DAKOTA – Long Road Home (2015) *HQ*
After a hiatus of 11 years, American classic AORsters DAKOTA reunited to record a brand new album titled “Long Road Home“. Original band members Jerry Hludzik and Bill Kelly joined up with John Lorance, Eli Hludzik and various guest artists to record the new album at SI Studios, Pennsylvania.
And how Dakota sounds 2015? Better than never!
Due to the strained relations with Columbia Records, as well as personal differences between band members, Dakota played their final performance at Scranton’s Montage Amphitheater in 1987 in front of roughly 17,000 fans. The band stopped, but the band members pursued personal projects.
During the 1990s and 2000s original member (and Dakota’s mastermind) Jerry Hludzik continued to record three more records under the Dakota name, featuring a variety of session musicians, friends and also his son Eli Hludzik, achieving a high success in Europe and Japan.
Precisely from one of these Hludzik-Dakota records are taken six tracks here, but completely re-worked. The rest are brand new compositions. And what a songs!
Let me put this straight: “Long Road Home” is AWESOME.
Dakota have crafted in 2015 the album all fans of the ‘true’ American ’80s AOR wanted: the sound, the arrangements, all is pure gold here.
Just check the pulsating midtempo ‘Push’, the keyboard-driven ‘Secrets’, or the melodic rock heaven of “Remember When” (duet with Bill Champlin)… these cuts alone worth the purchase.
There’s more gems in the rocking and ultra-melodic ‘Heaven Or Hell’, the wonderful ‘You Threw It All Away’ (some Night Ranger on it), the melodic sheen of ‘1-2-3 Baby Baby’ (are we in 1983 again?) or the super ballad ‘One From The Heart’ in the Survivor vein.
You don’t need more examples… go and buy Dakota’s “Long Road Home” right now.
As said, it’s pure gold, and let me tell you: a future classic.
One of the albums of the year… A MUST HAVE
01. Long Road Home
02. Push
03. Secrets
04. Remember When (duet with Bill Champlin)
05. Heaven Or Hell
06. You Threw It All Away
07. All Through The Night
08. These Eyes
09. 1-2-3 Baby Baby
10. Jenny At Midnight
11. One From The Heart
12. Live It Up
13. Fall Like A Tear
14. When The Party Is Over
15. Don’t Stop Believin’ (live bonus track)
Jerry G. Hludzik : Vocals & Guitar
Bill Kelly : Vocals & Guitar
Eli Hludzik : Drums
Jon Lorance : Guitar
Guest Appearances by :
Bill Champlin : Duet with Jerry G. Hludzik on “Remember When”
Ricky Dehlin : Keyboards on “Fall Like A Tear”
Alessandro DelVecchio : Keyboards on “Long Road Home”, “Push”, “Secrets”, “Remember When”, “You Thew It All Away”, “These Eyes”, “Live It Up” & “When The Party Is Over”
Tommy Denander : Guitars on “Push”, “Secrets” & “Fall Like A Tear”
Justus Dobrin : Keyboards on “Heaven Or Hell”, “All Through The Night”, “1-2-3 Baby Baby” & “Jenny At Midnight”
John “JR” Robinson : Drums on “Push” & “These Eyes”
Danny Seraphine : Drums on “Heaven Or Hell”
Jon Lorance : All Guitars Tracks except “Push” & “Secrets”
Eli Hludzik : All Drum Tracks except “Push”, “Heaven Or Hell” & “These Eyes”
Lenny Mecea : All Bass Guitar Tracks
Jon Lorance & Tommy Denander at their best : Trade-off Solo on “You Threw It All Away”
Tom Borthwick : Additional Keyboards
Rick Manwiller : Keyboards on “One From The Heart”
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