Fact #103508

On its first two albums, Philadelphia's War On Drugs was largely just mainman Adam Granduciel, but since then he's played live so much that he's started to conceive his songs with his touring band in mind. As a result, Lost In The Dream displays the benefits and disadvantages of delegating elements of the sound to other musicians. The downside is that Granduciel's uniquely quirky take on songwriting is often submerged, but the organic sound of a working band gives this outing a fresh immediacy. The result, unexpectedly, often sounds like Bob Dylan backed by Dire Straits, but Granduciel is a smart enough composer to avoid mere pastiche. Rich in lyrical imagery and majestic in its musical scope, this is great stuff.
(Review by Johnny Black, first appeared in Hi Fi News)