As he entered his second decade of recording, Dwight Yoakam began to take more time between records. A three-year gap separated A Long Way Home from Gone -- the last time he went that long between albums of new material was 1990's If There Was a Way and 1993's This Time. As it happened, This Time was a masterpiece, a breakthrough of sorts in that it expanded Yoakam's already large stylistic trickbag. A Long Way Home doesn't rank with This Time, probably because it is an outgrowth of that leap forward instead of the leap itself, but like Gone, it is a rich, diverse, continually impressive collection of timeless songs. Yoakam and his producer/guitarist Pete Anderson keep things interesting by never following conventions -- "These Arms" has a Bakersfield foundation, but it's graced by sweeping Nashville strings that bring the song into new territory. That's just one of many unexpected touches that make A Long Way Home a rewarding listen, even if it doesn't consistently reach the heights of such previous masterstrokes as Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc., Buenos Noches From a Lonely Room, and This Time.
A Long Way Home
Dwight Yoakam
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A Long Way Home Review
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Track Listing
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dwight Yoakam | 03:03 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
2 | Dwight Yoakam | 02:33 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
3 | Dwight Yoakam | 03:45 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
4 | Dwight Yoakam | 03:19 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
5 | Dwight Yoakam | 02:38 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
6 | Dwight Yoakam | 03:31 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
7 | Dwight Yoakam | 02:26 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
8 | Dwight Yoakam | 03:22 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
9 | Dwight Yoakam | 02:49 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
10 | Dwight Yoakam | 02:55 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
11 | Dwight Yoakam | 03:47 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
12 | Dwight Yoakam | 03:25 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
13 | Dwight Yoakam | 04:20 | SpotifyAmazon |