{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Dreamtime Return | type = Album | artist = Steve Roach | cover = Dreamtime_Return_original.jpg | alt = | released = 1988 | recorded = 1987–88 at The Timeroom | venue = | studio = | genre = Ambient, electronic<ref name="AllMusic"/> | length = 130:23 | label = Fortuna Records (original)<br/>Projekt Records (re-releases) | producer = Steve Roach | prev_title = Quiet Music | prev_year = 1988 | next_title = Stormwarning | next_year = 1989 }}
'''''Dreamtime Return''''' is a 1988 double album by American ambient musician Steve Roach. The album is based on Australian Aboriginal culture and the concept of the Dreamtime. Much of the album's music was inspired by an expedition Roach took to the Cape York Peninsula with a team of filmmakers producing a documentary about Aboriginal rock art. Production on the album began in 1986 and lasted two years. It is the album with which Roach feels he "came into [his] own as an artist".<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Brenholts |first=Jim |date=2001 |title=Ambient Visions Talks with....Steve Roach |url=https://www.ambientvisions.com/roach.htm |access-date=2026-01-02 |website=www.ambientvisions.com}}</ref>
Described as "one of the pivotal works of ambient music"<ref name="Moon" /> and "groundbreaking,"<ref name="Catlin" /> the album has been included on a number of lists of the world's best music, including ''1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die''.<ref name="Moon" /> The album was remastered and reissued for its 30th anniversary in 2018.
== Production == === Early concept development === Roach was first introduced to the concept of Dreamtime, the didgeridoo instrument, and other aspects of Australian Aboriginal culture with the film ''The Last Wave'' (1977) by Australian film director Peter Weir.<ref name=":4" /> At the time, Roach was living in Venice, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, and was spending time exploring Joshua Tree National Park.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Cho |first=Phil |date=2024-10-10 |title=The Leaving Time: A Conversation with Steve Roach |url=https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/in-conversation-steve-roach/ |access-date=2026-01-02 |website=In Sheep'ss Clothing Hi-Fi |language=en}}</ref> Roach felt a connection between the desert landscapes of his native southern California and those of Australia,<ref name=":3" /> and so in 1986, began to work on music exploring these themes.<ref name=":4" /> Around this time, Roach began using an Oberheim drum machine, and explored soundscapes with rhythmic grooves that gave a feeling of moving through an expansive desert.<ref name=":3" /> Knowing Roach was working on music thematically tied with Aboriginal culture, the owner of Roach's record label sent Roach a book about the Aboriginal peoples of the Cape York Peninsula, titled ''Archaeology of the Dreamtime'', for inspiration.<ref name=":4" />
Some tracks produced during this time would later feature on ''Dreamtime Return'',<ref name=":4" /> such as "Towards the Dream".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Zanca |first=Nick |last2= |date=2022-06-21 |title=Structures From Synthesis: An Interview With Steve Roach |url=https://reverb.com/news/steve-roach-interview |access-date=2026-01-01 |website=Reverb |language=en}}</ref> Another track was “The Other Side”, which was recorded live at Pomona College with Kevin Braheny and a string ensemble. Their setup included a ARP 2600 with three sequencers and the EMU sampler.<ref name=":3" /> Braheny also played an EWI (electronic wind instrument). The song was broadcast on the National Public Radio program ''Music from the Hearts of Space'' in 1986, This particular edition of the program, titled ''Starflight 1'', was so popular that it was later released as an album.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}
=== Trip to Australia === Within a month of reading ''Archaeology of the Dreamtime'', Roach received a call from photographer David Stahl, who had heard Roach's ''Structures from Silence'' (1984) on the radio.<ref name=":4" /> Coincidentally, Stahl had read the same book about Aboriginals, and had received funding from Ball State University to travel to that same region of Cape York and produce a documentary about Aboriginal rock art and Dreamtime. He asked Roach if he wanted to join the expedition as composer, to which he enthusiastically agreed.<ref name=":0" /> The production team was given the prestigious Explorers Club flag to bring on the trip.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=David Stahl |url=https://davidstahlartist.com/resume.html |access-date=2026-01-01 |website=davidstahlartist.com}}</ref>
[[File:Quinkan2.jpg|thumb|An example of Aboriginal rock art from the Cape York Peninsula]] Roach's trip to Australia was the first time he left the United States.<ref name=":0" /> After arriving in Cape York, the team met up with Australian explorer Percy Trezise who had explored the area via plane, mapping out much of the Aboriginal sites.<ref name=":3" /> Trezise was close with the local Aboriginal tribes, and took the team to sacred areas no Westerners had visited, so they could document them for the film.<ref name=":3" /> One site they visited had a 200-foot rock wall with layers of paintings done by different generations over hundreds of years. The site inspired the track "Magnificent Gallery".<ref name=":0" /> Roach used a cassette Walkman to make audio recordings during the trip including birds, rocks, and other sounds, some of which were later mixed into the album.<ref name=":0" /> Trezise also provided Roach with audio recordings of ceremonies done with Dick Roughsey, an aboriginal artist and tribe elder. The track "Red Twilight with the Old Ones" uses these recordings.<ref name=":3" />
When the expedition team was in Cairns, Roach was introduced to David Hudson, a didgeridoo player and member of an Aboriginal dance troupe.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> Roach recorded Hudson playing the instrument, which was used for the record.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> Hudson taught Roach how to play didgeridoo and the two would later collaborate on other works,<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2025-03-20 |title=Tone Glow 180: Steve Roach |url=https://toneglow.substack.com/p/tone-glow-180-steve-roach |access-date=2026-01-01 |website=Tone Glow}}</ref> including ''Australia: Sound of the Earth'' (1990).<ref>{{Citation |title=Australia: Sound of the Earth |work=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-australia-sound-of-the-earth-mw0000310616 |access-date=2026-01-02 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Return to the United States === After Roach returned to the United States, he produced the rest of the album in his studio in Venice.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> Roach did not have any film footage to reference, but used audio recordings, photographs, and rocks from the trip to bring himself into the right headspace for composing.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> He used an E-mu Emax II for sampling.<ref name=":0" /> The film made during the expedition was released in 1988 as ''Australia's'' ''Art of the Dreamtime: Quinkan Country,''<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Australia's art of the Dreamtime: Quinkin country (A) {{!}} Jim Needham {{!}} 1988 {{!}} ACMI collection |url=https://www.acmi.net.au/works/94143--australias-art-of-the-dreamtime-quinkin-country-a/ |access-date=2026-01-01 |website=www.acmi.net.au |language=en}}</ref> and features Roach's music as the soundtrack.<ref name=":1" /> The documentary aired twice on PBS.<ref name=":1" />
== Reception == {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dreamtime-return-mw0000201882|title=Dreamtime Return – Steve Roach|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=February 14, 2012}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Exclaim!'' | rev2score = 8/10<ref name="Hayes">{{cite web|last=Hayes|first=Bryon|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/steve_roach-dreamtime_return|title=Steve Roach: Dreamtime Return|website=Exclaim!|date=May 4, 2018|access-date=May 4, 2018}}</ref> }}
Roach's future wife Linda Kohanov lauded ''Dreamtime Return'' in a 1989 appraisal for ''CD Review'', calling it Roach's "masterpiece" and that Roach "demonstrates that electronic music's greatest potential may lie in bringing our most elusive dreams and ancient memories into focus through potent, highly imaginative soundscapes."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Kohanov|first=Linda|author-link=Linda Kohanov|url=http://steveroach.com/Press/review.php?id=54|title=Steve Roach: Dreamtime Return|magazine=CD Review|date=August 1989|access-date=March 8, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204104123/http://steveroach.com/Press/review.php?id=54|archive-date=February 4, 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref>
''Dreamtime Return'' helped Roach gain a worldwide reputation.<ref>{{cite news|last=Irwin|first=Dave|title=Aural Enlightenment – Ambient Artist Steve Roach Redefines the Sound of Music|newspaper=Tucson Weekly|date=May 25, 2000}}</ref> Retrospectively, the album has been described by the ''Hartford Courant''{{'}}s Roger Catlin as "groundbreaking",<ref name="Catlin">{{cite news|last=Catlin|first=Roger|title=A leading ambient light|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=November 4, 1999|page=28}}</ref> and by AllMusic as a landmark of "fourth world" music.<ref name="AllMusic"/> Author David B. Knight opined that Roach "seeks to activate listeners to reach a deep level of consciousness that draws upon the trance-inducing music he has created."<ref>{{cite book|last=Knight|first=David B.|chapter=Dreamtime|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yP_0nxswIVgC&pg=PA35|access-date=July 11, 2017|title=Landscapes in Music: Space, Place, and Time in the World's Great Music|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7425-4116-0|page=35}}</ref> Reviewing the album's 1998 reissue, Mark Burbey of ''Alternative Press'' wrote that ''Dreamtime Return'' "remains a landmark recording of extraordinary emotional resonance."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Burbey|first=Mark|url=http://steveroach.com/Press/review.php?id=52|title=Steve Roach: Dreamtime Return|magazine=Alternative Press|issue=127|date=February 1999|access-date=March 8, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204102320/http://steveroach.com/Press/review.php?id=52|archive-date=February 4, 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref> It has also been included on a number of lists of the world's best music, including Tom Moon's ''1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die'' (2008), which notes that it has come to be regarded as "one of the pivotal works of ambient music."<ref name="Moon">{{cite book|last=Moon|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Moon|chapter=Deep Space Swirls: Dreamtime Return – Steve Roach|title=1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die|title-link=1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die|publisher=Workman Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7611-3963-8|page=649}}</ref>
John Diliberto, host of the ambient music radio program ''Echoes'', commented in 2005 that ''Dreamtime Return'' was "a seminal recording that has influenced a generation of musicians",<ref>{{cite web|last=Diliberto|first=John|url=http://www.steveroach.com/Press/review.php?id=348|title=Steve Roach: Dreamtime Return|website=Echoes|date=June 2005|access-date=March 8, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060110233706/http://www.steveroach.com/Press/review.php?id=348|archive-date=January 10, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> while ''Hearts of Space'' presenter Stephen Hill said, "Musically ''Dreamtime'' richly deserves its classic status, but Roach also deserves credit for leading electronic musicians out of their sheltered studios and into an active relationship with the landscape, the wider world, and deep cultural history."<ref>{{cite web|last=Hill|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Hill (broadcaster)|url=http://www.steveroach.com/Press/review.php?id=347|title=Steve Roach: Dreamtime Return|website=Hearts of Space|date=June 2005|access-date=March 8, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060111001015/http://www.steveroach.com/Press/review.php?id=347|archive-date=January 11, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>
After ''Dreamtime Return'' was remastered and reissued for its 30th anniversary in 2018, Bryon Hayes from ''Exclaim!'' wrote, "Thirty years later, in a period of intense rediscovery of barely remembered classic albums, it's fitting that this iconic gem has been uncovered."<ref name="Hayes"/>
==Track listing== All tracks written by Steve Roach except where noted.
===Two-disc CD release=== {{Track listing | headline = Disc one | title1 = Towards the Dream | length1 = 7:08 | title2 = The Continent | length2 = 4:49 | title3 = Songline | writer3 = Robert Rich, Roach | length3 = 3:10 | title4 = Airtribe Meets the Dream Ghost | writer4 = Rich, Roach | length4 = 7:00 | title5 = A Circular Ceremony | length5 = 11:18 | title6 = The Other Side | writer6 = Kevin Braheny, Roach | length6 = 13:14 | title7 = Magnificent Gallery | length7 = 6:07 | title8 = Truth in Passing | length8 = 8:41 | title9 = Australian Dawn – The Quiet Earth Cries Inside | length9 = 6:18 }}
{{Track listing | headline = Disc two | title1 = Looking for Safety | length1 = 31:21 | title2 = Through a Strong Eye | length2 = 6:50 | title3 = The Ancient Day | length3 = 6:06 | title4 = Red Twilight with the Old Ones | length4 = 9:48 | title5 = The Return | length5 = 8:33 }}
===1988 Fortuna Records double-LP release=== The 1988 double-LP release lacks the songs "Truth in Passing" and "Through a Strong Eye." It also has shorter edits of several other pieces, including a version of "Looking for Safety" that is 20 minutes shorter than the CD version.
{{Track listing | headline = Side one | title1 = Towards the Dream | length1 = 7:08 | title2 = The Continent | length2 = 4:48 | title3 = Songline | length3 = 3:11 | title4 = Airtribe Meets the Dream Ghost | length4 = 6:59 }}
{{Track listing | headline = Side two | title1 = A Circular Ceremony | length1 = 9:35 | title2 = The Other Side | length2 = 13:13 }}
{{Track listing | headline = Side three | title1 = Magnificent Gallery | length1 = 5:03 | title2 = Australian Dawn – The Quiet Earth Cries Inside | length2 = 5:11 | title3 = Looking for Safety | length3 = 10:03 }}
{{Track listing | headline = Side four | title1 = The Ancient Day | length1 = 6:06 | title2 = Red Twilight with the Old Ones | length2 = 9:48 | title3 = The Return | length3 = 8:33 }}
==Personnel== *Steve Roach – analog and digital synthesizers, sequencers, sampler, Macintosh with “M”, digital drums, Taos drum, sticks *Kevin Braheny – Steiner EWI *David Hudson – didjeridu *Chuck Oken Jr – rainstick *Robert Rich – gourd drum, dumbek
== References == {{reflist |25em }}
{{Steve Roach}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1988 albums Category:Steve Roach (musician) albums