There are two groups with this name.

1) A collaboration between Pete Namlook and Bill Laswell.
2) An AOR/arena rock band from Japan.
Hard at work over a year, Outland has finally re-surfaced with their second release, Long Way Home. Building on the success attained with the release of Different Worlds last summer, the follow up is the recording that Outland principals Jeff Prentice and Rob Nishida feel, truly establishes the Outland sound and provides the listener with the complete Outland experience.

“We really went through an intensive writing period for this CD,” explains Nishida. “As soon as we finished mastering Different Worlds in May of last year, we began writing like crazy. Inspired by the positive response we got for the CD, we wrote over 30 songs in a period of eight months and then went through the excruciating process of picking 12 for Long Way Home, including the bonus track for the Japanese release.”

Long Way Home vividly reveals every color on the Outland palette, from some of the most rocking tracks Outland has ever done, including the opener “Boderline,” an Outland-ized cover of the Thin Lizzy classic “Hollywood,” to the slow churning, fan favorite “How Many Times” and the most tender ballad they’ve ever done with “Somebody Just Like You.” “I am a huge Thin Lizzy fan, so that song was a joy to record,” says Prentice. On the other end of the spectrum, “Somebody” might be at home on something like a Richard Marx record. Long Way Home should appeal to all fans of Different Worlds, plus some fans of slightly harder rock as well”

A notable guest appearance on the CD is none other than ex Mr. Big drummer Pat Torpey, who provides a solid foundation for all of Long Way Home’s 11 tracks plus one bonus track “Love Of My Life,” specifically recorded for the Japanese release. “Having Pat play drums on this CD turned out to be a great decision” Nishida says. “Lance Tamanaha, the drummer on the last CD wasn’t available for the recording so I made a call to Pat. He’s been a friend for years; so having him play on the CD was very natural. Also, being an accomplished songwriter himself, he knew instinctively what each song needed, and played his heart out on each one.”

Long Way Home was produced by Nishida and Prentice and features the duos’ penchant for classic AOR elements and a polished production style that made Different Worlds, 2003’s “one of the best pure 80's melodic rock albums of 2003” according to Andrew McNiece of MelodicRock.com.

“It’s certainly been a fun record to make. Aside from the fact that Pat’s drumming just kills, this CD is definitely a huge step forward production-wise for us,” says Prentice. "We know that Outland fans are expecting another hook-filled, big chorus, huge guitar CD from us, and that’s exactly what Long Way Home is.

"Our ultimate goal is to continue with Outland as long as our fans want us to," Nishida says. “Outland is just a vehicle for Jeff and I to write, record and play the type of music we both love. With a little luck and with continued support from our fans, we’ll keep doing this for a long, long time.”

3) South African duo formed by Nikki (since changed to Niki) Smart (vocals, acoustic guitars, keytar) and Myles Shannon (electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, vocals). They had success in South Africa with their release of “White Sugar”, for which a big budget video was made and which resulted in radio interviews and TV appearances. They also appeared at the Sun City Superbowl in February 1992, together with artists such as MarcAlex, Little Sister and Slam Factory. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.