The trouble with The Dream Weaver is that most of it sounds alike. For all the effects you can squeeze out of electric pianos, organs, clavinets and sythesizers, those devices still have one vital thing in common: a keyboard. As such, the same physical process is usually employed to produce a sound -- a process entirely different from that of, say, a reed or a fretted instrument. This is why you can almost always tell the machines fromthe actual instruments. Synthesizers only synthesize -- they don't duplicate, which means that sameness is an easy trap to slip into.

Gary Wright's choice of instruments on his second solo try does little justice to his solid songwriting. Working within basic rock frameworks and chord structures, he manages never to be hackneyed. Few arrangements, however, stand out though "Power of Love" does drive with the best of the hard rockers. Generally, this is a long, mechanized wash, with the moog bass line particularly monotonous.

- Charley Walters, Rolling Stone, 10/9/75.

Bonus Reviews!

That man from Spooky Tooth and Wonderwheel comes up with a thoroughly tasteful tour-de-force LP full of soft excitements. Wright plays most of the back-up music on an array of overdubbed keyboards as well as writing, singing and producing. This album could build quietly into a major sleeper success with the audience that cares about sophisticated, pleasant rock. Best cuts: "Dream Weaver," "Made To Love You," "Power Of Love."

- Billboard, 1975.

Supposedly, the artistic breakthrough here is that Gary has transcended the electric guitar. Some breakthrough -- good thing Lee Michaels never took up with a synthesizer. Although if he had he wouldn't have pimped it off to (and I quote) "the astral plane." C

- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.

During the fall of 1975, the title cut from this album became an enormous hit, with its atmospheric synthesizer washes and spacey sentiments. The followup, "My Love Is Alive," did just as well. Most of the album trades on the same themes but with less success.

- Rick Clark, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

When Spooky Tooth truly called it quits in 1975, Wright followed with his platinum-selling solo effort The Dream Weaver, which garnered two Top 10 hits, the title track and "Love Is Alive." * * *

- Patrick McCarty, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

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