[3][4] Founding member Alejandro Escovedo left the band prior to the recording sessions for the album.

[12] Robert Christgau wrote that, "in a disquietingly cerebral way the music is very moving, with the Kinman brothers' wide-spaced close harmonies adding a unique sweet-and-sour lift to their defiantly doomy tunes.

"[14] Trouser Press opined that, "lacking the first LP's lost and lonesome prairie feel, Long Gone Dead is appealing but disappointing.

"[16] AllMusic wrote that, "while a more ambitious and musically diverse album than Sundown, Long Gone Dead just doesn't have the same tight focus and sharp impact of the debut.

"[10] MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide called the album "a vitally important [document] of the rebirth of an entire genre of American music that, watered down and pasteurized, resurfaced later in everything from John Mellencamp's first post-Cougar releases to the entire current crop of alterna-twangers.