Songwriting vs production

[chaim]

Those are very interesting lists, Funk 50. I have never thought about this - that some Eagles tracks could be longer and some shorter. I have to say that I disagree on Waiting In The Weeds. For me the "finale" is bliss. If there was a long guitar solo, it probably wouldn't work, but as it is, there is something happening, but not much. So there's really this calm feeling of somebody actually "waiting in the weeds".

Oh, and thanks for the Jarre track.

[Freypower]

New Kid In Town, my favourite Eagles song, is the perfect length, although I know what the author means. However in my view the criticism would have been far better applied to One Of These Nights, The Long Run & Hole In The World with all the vocal ad libs I also think Best Of My Love is too long & too repetitious. Yes, these are all Henley vocals. I don't think any of the Frey leads go on for too long except perhaps for Already Gone. I do not agree at all about LROOE, BBF or WITW being too long, but I agree that Somebody & You Are Not Alone are too short.

Maybe a general topic on this would be a good idea to include songs by other artists. Much as it pains me to say it So Far Away by Dire Straits is too long. So is I Wish It Would Rain Down by Phil Collins. I love the man's voice but he overdoes it here. As for Van Morrison's Listen To The Lion...

[NightMistBlue]

So is I Wish It Would Rain Down by Phil Collins. I love the man's voice but he overdoes it here.

Remember "Take Me Home"? Great song, but the fade out or whatever you call the ending bit just goes on and on and on...

[NOLA]

I think the Beatles' "Hey Jude" may win the prize for the longest and most repetitive ending in song. I love the song - it's a classic - but damn, the "nah, nah, nah" end takes forever!

For the Eagles' catalog, TITTL has a similar ending, but not to the extreme of HJ.

[AlreadyGone95]

For non Eagles songs, I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home by Grand Funk Railroad is the one that I think of. I love the first 6 or so minutes,but nearly 3 minutes of repeating "I'm getting closer to my home" to end the song? Repetitive for sure! Also All Right Now by Free. The last 30-45 seconds of that song could have been left off.

I agree with NMB about Take Me Home.

I don't know if we can add songs that are musically too long. If so, Traffic's Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.

ETA: whoops, I meant NMB, not FP. (I've changed it)

[NightMistBlue]

I don't know if we can add songs that are musically too long. If so, Traffic's Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.

Or the freakin' synthesizer bits in The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and the percussion frenzy on Chicago's "Beginnings" - it's great but it goes on for days.

Joe's "Life's Been Good" takes its time to get where it's going (8+ minutes - longer than the uncut version of "Light My Fire"!) but it's worth the ride.

[Brooke]

I thought TITTL, too, for an Eagles one.

[AlreadyGone95]

Or the freakin' synthesizer bits in The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and the percussion frenzy on Chicago's "Beginnings" - it's great but it goes on for days.

Joe's "Life's Been Good" takes its time to get where it's going (8+ minutes - longer than the uncut version of "Light My Fire"!) but it's worth the ride.

Agreed with all of these. Another song by the Who that is a bit too long imo is Baba O'Riley, especially the beginning.

[NightMistBlue]

I thought TITTL, too, for an Eagles one.

Why? The album version is 4:48 - that's not bad for a seventies song! And it's not like there's a long organ solo or something, there's no fat or extraneous stuff. The fade out goes on for a bit, but it's emotional, building momentum while Randy is hollerin' back home to Nebraska.

[jms18222]

I think WITW is perfect!