D:Ream are a Northern Irish pop and dance group. They achieved a UK No. 1 hit with "Things Can Only Get Better" in 1994. Eight further top 40 hits followed, including "U R the Best Thing", "Take Me Away" and "Shoot Me with Your Love".
The band released two studio albums, D:Ream on Volume 1 (1992) and World (1995), ten different singles, two of which were released three times, and an official greatest hits album, The Best of D:Ream. In 1997, the group's record label issued their first compilation, The Best of D:Ream. In 2006, a second collection appeared as part of The Platinum Collection series.
When D:Ream broke through into the charts, the band's main touring line-up consisted of core members Peter Cunnah (vocalist, songwriter) and Al Mackenzie (musician). Brian Cox was a live and session keyboardist for several years while working towards his physics PhD, before being replaced by Simon Ellis. Other players included Derek Chai on bass, Alex Leam on triangle, and drummer Mark Roberts. The group also used a number of guest vocalists, such as T.J. Davis, who is featured as co-lead vocalist on "The Power (Of All the Love in the World)", one of the singles from their second album.
Reunion, and split-up
In 2008, D:Ream reformed after a chance meeting between Cunnah and Mackenzie. Their single "All Things to All Men" was released on 7 September 2009 on their own label, User Records. They released the album In Memory Of... in 2011 and also planned concert dates to follow. Meanwhile, Cox became a physics professor and science broadcaster who has worked on the Large Hadron Collider project. In late 2010 he announced that he would provide some keyboard work for the new album, but would not be joining the band full-time. As part of their 2012 commitments, the band played main support to Wheatus at the LeeStock Music Festival in Sudbury, Suffolk.
On 23 July 2021, Cunnah and Mackenzie released a new studio album, Open Hearts Open Minds.
The band stated in June 2024 that they regretted the use of the song "Things Can Only Get Better" in political campaigns and would not grant permission for it to be used in future campaigns.
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="40"|Year
! Album title
! width="35"|<small>UK</small><br>
! width="35"|<small>AUS</small><br>
|-
| 1993
| D:Ream on Volume 1
| style="text-align:center;"|5
| style="text-align:center;"|12
| style="text-align:center;"|69
|-
| 1995
| World
| style="text-align:center;"|5
| style="text-align:center;"|155
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
| 2011
| In Memory Of...
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
| 2021
| Open Hearts Open Minds
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
| 2025
| Do It Anyway
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
| align="center" colspan="7" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.
|}
Compilations
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="40"|Year
! Album title
|-
| 1997
| The Best of D:Ream
|-
| 2006
| The Platinum Collection
|-
| 2011
| Things Can Only Get Better: The Very Best of D:Ream
|-
| rowspan="2"|2023
| Broken Hearts & Messed Up Minds – The Remix Album
|-
| The Best Thing
|}
Extended plays
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! EP details
|-
| 4 Things 2 Come
|
- Released: 26 October 1992
- Label: FXU
- Formats: 12" vinyl
|}
Singles
{|class="wikitable"
!rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Title
!colspan="10<!-- Maximum of 10 columns -->"| Chart positions
!rowspan="2"| Album
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="35"| UK<br/>
! width="35"| AUS<br/>
! width="35"| BEL<br>(FL)<br/>
! width="35"| EUR<br>
! width="35"| EDR<br/>
! width="35"| GER<br/>
! width="35"| IRE<br/>
! width="35"| SWI<br/>
! width="35"| US Dance<br>
|-
| 1992
| "U R the Best Thing"
|align="center"| 72
|align="center"| 4
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
| align="left" rowspan="9" |D:Ream On Vol. 1
|-
| rowspan="5"|1993
| "Things Can Only Get Better"
|align="center"| 24
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 7
|-
| "U R the Best Thing" <small>(re-release)</small>
|align="center"| 19
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 50
|align="center"| 62
|align="center"| 11
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 6
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 1
|-
| "Unforgiven"
|align="center"| 29
|align="center"| 4
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 65
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| "Star / I Like It"
|align="center"| 26
|align="center"| 2
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 88
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| "Things Can Only Get Better" <small>(re-release)</small>
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| 9
|align="center"| 10
|align="center"| 5
|align="center"| 22
|align="center"| 20
|align="center"| 2
|align="center"| 11
|align="center"| –
|-
| rowspan="3"|1994
| "U R the Best Thing (Perfecto Remix)"
|align="center"| 4
|align="center"| 7
|align="center"| 9
|align="center"| 46
|align="center"| 13
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 65
|align="center"| 6
|align="center"| 35
|align="center"| –
|-
| "Take Me Away"
|align="center"| 18
|align="center"| 6
|align="center"| 52
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 60
|align="center"| 16
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 30
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| "Blame It on Me"
|align="center"| 25
|align="center"| 15
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 74
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| rowspan="3"|1995
| "Shoot Me with Your Love"
|align="center"| 7
|align="center"| 3
|align="center"| 73
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 26
|align="center"| 3
|align="center"| 73
|align="center"| 16
|align="center"| 45
|align="center"| 4
| align="left" rowspan="3" |World
|-
| "Party Up the World"
|align="center"| 20
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 122
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 24
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| "The Power (Of All the Love in the World)"
|align="center"| 40
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| 150
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| 1997
| "Things Can Only Get Better" <small>(re-release)</small>
|align="center"| 19
|align="center"| 30
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
| align="left"|The Best of<br>D:Ream Vol. 1
|-
| 2009
| "All Things to All Men"
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
| align="left" rowspan="4" |In Memory Of...
|-
| 2010
| "Drop Beatz Not Bombs"
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| rowspan="2"|2011
| "Gods in the Making"
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| "Sleepy Head"
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| 2014
| "Things Can Only Get Better" <small>(re-release)</small>
|align="center"| 66
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|D:Ream On Vol. 1
|-
| rowspan="3"|2021
| "Meet Me at Midnight"
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
| rowspan="3"|Open Hearts Open Minds
|-
| "Many Hands"
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| "I Used to Believe in Love"
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| 2022
| "Pedestal"
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
| rowspan="2"|Do It Anyway
|-
| 2025
| "Do It Anyway"
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|align="center"| –
|-
| align="center" colspan="17" style="font-size:85%"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.
|}
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart