Long Road Out of Eden Preview

[DonFan]

I got another message from the official website today suggesting I order before the 'deadline'.
Why do they do this to me

We must've ALL gotten that message--I got it too.

[Glenn's Girl]

I finally had a chance to listen to the stream of the album and I love it!!! They all sound great, and I love the shared vocals, reminds me of hte old Eagles! My favourite is What Do I Do With My Heart. Beautiful song! I also loved hearing Glenn's songs from Fallsview recorded. Wonderful! Another favourite is Busy Being Fabulous. Still love How Long of course!

[sodascouts]

OK, I'm ready now to give my thoughts on the rest of the songs of LROOE.

You Are Not Alone From the moment I heard this in Niagara Falls, it struck me. The music, like the lyrics, is straightforward and comforting, and they complement each other perfectly. I don't know what it is about the arrangment and chording that makes them work so well with the emotion of the song - I just know they do. They make you feel all warm inside, even before he starts singing. The only thing I would change is less "do-do-do-do-do" at the end, but otherwise I love it.

Long Road Out of Eden I'm not as enamoured of this song as everyone else seems to be. I think it's overdone and could have used some trimming. The Middle Eastern instrumental bit goes on way too long. Yes, I know it's done for effect, but we could have gotten the effect in a lot less time! I mean it goes on for over a minute at the beginning! Once we get into the song, it's not so bad. The verse has an interesting progressive, almost trudging melody, but I think that fits the mood of the song. I like the way they sing the title line, I love the way Henley sings "I'd give anything to be there in your arms tonight," and I love the guitar solo - in fact, the guitar solo almost seems too good for this song. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean that a guitar solo of that quality shouldn't go into a Middle Eastern music solo, which drains it of all its energy, and then further down to Henley's plodding final verse. The only thing that saves the end for me is the guitar, really. Sorry!

I Dreamed There Was No War I am so impressed by the eloquence and expressiveness of this piece, simply because it always amazes me how a talented musician can make an instrumental "speak." Its poignant, mournful beauty evokes both hope and sadness, dream and disappointment, in a way that I find very moving. And all in a little over a minute.

Somebody (aka All Those Lies part 2! lol) This one is growing on me. At first, I was completely put off by the "creepy" voices Glenn does in parts of the song. However, those don't dominate the song, and after I got over those, I began to appricate it. It has a good beat and the bass line propels the song with an urgency that matches the "trapped" desperation of the lyrics, rushing towards inevitable doom as the lead guitar wails its minor chords.

Frail Grasp on the Big Picture I can't stand this song, I'm sorry to say. It's basically Henley preaching with a meadering and repetitive backing track. It's like they wrote off the melody as unimportant next to his "message" lyrics. The title line sounds like a "Fast Company" rip off. Sorry, the difference between a song and a sermon is musicality, which this is sadly lacking. In fact Henley's voice sounds downright unpleasant in parts, like he's smirking as he's singing, and as he goes on and on and on and on it just becomes tiresome. The only good lines: "Who left the cap off the freaking toothpaste? Whose turn to take the garbage out?" That made me laugh. The rest of made me roll my eyes. (BTW - Henley - if you're going to have a message song, ENUNCIATE CLEARLY. There are several lines where I can't even figure out what the words are.) Oh well, they can't all be winners.

Last Good Time in Town When I heard the snippets of this song, I was really excited. It was so catchy and melodic. I was a bit disappointed when I heard the rest of the song. It starts off pretty good, kind of funky, and then comes to a screeching halt with the "Lately I've been stayin' at home" / Glenn's whispering echoes (These echoes annoy me. I don't care if it's Glenn, they're annoying!) Then the song goes into that terrific chorus and all is well again. Basically, I like everything about the song except those bits, so it's enjoyable overall. In fact I had that chorus starting "And I dream I'm on vacation, 'cause I like the way that sounds..." stuck in my head all day a few days ago.

I Love to Watch a Woman Dance Some people have said this seems out of place on the album, and while I see what they mean, it's so gorgeous that I think we should overlook that. Again, more than anything else, the expressiveness of Glenn's voice makes this work for me. So romantic.

Business As Usual What Frail Grasp should have been - a song with both a message and a melody. I love that "soul-suckin'" part. It really energizes the song and keeps it from the repetitive monotony of Frail Grasp, as do the prominent guitar parts throughout the song. The dramatic rhythmic build-up to a full stop before "Business as Usual" is effective, too. Once again we run into message-song-without-clear-enunciation in parts, unfortunately, but otherwise I think it's a good song.

Center of the Universe A nice, mellow, pleasant song. Excellent harmonies, of course. The melody isn't the most interesting in the world; I love the "Oh, love..." parts but the first part of the verse and the title lines don't really strike me. Still, as I said before, it's pleasant enough. The instrumental parts are nice.

It's Your World Now I wasn't expecting such a Spanish-style song to be on the album, much less be the closer, but I like it. It doesn't stray much from that Spanish-style formula for the melody, but I do appreciate the significance of the lyrics and the sincerity of the vocal. I love the way he sings "I'd do it all again if I could, somehow." It's another good song that's not the best on the album, but is still strong. (BTW - does anyone else think that "no tears allowed" is a deliberate lyrical oppositional reference to 'No Fun Aloud'?)

Whew! That's it for me!

[Freypower]

I'VE GOT IT!

I suddenly realised that I could get it today at either Sanity or Virgin so I rushed into town, went to Myer, a big department song, and it took about 5 seconds before I found it. They were playing Busy Being Fabulous. I was literally shaking when I took it to the counter. My copy has the photos of the four band members. The booklet is fine and is NOT hard to read.

I'm playing it now. I have to say that I don't think Busy Being Fabulous is as good as others think. I do like it though. However, What Do I Do With My Heart is utter, sheer, total perfection. He has not sung this well in a long time. The end when they both sing is not as overblown as I first thought. But Don enhances Glenn's lead. He doesn't take it over.

Regarding NMWITW I thought Don's voice was a bit too prominently mixed. I think it's beautiful but it will take time to grow on me.

GOTC isn't bad. I expected more from Joe though. Nice piano (I wish the credits were more informative).

I also bought Billboard with the wonderful cover photo which I will now scan. It had a wraparound ad for Matchbox Twenty which prevents you seeing the cover at first! It's worth it, believe me.

[Freypower]

Further comments:

I disagree about the Middle Eastern music being too long or getting in the way in the title track. I also disagree that any of it is 'plodding'. The final verse sums it up brilliantly. I will also stick my neck out here and say that it MUST be Henley on drums here.

At the start of Somebody Glenn sounds like Don! It's fabulous, to coin a phrase. I said about him doing some of his best singing. I say it again, and also for YANA. He is extraordinary. I mean that. By the way, the track obviously echoes Somebody Else from The Allnighter. I bet that is Steuart doing the solo at the end.

I think Soda is very harsh on Frail Grasp. The music I don't consider 'meandering' at all. It's very funky. Listen to the guitar and bass. And these are some of Henley's most acerbic lyrics. Perhaps it's because I agree with Henley on politics and religion. I don't know. I think the song rocks.

[sodascouts]

How cool that you got it already, FP! Awesome!

I've been listening to What Do I Do With My Heart and Waiting in the Weeds again and again. I can't get enough of those songs. They're the best of the bunch, I think, although there are lots of other strong songs.

Regarding Frail Grasp - the music starts out fine, but when Don starts singing it stops working. Don's just talking with a bit of a cadence, with some beats in the back and an occasional guitar note. Then there's the "fast company" chorus, which doesn't go very far. The song deteriorates further in the second verse, where Don seems to give up on rhythm and rhyme in favor of ranting to a beat. The use of organ music during the criticism of religion could not be more trite.

I admit the condescending nature of the song turns me off as well. It seems there might be worthier targets of Henley's "most acerbic lyrics" than fathers praying for their sons to play unhurt at a football game.

I will say that there are a couple good moments in the song. I like the way Don sings "journalism's dead and gone"; I like the instrumental interludes as I said above; I like that line about the toothpaste; the song does pick up a bit of energy at the end before it becomes repetitive. Otherwise....

[Maleah]

I totally agree about "Frail Grasp" Soda. I loved the bass and the guitar, but it does eventually sound like Don is just talking with the music. And it was funny to me that you compared it to Fast Company because as soon as the chorus started I thought it sounded exactly like that melody.

I also understand that Don is very critical of religion....and I won't repeat what I said about that before. But I agree with what you said about it.

[sodascouts]

I feel like I'm harping too much on negativity above, so let me reiterate how much I love Waiting in the Weeds. It's magnificent. I think it's Henley's best work since The End of the Innocence. Gorgeous melody, evocative vocal, terrific structure - this could have been sing-songy, but instead it's a natural progression. That part about the county fair, the ferris wheel, and the flavor of the week is some of the best lyrical wordplay I've heard in a long time, and the fact that it's then that Henley takes it up a notch just emphasizes that. What inspired arrangement! The bit about spiders rebuilding their webs is another original and intelligent lyrical contribution. This is the kind of song that makes you appreciate just how talented Henley is. Beautiful - absolutely beautiful. It's definitely my favorite Henley song on the album and at this point I think it's in a tie for my favorite song off of the album, period.

[DonFan]

Let me reiterate how much I love Waiting in the Weeds. It's magnificent. I think it's Henley's best work since The End of the Innocence. Gorgeous melody, evocative vocal, terrific structure - this could have been sing-songy, but instead it's a natural progression. That part about the county fair, the ferris wheel, and the flavor of the week is some of the best lyrical wordplay I've heard in a long time, and the fact that it's then that Henley takes it up a notch just emphasizes that. What inspired arrangement! The bit about spiders rebuilding their webs is another original and intelligent lyrical contribution. This is the kind of song that makes you appreciate just how talented Henley is. Beautiful - absolutely beautiful.

Well put, Nancy--you listed everything I love about this song. I absolutely adore it--I can't get enough of it. I love the part about the county fair too--the music echoes the type of music you might hear from the rides, and the Don's voice--gorgeous.

Unlike you, I love Glenn's growly voice on Somebody. It's unexpected and very effective on this spooky rocker.

I must be the only one who is actually waiting until tomorrow to hear LROOE. I had to save something special for my birthday release!

[tbs fanatic]

Just received an e-mail confirming that my CD is on its way - Yahoo! I can't wait