Eagles Long Road Out of Eden Review
To everyone, Eagles are known for a Californian dream gone all horribly wrong. But this time the venue is the middle east and the new pink champagne is crude oil..
28 long years have passed since the Eagles released an album comprising original material. For 22 years they went solo (re-uniting briefly for Hell Freezes Over), doing some gigs once in a while (which had unbelievably high ticket prices…they had to pay their bills, right?), picking their teeth, Don Felder throwing legal brickbats at the band and the rest of the six years went into making this masterpiece, titled “Long Road Out of Eden(LROOE)”. Not a lot do in 22 bloody years, anyway.
But apart from all the crap they were up to, LROOE is a classic in every sense of the term. Every second of their 91minute epilogue screams Eagles. The sound may be refined to the last note, but no matter how hard they try, every song has a very classical and old school feel to it. The arrangements and layers are definitely more complex than in the 80’s. Might be the effect of the band members solo outages and the desire to experiment in something new. I, for one, am certainly not complaining.
As always, the lead vocals are strong and moving, the guitar leads are understated yet soulful, and the keyboard harmonies add to the effect. There are funk, jazz and country elements thrown around amply across the 2 CD’s.(I preferred the 1st CD to the 2nd…)
Lyrically, there are a lot of love songs, but not like some teenager has had some trouble in their 2 second relationship; something more on the lines of the grief of losing real lovers. Songs of war, women, paranoia, American politics, loneliness etc etc are all presented with the alacrity only the Eagles possess.
The lyrics are straightforward and unhurried and I found myself singing to the choruses of many songs on the second listen itself. The more you listen, the more they grow upon you, the more you dwell on the lyrics and the better you identify with what the band is trying to convey. I only wish there were less lovey-dovey songs, though.
What also heightens the whole effect is the fact that most of the songs have been edited well. Only 2 tracks are 7 odd minutes and the title track is a good 10 minutes long.
Verdict :- The Eagles stick to their tried and tested formula to serve you something that hark back to the songs from their hey days. Old-school yes, but stale it certainly isn’t. I And at the price of $12 (395/- in India) its a steal. (all the more considering the fact that Don Henley says, it IS their last album). I can still smell the colitas… 
Album highlights
- Waiting in the Weeds (an out and out Eagles classic)
- Fast Company (nice funky track with a sweet falsetto)
- You Are Not Alone ( relaxed 2.5 minute song, title says it all)
- Long Road Out of Eden (THE title track, the new age Hotel California!)
- Somebody (Glen Frey’s amazing on this track on this paranoia inducing song)
- How Long(typical country track, I loved it!)
SatishSays dot Com Rating 9/10
Do tell me how you found the album(also this review), and how much would you rate it on a scale of 10.
Tags: Eagles, Long Road out of Eden
