Acid Dreams is an unofficial compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 of American garage rock

Garage rock

Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...

 and psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...

 songs recorded in the 1960s. It was originally produced in 1979 by a German record shop owner, inspired by Elektra Records

Elektra Records

Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

' Nuggets series

History

In 1979, a Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 record shop owner issued Acid Dreams and pressed only 77 copies.
The album was primarily available in his store, though some copies were shipped to friends or label owners. The album was heavily bootlegged

Bootleg recording

A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...

, and in 1988, a compilation titled Acid Dreams Testament collected 13 of the original's 18 tracks, and added 15 more songs. Past & Present Records reissued Acid Dreams in February 2009.

Critical reception

Author and journalist Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...

 noted that although many of the album's songs can be heard on other compilations, "a listen to Acid Dreams does remind veteran collectors of how unusual and exciting this stuff sounded before the style had been mined to death on other reissues, and when the few compilations available really did tend to zero in on authentically killer tracks instead of lumping a whole bunch of generic items together." Music journalist Alan Ranta called the album "a brilliantly assembled exploration of pre-punk snarl and righteous feedback the likes of which is essential for freaking out the squares." While Ranta criticized the album's sound quality, Ptolemaic Terrascope

Ptolemaic Terrascope

Ptolemaic Terrascope is a magazine covering old and new music, usually of a psychedelic nature. It has been published irregularly since 1989...

s Jeff Penczak said "these snarling slabs of attitude deserve to be heard in all their analog glory."

Track listing

1. White Light – "William" (2:02)
2. Caretakers Of Deception – "Cuttin' Grass" (2:31)
3. The Outcasts – "1523 Blair" (1:46)
4. The Music Machine
   The Music Machine
   The Music Machine was an American garage rock and psychedelic band from the late 1960s, headed by singer-songwriter Sean Bonniwell and based in Los Angeles. The band sound was often defined by fuzzy guitars and a Farfisa organ...
   
    – "You'll Love Me Again" (1:52)
5. Mystic Tide
   Mystic Tide
   The Mystic Tide were an American rock band who have been credited for creating some of the first psychedelic anthems. They have also been called one of the best garage bands of the mid 1960s....
   
    – "Frustration" (2:44)
6. The Stereo Shoestring – "On the Road South" (2:16)
7. Velvet Illusions – "Velvet Illusions" (2:06)
8. Unrelated Segments
   Unrelated Segments
   The Unrelated Segments were a Taylor, Michigan-based teen rocker group formed in late 1966 around the nucleus of singer Ron Stults and lead guitarist Rory Mack, who together previously teamed in the short-lived Village Beaus...
   
    – "Where You Gonna Go" (2:49)
9. Beautiful Daze – "City Jungle" (5:47)
10. Painted Faces – "Anxious Colour" (2:32)
11. Teddy & His Patches – "Suzy Creamcheese" (3:11)
12. Velvet Illusions – "Acid Head" (3:07)
13. The Vejtables
    The Vejtables
    The Vejtables were a mid-1960s rock group from Millbrae, California. They recorded for the Autumn label and found limited success with such songs as "I Still Love You" and a cover version of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind"...
    
     – "Shadows" (3:13)
14. Faine Jade – "It Ain't True" (3:11)
15. The Balloon Farm
    The Balloon Farm
    The Balloon Farm, a musical act from New Jersey, took its name from a New York City nightclub. It is best known for its sole hit song, "A Question of Temperature," which made the Billboard charts in February 1968, peaking in the top 40....
    
     – "A Question of Temperature" (2:38)
16. Minds Eye – "Help I'm Lost" (2:31)
17. Zakary Thaks
    Zakary Thaks
    The Zakary Thaks were an American garage band from Corpus Christi, Texas, formed in the mid 1960s.The band developed out of the Marauders, a teen group which included Chris Gerniottis , Pete Stinson , and Rex Gregory , and who then became the Riptides, adding lead guitarist John Lopez...
    
     – "Can You Hear" (2:33)
18. Remaining Few – "Painted Air" (3:38)