Post by jptheprofessor on Dec 13, 2007 20:07:55 GMT -5
THE EAGLES – LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN (Eagles Recording) Almost 30 years since their last studio album, The Long Run, and 13 years since issuing their studio/live reunion effort, Hell Freezes Over, The Eagles have finally returned with a new studio album, the two-disc set Long Road Out of Eden. Nowadays the foursome of Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit; The Eagles musically pick up where they left off, offering their trademark blend of rock, pop and country flavors. Much of the first disc, in fact, sounds like it could have been recorded at any point during the group’s successful 70’s run. The first single, “How Long,” is driving country-rock in the vein of the Eagles’ 1972 breakthrough hit “Take It Easy.” “Busy Being Fabulous” and the punchy Joe Walsh-fronted remake of Frankie Miller’s “Guilty of the Crime” could have been recorded during The Long Run sessions; and the funky “Fast Company” would have made a good companion to that same album’s “Disco Strangler.” A number of more acoustic- and country-geared ballads also populate the first disc, including the Glenn Frey-penned/sung “What Do I Do with My Heart,” “No More Cloudy Days” and “You Are Not Alone;” and Henley’s lengthier “Waiting in the Weeds.” The centerpiece of the album, the ten-minute title track epic “Long Road Out of Eden,” kicks off the second disc; it is Don Henley’s biting essay on the screwed-up state of our country’s current psyche, with a sound reminiscent of his 80’s solo material. Two other Henley-penned numbers, “Frail Grasp on the Big Picture” and “Business as Usual,” are edgier and his most caustic work since “Dirty Laundry.” The Joe Walsh-penned/sung “Last Good Time in Town” takes on a Steely Dan funk/jazz flavor, while “It’s Your World Now” closes the album with a mariachi flavor. All the material over both discs is executed smoothly and seamlessly, and the entire package fits together as a cohesive whole. The band’s production finds a comfortable medium between bright melodies and instrumental finesse, and everything works to serve the overall effect of the songs, without cluttering them up with too much polish and gloss. Long Road Out of Eden shows that even after their lengthy hiatus and some of the publicized dissension between band members, that when the Eagles come together, they can still do what they do very well. The group successfully recaptures the essence of what made them household names to begin with, and this set stands sturdily alongside their best previous work. Longtime Eagles fans will find this well worth the long wait.