A Long Way Home

• Artist: Dwight Yoakam
• Rating:
• Release Date: June 09, 1998
• Total Time: 41:53
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Country

Review

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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Previous:	A Long Way Home (1996 Album by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown)
Next:	A Long Way Home (2007 Album by Timber Wolves)