‘Long Gone’ is one of the few songs on Bryan Adams’ 1984 album Reckless that isn’t an arena rock classic. I’m always blown away by the lineup of that album and I wish I’d owned it when it first came out.
The middle stretch of Reckless goes like this: ‘Run To You,’ ‘Heaven,’ ‘Somebody,’ ‘Summer of ’69.’ Spare me any highbrow dismissals of Adams as a songwriter and performer — those are four stone-cold bangers right there. Add in leadoff track ‘She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancin” and late album duet ‘It’s Only Love’ (featuring Tina Turner) and you have an essential classic rock album.