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Album review by Todd Sterling
Has it really been close to three decades since seminal country-rockers the Eagles released an album of all new material? While the band has been back in touring action since the early ‘90s (after disbanding in the ‘80s), the group hasn’t had a studio album on store shelves since 1980's The Long Run.
Twenty-eight years between studio albums is a bit ridiculous, but thankfully the drought is over. More than a decade in the making, Long Road Out Of Eden, a sprawling two disc set, will more than satisfy fans thirsty for new music from one of the best selling acts on the planet. Band leaders Don Henley and Glenn Frey, along with longtime members Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt, offer up a nectarous ‘70s spiked cocktail that goes down smooth and easy.
From the melodious opener "No More Walks In The Wood," a prophetic poem set to music, to the disc closing "It’s Your World Now," an island flavored cut that will make Jimmy Buffett and Kenney Chesney green with envy, Long Road Out Of Eden is an intoxicating collection. As hard as it is to believe (and for some old-school Eagles fans hard to admit), the twenty tracks that fill the two discs standout as some of the best the Eagles have ever created.
Anyone who has heard the first single from Long Road Out Of Eden, the harmony drenched "How Long," knows the Eagles keep their feet firmly planted in the past (which in this case is a good thing). Frey and Walsh inject the track with the familiar country-rock riffs that nearly every guitarist living in Nashville has tried to top for years. Henley is in the finest vocal shape of his life, as are Frey, Schmidt and Walsh.
Whether they’re waxing poetic about love gone south ("Waiting In The Weeds"), railing against America’s lack of concern over global issues ("Frail Grasp On The Big Picture"), or bemoaning society’s lust for personal gain ("Business As Usual"), the Eagles and the writers they work with are master of the songwriting craft. The title track "Long Road Out Of Eden," a Henley, Frey, Schmidt co-write, is a lengthy cut that clocks in at over ten minutes and paints a bleak picture of the world.
It’s not all doom and gloom, thankfully. Joe Walsh gladly wears a pair of amour bracelets as he admits his love for his woman, on the rolling "Guilty Of The Crime." Barrelhouse piano fills and chugging electric and slide guitars are anchored by a penetrating bass line that rattles the speakers at high volumes. "You Are Not Alone" is a beautiful ballad voiced by Frey. A stripped down arrangement compliments Frey’s tender performance.
Twenty-eight years after The Long Run hit the racks, Long Road Out Of Eden reportedly sold more than three million copies worldwide in its first week of release. Word on the street is that this will be the band’s swan song. If it is, they’re going out at the top of their game.
Todd Sterling is a music journalist and singer/songwriter from Canada.
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