Dream into Action

Dream into Action
Studio album by
Howard Jones
Released15 March 1985 (1985-03-15)
Recorded1984–1985
StudiosFarmyard (Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire)
GenreSynth-pop[1]
Length55:45
Labels
ProducerRupert Hine
Howard Jones chronology
The 12″ Album
(1984)		 Dream into Action
(1985)		 Action Replay
(1986)
Singles from Dream into Action
  1. "Things Can Only Get Better"
    Released: 1 February 1985[2]
  2. "Look Mama"
    Released: 12 April 1985[3]
  3. "Life in One Day"
    Released: 17 June 1985[4]
  4. "No One Is to Blame"
    Released: 7 March 1986[5]

Dream into Action is the second studio album by the English synth-pop musician Howard Jones, released in the UK on 15 March 1985.[6][7] It reached number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and also reached the top ten on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number 10. The album achieved a gold certification in the UK and platinum status in the US and Canada.

The album contains the hit singles "Things Can Only Get Better" (UK No. 6, US No. 5), "Look Mama" (UK No. 10) and "Life in One Day" (UK No. 14, US No. 19).[8][9] Additionally, the track "No One Is to Blame" was re-recorded in a new arrangement for single release, reaching No. 16 on the UK singles chart and No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1986;[8][9] this version was included on a later second European pressing of the album. The 1984 single "Like to Get to Know You Well" (UK No. 4) was included on the album's CD reissue (and is also on the US version of the vinyl album). A world tour accompanied the album's original release with Jones playing Wembley Arena and the O2 Academy Birmingham in the UK, and arena-size venues in the US, Europe and Japan. In 2010, a remastered edition of the album was issued alongside Jones' debut studio album Human's Lib (1984).

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[10]
God Is in the TV9/10[11]
Number One3/5[12]
Record CollectorStarStarStar[13]
Record MirrorStarStarStar[14]
The Rolling Stone Album GuideStarStarStar[15]
Smash Hits7/10[16]
SoundsStarStarStarStar[17]
The Village VoiceD[18]

Contemporary reviews of the album in the UK music press were mixed. In Melody Maker, Caroline Sullivan compared Jones to the robot-like figures on the album cover and said, "The pre-glam, pre-pre-punk technosaurs are remembered contemptuously, for their be-laboured grandiosity, sixth form metaphysical lyrics and unstinting attention to pomposity, all of which HJ faithfully reproduces here."[19] However, Johnny Waller of Sounds stated that "despite so many virtually insurmountable hurdles, Howard Jones is fast maturing into an artist of imagination, style, vision and credibility", viewing Jones's music as displaying great advances and willing to take risks.[17] Paul Sexton of Record Mirror said, "the simple matter of good tunes is causing problems and Jones already seems to be repeating himself", concluding that despite Rupert Hine's production, there was "no spark".[14]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine observed that in contrast to the "sleekly electronic" Human's Lib, Dream into Action "is a big, bright album that epitomizes the sound of the mainstream in the mid-'80s, a time when computers worked overtime to disguise themselves as human sounds". He concluded that it "is, in many ways, the apotheosis of Howard Jones' career: he'd yet to drift into softened adult contemporary, and he still had enthusiasm for his hooks, his machines, and his positivity, the very things that distinguished him from the legions of synth poppers in the mid-'80s."[10] Paul Scott-Bates of Louder Than War found Dream into Action more "chart oriented" than its predecessor, while noting that throughout the album, Jones "expressed his views and concerns ... with compassion" and "upped the pace with as eclectic and wild compositions."[1]

Track listing

All songs are written and composed by Howard Jones.

UK version

Side one

  1. "Things Can Only Get Better" – 4:02
  2. "Life in One Day" – 3:39
  3. "Dream into Action" – 3:45
  4. "No One Is to Blame" – 3:28 (initial issue), 4:13 (later reissues, single version)
  5. "Look Mama" – 3:53
  6. "Assault and Battery" – 4:51

Side two

  1. "Automaton" – 4:04
  2. "Is There a Difference?" – 3:33
  3. "Elegy" – 4:20
  4. "Specialty" – 3:58
  5. "Why Look for the Key" – 3:23
  6. "Hunger for the Flesh" – 3:59

CD bonus tracks

  1. "Bounce Right Back" (B-side of "Like to Get to Know You Well") – 4:33
  2. "Like to Get to Know You Well" – 3:58

US version

Compared to the UK LP version, the US LP dropped "Specialty" and "Why Look for the Key", and added "Like to Get to Know You Well" and "Bounce Right Back".

Side one

  1. "Things Can Only Get Better" – 4:02
  2. "Life in One Day" – 3:39
  3. "No One Is to Blame" – 3:28
  4. "Dream Into Action" – 3:45
  5. "Like to Get to Know You Well" – 4:01
  6. "Assault and Battery" – 4:51

Side two

  1. "Look Mama" – 3:53
  2. "Bounce Right Back" – 4:34
  3. "Elegy" – 4:20
  4. "Is There a Difference?" – 3:33
  5. "Automaton" – 4:04
  6. "Hunger for the Flesh" – 3:59

Personnel

Production

  • Produced by Rupert Hine for Gestalt
  • Recorded and mixed at Farmyard Studios, England by Stephen W. Tayler
  • Recording assistant – Andrew Scarth

Other credits

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[33] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[35] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. 1 2 Scott-Bates, Paul (5 December 2018). "Howard Jones: Humans Lib / Dream Into Action – album reviews". Louder Than War. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  2. ↑ "Things get better for Howard". Record Mirror. 26 January 1985. p. 5.
  3. ↑ "Howie 45". Record Mirror. 6 April 1985. p. 8.
  4. ↑ "Life with Howard". Record Mirror. 15 June 1985. p. 4.
  5. ↑ "A Lovely Pair". Daily Mirror. 7 March 1986.
  6. ↑ "Howard's dreaming". Melody Maker. 9 March 1985. p. 3.
  7. ↑ "Action Man". Record Mirror. 9 March 1985. p. 7.
  8. 1 2 "Howard Jones". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Howard Jones Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  10. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Dream into Action – Howard Jones". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  11. ↑ Page, Andy (27 November 2018). "Howard Jones – Human's Lib / Dream Into Action (Cherry Red Records)". God Is in the TV. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  12. ↑ Pearson, Deanne (16 March 1985). "Albums". Number One. No. 91. p. 37.
  13. ↑ McIver, Joel (July 2024). "Howard Jones: Human's Lib / Dream into Action". Record Collector. No. 559. p. 96.
  14. 1 2 Sexton, Paul (16 March 1985). "Howard Jones: Dream into Action". Record Mirror. p. 16.
  15. ↑ Considine, J. D. (1992). "Howard Jones". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. p. 379. ISBN 0-679-73729-4.
  16. ↑ Heath, Chris (14–27 March 1985). "Howard Jones: Dream into Action". Smash Hits. Vol. 7, no. 6. p. 21.
  17. 1 2 Waller, Johnny (16 March 1985). "Easy Action". Sounds. p. 22.
  18. ↑ Christgau, Robert (27 August 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  19. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline (16 March 1985). "Wet Dream". Melody Maker. p. 29.
  20. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, New South Wales, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 161. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  21. ↑ "RPM 100 Albums". RPM. Vol. 42, no. 20. 27 July 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  22. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Howard Jones – Dream into Action" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  23. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Howard Jones – Dream into Action" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  24. ↑ "Charts.nz – Howard Jones – Dream into Action". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  25. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Howard Jones – Dream into Action". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  26. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Howard Jones – Dream into Action". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  27. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Howard Jones – Dream into Action". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  28. ↑ "Official Albums Chart on 17/3/1985 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  29. ↑ "Howard Jones Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  30. ↑ "RPM's 100 Albums of 1985". RPM. Vol. 43, no. 16. 28 December 1985. p. 14. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  31. ↑ "Top 100 Albums". Music Week. 18 January 1986. p. 11.
  32. ↑ "Top Pop Albums". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 52. 28 December 1985. 1985: The Year in Music & Video supplement, p. T-19. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  33. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Howard Jones – Dream into Action". Music Canada. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  34. ↑ "British album certifications – Howard Jones – Dream into Action". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 January 2022. Select albums in the Formats field. Type Dream into Action Howard Jones in the "Search:" field.
  35. ↑ "American album certifications – Howard Jones – Dream into Action". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
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