Eagles: Long Road Out of Eden, Just Released

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Eagles: Long Road Out of Eden, Just Released (2-CD Set, 20 Songs)
The Eagles
BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

2-CDs
20 Songs
Released November of 2007
New Studio Tracks

The Rolling Stone says,

"Long Road Out of Eden," the ten-minute centerpiece of this two-CD, twenty-song album, epitomizes everything that is familiar, surprising, overstretched and, in many ways, right about the entire set. The song echoes the title hit of 1976's Hotel California, the Eagles' defining monument to mirage, money and no escape. But this time the desert is overseas and oil is the new champagne. When drummer Don Henley sings, "Now we're driving dazed and drunk" in a grainy, plaintive voice, it is an entire nation at the wheel, "bloated with entitlement, loaded on propaganda."

That is brassy censure from a band that, in the Seventies, embodied Hollywood vainglory, shining its klieg-light guitars and vocals on the low roads through high living with an often wicked insight that only comes from knowing each mile intimately. But there is a potent restraint to "Long Road Out of Eden," in the bleak, hollow mix of acoustic guitar and electric piano in the verses and the overcast sigh of the harmonies. There is empathy, too, for the soldier on night patrol, with dirty work to do and everything to lose. "I'm not counting on tomorrow/And I can't tell wrong from right," Henley sings. "But I'd give anything to be there in your arms tonight." That's not self-interest -- just the purest need.

An online reviewer:

"28 years after their last studio album, four remaining Eagles release a new album. Long Road out of Eden features 2 discs and 20 new tracks. Disc 1 is described as being a re-introduction to the band with the opening track a post nuclear vision of Seven Bridges Rd, followed by a song they forgot to record 35 years ago "How Long" by long time friend JD Souther. This stamps Eagles all over it and just gets better each time you hear it. Harmonies and all the little things which most bands would overlook, make this a classic already in the Take it Easy, Already Gone genre. Next up is Busy Being Fabulous which is an update of Those Shoes with a killer chorus and typically cynical Henley lyric. Has the Eagles sound. Next is a weepie with a countrified Frey vocal. Quite nice, Walsh steps up next with Guily of the Crime, whilst being pleasant is a little removed from the other material on this disc. Next up is the first of Tim Schmit's spots with a brilliant (single written all over it)I Don't want to Hear Anymore, is simply brilliant. Won't fit on contemporary radio but anyone reading this won't care anyway. Disc 1's highlight follows with Waiting in the Weeds. How to describe this song? It starts of as an acoustic, black, Henley vocal and shifts into an epic from 1st Chorus/Bridge on when Schmit/Frey's harmonies kick in. Its low fi, acoustic guitars and mandolin, but segues into something much more, the lyrics tell so many stories with multi dimensions and layers. By the end of the 7 minutes its a totally different beast, with an undeniable stamp of class. This track makes the 28 year wait all worth it."

Another online reviewer:

I grew up in the 70's listening to the Eagles. Loved the older stuff; not such a fan of The Long Run. The first time i heard this album, 5 or 6 songs jumped out at me & i didn't like 3 or 4 others. Having heard this 2 more times now, my opinion has completely changed. The 2 & 3 part harmonies are fantastic. As it has been stated in other reviews, there are many moments when you think back to older Eagles songs. But this release clearly reflects the aging of the members. There is a fantastic sense of loss on may of the songs. Clearly these songs were written by folks aware of the passage of time; there is a softer, sadder almost melancholy feeling to some of the songs. My favorite song on the discs is Waiting in the Weeds. Didn't like Long Road out of Eden at first, love it now. Also like How Long, What Do I Do ..., No more Cloudy days, Love to Watch a Woman, Center of the Universe, It's your world now. After listening to this disc, it makes me wish these guys had written more music. There just isn't anything this good being written today.