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Only in Dreams Image
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

  • Summary: The second full-length album for the pop band includes songs written after the death of the mother of singer Dee Dee.
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Top Track

In My Head
What is mine when you leave (empty bed, empty bed) All the memories I can retrieve (from my head, from my head) I can't live without your warmth I... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 26
  2. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Sep 27, 2011
    88
    Dee Dee delivers an album that sounds like Chrissie Hynde backed by Hüsker Dü. Only in Dreams could make you wonder what other indie bands would jump up and thrive if only they had steamroller production.
  2. Sep 28, 2011
    80
    It showcases a remarkably assured collection of songs (at times sounding like The Long Blondes do surf-pop--in no way a bad thing) as well as a real depth and maturity to songwriting that dwarfs the offerings of its home-recorded predecessor.
  3. Uncut
    Nov 23, 2011
    80
    This is a dark and heartfelt affair. [Dec 2011, p.82]
  4. Sep 27, 2011
    75
    It's a softer side to the Dum Dum Girls, but no less catchy or insistent.
  5. Oct 18, 2011
    70
    This disc is all hi-fi, sonically and emotionally, piling on Phil Spector echo and Go-Go's gloss as singer-guitarist Dee Dee Penny mourns a faraway lover and a fatally sick mom
  6. 70
    While a grisly backstory doth not always a masterpiece make, the album's finest moments come when she takes a Misery-sized sledgehammer to the youthful irreverence of yore and reduces it to rubble.
  7. Sep 26, 2011
    40
    There are some songs to love, but you can only take so many variations of the same theme.

See all 26 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Sep 29, 2011
    8
    The star of this record is the production team with a nod to Kirstin Gundred's powerful vocal performance. The first half of this record isThe star of this record is the production team with a nod to Kirstin Gundred's powerful vocal performance. The first half of this record is full of some of DDG's best ever songs, unfortunately there is a bit of a come down on the latter half that takes away some of it's momentum. Still, a very good record from a band to keep an eye on. Expand