Dakota - Dakota (2002)

Special Limited Deluxe Collector s Edition / 1st Time on CD / Two bonus tracks / Fully remastered sound shaped from 24 BIT digital technology / 16 page full colour booklet 3,500 word essay, enhanced artwork, memorabilia & rare photos IN THE WORLD of melodic rock it s never about the size of your fan base or the number of records that you ve sold, it s about the quality of your music. Take a band like Dakota for instance, a group that registered barely a blip when they were active but have gone on to accumulate a mountain of praise that belies slender sales figures. Formed by the duo of Jerry Hludzik and Bill Kelly - both former members of early seventies rock act the Buoys who scored a huge million seller with the hit single Timothy - they signed a production deal with Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine and recorded an album for Epic Records as the Jerry-Kelly Band before switching to the Columbia label, this time going under the rather rockier handle of Dakota. Previously the band had operated with a more refined style but this time around they came out all guns blazing, sporting an AOR coat of armour and brandishing a much heavier, almost quasi pomp rock sound that invited comparison to the likes of Toto, Le Roux, Trillion and Styx. That they were great songwriters was an added bonus, making tracks such as If It Takes All Night , Crazy Love and Restless sound like hit singles in the making; a truly superlative slice of period perfect AOR.