Our Long Road Home
| Our Long Road Home | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||
| Studio album by Taproot | ||||||||||
| Released | September 16, 2008 | |||||||||
| Recorded | 2008 at The Loft in Saline, Michigan | |||||||||
| Genre | Post-grunge, alternative metal | |||||||||
| Length | 41:26 | |||||||||
| Label | Velvet Hammer | |||||||||
| Producer | Tim Patalan | |||||||||
| Taproot chronology | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |   [1] |
| Seattle Post-Intelligencer | (mixed)[2] |
Our Long Road Home is the fourth studio album and third independent album by alternative metal band Taproot and was released on September 16, 2008. The album is Taproot's first independent release since 1999's Upon Us[3] and was released through Velvet Hammer, the label founded by the eponymous management company that has worked with bands such as System of a Down, Deftones, Alice in Chains.[4] This album also marks the drop of producer Toby Wright who had worked on the band's previous two studio releases.
The album's lead single would be "Wherever I Stand"; although, "You're Not Home Tonight" has received radio play as well. The title Our Long Road Home suits the band's roots in Ann Arbor area in which it was recorded. The track "It's Natural" includes a female vocalist, which is a first for the band. "Stethoscope" and "Hand That Holds True" are the OLRH Teaser #1 clips that Taproot released on YouTube; these were followed by "Path Less Taken."
The album debuted at #65 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, with first week sales of 7,700.
Production
"Budget cuts and political shifts," according to Taproot vocalist Stephen Richards, cost them their label support with Atlantic. This led the band to "try doing something different" and release Our Long Road Home independently. The album was recorded at The Loft, a barn converted into a recording studio in Saline, Michigan.[4] Richards, living 10 minutes away from the studio, considered this convenient due to various band members now having families and wanting to stay close to them. He noted "For the first time, instead of being thousands of miles away and being forced to be creative, we were at home, inspired by the things we know and love." Guitarist Mike DeWolf wrote one of the songs and Richards played drums during the recording process.[5] Our Long Road Home was originally scheduled for release on August 5 but was pushed back due to mixing problems and the addition of two "heavier" songs.
Taproot has since noted the mixed fan reception toward the progressive sound of Our Long Road Home. In March 2010, when discussing the band's upcoming Plead the Fifth, guitarist Mike DeWolf stated:
- "I think it threw a lot of fans for a loop. But at the time, we were willing to lose some people to gain some more. In general, I guess ... I don't know. But we're definitely getting back to it. I think a lot of people appreciated the progressive nature of what we were trying to do but at the same time, a lot of people are just fucking meatheads and only want heaviness. I guess some bands are pretty good at sticking to one thing and working that their entire career. Say ... AC/DC. But that wasn't us."[6]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Path Less Taken" | 3:55 |
| 2. | "Wherever I Stand" | 3:23 |
| 3. | "Be the 1" | 3:21 |
| 4. | "Hand That Holds True" | 3:41 |
| 5. | "Take It" | 3:12 |
| 6. | "It's Natural" (feat. Kristin von B) | 3:39 |
| 7. | "As One" | 3:50 |
| 8. | "You're Not Home Tonight" | 2:57 |
| 9. | "Stethoscope" | 1:43 |
| 10. | "Run To" | 3:40 |
| 11. | "Karmaway" | 4:09 |
| 12. | "Footprints" | 3:51 |
| Bonus Tracks | ||
|---|---|---|
| Track listing | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "These Walls" (iTunes release) | 2:45 |
| 2. | "Wake Up" (Amazon release) | 3:59 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "Wherever I Stand" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #34 |
| 2009 | "Path Less Taken" | - | - |
References
- ↑ About.com review
- ↑ Seattle Post-Intelligencer review
- ↑ Our Long Road Home
- 1 2 IGN: Taproot Take The Long Road Home
- ↑ LeLievre, Roger Taproot heads in a new direction The Ann Arbor News (September 14, 2008). Retrieved on 9-21-08.
- ↑ TAPROOT's 'Plead The Fifth' Pushed Back To May RoadrunnerRecords.com (March 5, 2010).