Dakota - Mr Lucky
Tracks: Remember Me Mr Lucky One For The Heart Heaven Or Hell Forever To Never Don't Stop Believin' Those Eyes Good Old Time The Next Time All Thru The Night Mr Lucky (Rocky version) Total Playing Time: 43:12 m:s Label: Escape Year: 1996 Producers: Jerry G Hludzik & Rick Manwiller
Yet again I'm catching up with 80's AOR cult heroes. This is Dakota's third album, which was previously released in 1987 under the title "The Lost Tracks". It sees the light of day once again thanks to Khalil Turk at Escape Music Ltd.
Based upon my experiences with previous 80's and retro sounding AOR releases such as Spys, Harlan Cage etc I didn't really expect to like this, but somehow I do. It's easy to sit down and float away in dreams of sunshine, fast cars and pretty girls when listening to this. When jotting down notes about each track I found myself mentioning Survivor, Chicago, Toto, labelmates Agent and Garth Brooks (?).
Remember Me starts off the proceedings. First thing that hits you is that the vocals are high in the mix. I hate it when the instruments crowd out the vocals, but this is taking things too far in the other direction. It's gives the whole album almost a 'demo' feel. Even without this prominence, the vocals would still be the stars of the show. Lead, and backing, vocals are all top notch.
There's a fairly consistent quality to the songs and I don't remember hitting the 'next track' button on the remote when listening to this. Personal favourites include the uptempo Heaven Or Hell, the Survivor style ballad Forever To Never, the relaxed Good Old Time and the Garth Brooks sounding All Thru' The Night. I'm sure the guys might not thank me for GB comparisons, but All Thru' The Night sounds like GB doing one of his AOR tinged ballads.
Westcoast meets AOR is not my usual listening material. There are some great songs on here and I am generally impressed. However, the production side of things lets the side down slightly. The vocals are too upfront to suit my tastes. It doesn't sound like a natural balance. Despite this, it's been getting more than its fair share spins in my CD player. I know Dakota are in the studio recording a new album. It will be interesting to see what difference the 10 years makes. I'm hoping for the same standard (or better) of songs, but with an improvement in the production.
Rating: 8
