Eagles-Long Road Out Of Eden (2007)
Artist: Eagles
Title: Long Road Out Of Eden
Label: Eagles Recording Company
Format: 2XCD
Cat #: 98268-4500-2
Year of Release: 2007
Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 2007 Digisleeve Walmart Exclusive
Listed Condition: M/M sealed
Sell Date: 3/25/25
Sell Price: $4.99
Discogs Last Sold: 3/21/25 M/VG+ $5.00
Low: $.0.25
Media: $2.16
Average: $2.91
High: $7.00
Current low price: $0.99
Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 64
Have/Want: 846/62
Where Sold: Fresh Meadows, NY
Time it took to sell: 1 year
Where and When Bought: Facebook $2 CD lot
Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: C-
Sad To See It Go: No
The last Eagles studio album, 2007's double CD Long Road Out Of Eden was a curio of mine. I got a copy a year or so back in a lot of CD's but it was sealed and the shrink wrap never came off. I had to rely on streaming to get up to date on this.
Long Road Out Of Eden was The Eagles first full studio release (Hell Freezes Over had 4 studio tracks mixed with a live record) since The Long Run. This was also Glenn Frey's final release in his lifetime, 9 years before his passing in 2016. This sold a shit ton, certified 7-times Platinum in 2008 for US sales alone. Since it was a double, it really sold 3 1/2 million copies, but even that level seems high for this. The Long Run hit the 7 million mark in 2001, but that was a real 7 million, so in that context it makes sense.
For all those sales, not only does the record lack lasting hits, but the band seems to have dropped it completely from it's post-Frey set lists. Look at the set lists at the Sphere in Las Vegas this year. 20 songs and nothing from this. Only 7 songs out of these 20 were ever performed live, the last one, "I Don't Want To Hear Anymore" was played in 2018. The most played song, "No More Cloudy Days" last was performed in 2011. The Eagles spent years recording these songs, yet still it couldn't gain the sort of traction ANY of their 70's albums had.
For me, the album started fairly strong. It opens with a sequel of sorts to "The Last Resort." In this environmental observation, all the trees are gone, and nobody walks in the forest anymore let alone sneak off to have sex there. "How Long" was a minor country hit and seems like a throwback to "Take It Easy." Not in a bad way as Frey and Henley handle the vocals together. It turns out it was from the mid-70's written by JD Souther. He held it back to use on his first solo record. I also liked "Busy Being Fabulous" with Don Henley's take on rich rock star white people problems. He marries the girl but she wants to be out and about. She married the world he earned his way into that he'd rather forget, leaving him home and alone in his empty house. The Cadillac with the Deadhead sticker has long been towed away.
From there, the rest of the album I thought was pretty bland. This was kicked of by the tinkly twaddle of "What Do I Do With My Heart." "Fast Company" tries for a falsetto disco number from the band that brought you "The Disco Strangler" 28 years prior. I was looking forward to hearing what Joe Walsh contributed but "Guilty Of The Crime" and particularly "Last Good Time In Town" kind've sucked. Joe dreams of a long vacation and stays at home now to do the crossword puzzle to a drum track straight out of the Steely Dan playbook ("Do It Again" comes to mind). I guess he's still living a life of illusion. The first disc closes with an ok Frey number, "You Are Not Alone." The second disc kicks off with a ten minute title track those meanders into a Henley laundry list of issues. Either Walsh and Henley got nothing to say or too much to say and either ain't working.
Glenn Frey's tracks are consistently the best tracks on the record. "I Love To Watch A Woman Dance" is probably the best song on the second disc. I know they are touring with his son and Vince Gill now, but for the Eagles those shoes that seemed somehow lesser to Henley and Walsh in hindsight seems more crucial to Long Road Out Of Eden.
This double album lacks something crucial for longevity, and the band knows it.
FOR FURTHER REVIEW:
Don Henley-Building The Perfect Beast (1984)
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