D Ream

---

title: "D Ream" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["pop-music-groups-from-northern-ireland", "electronic-music-groups-from-northern-ireland", "musical-groups-from-derry-(city)", "musical-groups-established-in-1992", "1992-establishments-in-northern-ireland", "magnet-records-artists", "sire-records-artists", "people-associated-with-the-1997-united-kingdom-general-election"] description: "Irish and English pop and dance band" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_Ream" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Irish and English pop and dance band ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	D:Ream
image	D-ream_Pop_Band.jpg
origin	Manchester, England
genre	Pop, dance, soul
years_active	1992–1997
2008–present
label	Magnet Records/FXU
Sire/Giant/Warner Bros. Records
website
current_members	Peter Cunnah
Al Mackenzie
past_members	Alex Leam
Brian Cox
::

| name = D:Ream | image = D-ream_Pop_Band.jpg | caption = | origin = Manchester, England | genre = Pop, dance, soul | years_active = 1992–1997 2008–present | label = Magnet Records/FXU Sire/Giant/Warner Bros. Records | website = | current_members = Peter Cunnah Al Mackenzie | past_members = Alex Leam Brian Cox

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". Their two 1990s studio albums both reached the UK top five.

The group had a line-up that varied in number but was centred on lead singer Peter Cunnah. The live band included keyboard player Brian Cox, who later became an academic and science broadcaster on television, although Cunnah played keyboards on studio recordings. The lesser-known Nick Shaw performed as a vocalist on various tours, covering tracks such as "Things Can Only Get Better" among other hits.

Early career

In 1992, D:Ream released the single "U R the Best Thing", a piano-house track that did not chart, but due to a Sasha remix, it was Pete Tong's Essential Tune of 1992. "Things Can Only Get Better", released in the spring of 1993, gave the group their first chart success. "U R the Best Thing" was eventually re-released in April 1993 and became the group's second chart hit. In 1994, they were nominated for Best Dance Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards, and then for Best Single at the 1995 BRIT Awards.

The band's first album, D:Ream on Volume 1, which was promoted for almost two years, produced seven singles ("Star" and "I Like It" were issued together as a double A-side). It was the track "Things Can Only Get Better" that brought them UK success and international recognition. After supporting Take That on their tour, "Things Can Only Get Better" topped the UK Singles Chart in early 1994.

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). Other key performers included physicist Brian Cox, who played keyboards for several years while working towards his physics PhD before being replaced by Simon Ellis, as well as 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, Brian 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 re-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

::data[format=table] | Year | Album title | UK | AUS | GER | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1993 | D:Ream on Volume 1 | 5 | 12 | 69 | | 1995 | World | 5 | 155 | — | | 2011 | In Memory Of... | — | — | — | | 2021 | Open Hearts Open Minds | — | — | — | | 2025 | Do It Anyway | — | — | — | | "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | | | | | ::

Compilations

::data[format=table]

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
2023	Broken Hearts & Messed Up Minds – The Remix Album
The Best Thing
::

Extended plays

::data[format=table]

Title	EP details
4 Things 2 Come
::

Singles

::data[format=table] | Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | UK | UK Dance | AUS Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks: | BEL (FL) Belgian (Flanders region) peaks: | EUR Eurochart Hot 100 singles peaks: | EDR European Dance Radio Chart chart peaks: | GER German singles chart peaks: | IRE | SWI | US Dance | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1992 | "U R the Best Thing" | 72 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | D:Ream On Vol. 1 | | | 1993 | "Things Can Only Get Better" | 24 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | | | | "U R the Best Thing" (re-release) | 19 | 1 | – | 50 | 62 | 11 | – | 6 | – | 1 | | | | | "Unforgiven" | 29 | 4 | – | – | 65 | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | "Star / I Like It" | 26 | 2 | – | – | 88 | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | "Things Can Only Get Better" (re-release) | 1 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 2 | 11 | – | | | | | 1994 | "U R the Best Thing (Perfecto Remix)" | 4 | 7 | 9 | 46 | 13 | – | 65 | 6 | 35 | – | | | | "Take Me Away" | 18 | 6 | 52 | – | 60 | 16 | – | 30 | – | – | | | | | "Blame It on Me" | 25 | 15 | – | – | 74 | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | 1995 | "Shoot Me with Your Love" | 7 | 3 | 73 | – | 26 | 3 | 73 | 16 | 45 | 4 | World | | | "Party Up the World" | 20 | – | 122 | – | – | – | – | 24 | – | – | | | | | "The Power (Of All the Love in the World)" | 40 | – | 150 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | 1997 | "Things Can Only Get Better" (re-release) | 19 | 30 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | The Best of D:Ream Vol. 1 | | | 2009 | "All Things to All Men" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | In Memory Of... | | | 2010 | "Drop Beatz Not Bombs" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | 2011 | "Gods in the Making" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | "Sleepy Head" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | 2014 | "Things Can Only Get Better" (re-release) | 66 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | D:Ream On Vol. 1 | | | 2021 | "Meet Me at Midnight" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Open Hearts Open Minds | | | "Many Hands" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | "I Used to Believe in Love" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | 2022 | "Pedestal" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Do It Anyway | | | 2025 | "Do It Anyway" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

References

References

1. Mitchell, Archie. (2024-05-22). "Rishi Sunak's election announcement drowned out by Blair's 1997 theme tune by D:Ream". The Independent.
2. (22 May 2024). "Protester said he played Things Can Only Get Better to 'troll' Sunak speech".
3. (25 May 2008). "About D:REAM". Myspace.
4. (11 April 2007). "Things have only got better for Brian | Oldham Advertiser – menmedia.co.uk". Oldham Advertiser.
5. (19 November 2010). "Professor Brian Cox to rejoin D:Ream". BBC News.
6. [http://news.sky.com/home/article/16208181 Sky News report. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012]
7. (31 May 2024). "'Never again': D:Ream ban Labour from using Things Can Only Get Better". [[PA Media]].
8. "Official Charts > Dream". [[Official Charts Company.
9. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > D:Ream – D:Ream on Vol. 1 (album)". GfK Entertainment.
10. "Discogs List of Releases". Discogs UK.
11. "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for D:Ream (from irishcharts.ie)". imgur.com.
12. "Swiss Chart". Swiss Charts.
13. "US Dance Club Play Chart". billboard.com.
14. "Meet Me at Midnight by D:Ream".
15. "Many Hands - Single by D:Ream".
16. "I Used to Believe in Love by D:Ream".
17. "Pedestal - Single by D:Ream".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::