Dreamer isn't just the turning point in Bobby Bland's career, when he fully assumed the "Sinatra Of The Blues" mantle. It's also an important turning point for the blues itself. These tracks are slick, upscale, and urban but welling up from the soul of a man who came up hard and hasn't let go of the hurt. They're about having everything except happiness, made brutally real by the tension between the Cadillac-smooth arrangements and Bland's honey-mustard voice. The deep pain that simmers throughout this album is as real as anything you will hear, but Bland's gift has always been his ability to open a wound and soothe it at the very same time.