Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3/5 Released: October 30, 2007 Reviewer: Trent Depue |
Long Road Out of Eden is the first studio album released by one of America’s all-time most popular and influential bands in twenty-eight years, and according to Eagles drummer Don Henley “is probably the last album that we’ll ever make.†Keeping that in mind, it would be nice if this final testament to the legacy of The Eagles – a two disc, twenty track record – was nothing short of spectacular.
Opening with prototypical first track ‘No More Walks in the Woods,’ a musically minimalist song with superb vocals and followed immediately by the rocking lead single ‘How Long,’ the Eagles seem to get off to a great start. Coupled with another of the discs standout upbeat numbers ‘Guilty of the Crime’ as well as the ballads ‘What Do I Do With My Heart’ and ‘I Don’t Want to Hear Any More,’ the first half of the disc walks away with a high grade but fails to maintain that level for its second half, tapering off slowly as the disc progresses.
Leading the charge on disc two is the marathon ten minute long title track, which turns out to be the record’s most epic and memorable. Followed immediately by what is perhaps the most pleasant surprise on the record, the Glen Frey penned, instrumental anti-war track ‘I Dreamed There Was No War.’ Taking on a mellow tone with its Knopfler-like lead guitar, it does away with the tired anti-war cliché that has become so common in popular music, offering up its message of peace, peacefully and non-verbally. Following the next track ‘Somebody,’ which can also be counted among the record’s best, the disc falls off in much the same fashion as the first disc, with only a handful of exceptions.
With well over a decade having passed since the Eagles began their post-breakup, on again-off again touring, this record is probably seen as long overdue. The Eagles have cemented themselves into rock history as one of the greatest, and while Long Road Out of Eden possesses few tracks that are likely to be counted among the endless supply of classics that The Eagles have to their name, the band manages to create a strong effort that by no means undermines their legendary stature.
