in Washington DC, and The Dream really reminds me of that.

Key tracks for me are Katskills, Codes. This is music that needs to be loud, and the bass needs to shake you.

Average offering from The Orb
I'd compare it to Bicycles and Tricycles [B&T] which I don't particularly like. There's too much of a focus on the vocal elements/sampling for my taste (I prefer the sound of U.F.Orb, Okie Dokie, etc). However Dream is a much more consistent CD than B&T, with good beats and dub elements tying all the songs together. The only real track sticking out is "Let The Music Set You Free" (similar in style to the Cydonia album), but that track is only on the Japanese pressing of the CD, so its understandable why it doesn't match the overall theme.

Taken as a whole, I give the CD a positive rating. Easy and enjoyable to listen to, but probably won't see much playtime compared to my favourite Orb albums.