Long Road Out of Eden

[DiscoStrangler]

I've been considering getting this to add to my vinyl collection. Outside of the documentary, I've only heard a couple of songs off of it. It seems like there are a lot of slower songs on it.

I'm curious to hear from some of you hardcore Eagles fans how it holds up compared to other albums.

[UndertheWire]

Try doing a search of threads containing "Eden" and it will give you a good idea.
For example, this thread (https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=581) has first reactions from people back in 2007.

I can't really compare it with the older albums because I'm so different to when I first heard those. I like it but I don't know every note without thinking and it doesn't bring back memories of being a teenager. Sometimes that's refreshing.

[DiscoStrangler]

Thanks!

[thelastresort]

It's certainly different to the other Eagles albums, probably more soft rock than anything else. There are some superb standouts on the album, the title track for me is a masterpiece and the likes of How Long, Somebody or Waiting in the Weeds are well worth your time.

However, I do have reservations. The awful (and I mean utterly dreadful) percussion on the likes of Hole in the World and Last Good Time in Town drags what would be otherwise good songs down a few notches, and this is probably the album during which Don's cynicism and nihilism in his lyrics gets so dominant in places that it actually starts to ruin songs (Frail Grasp... and Business As Usual for example). Also, if you're a mad Joe Walsh fan, then his input is somewhat limited throughout, two bang average leads and a blistering solo in LROOE is practically a comprehensive list of every notable contribution he makes to the album.

Absolutely without question I would check it out (YMMV and all that), but I wouldn't go into it expecting it to be on a par with the late 70s output.

[sodascouts]

I think most Eagles fans would enjoy it, and you can get it for a real bargain nowadays. It's worth it.

There are TONS of threads on it here, that's for sure. We were in a frenzy when it came out - new Eagles material after so many years!

I'm so glad they did it, even if it wasn't to everyone's taste. I'm so glad their last studio effort together wasn't in 1979.

[Brooke]

I would definitely get it to complete your collection.

Personally, I love several of the songs on it; Waiting in the Weeds, Long Road Out of Eden, How Long, Center of the Universe and Somebody are my favorites, but also enjoy several others.

I remember being one of those in 'a frenzy' when it FINALLY came out! I do wish we knew more about who did what on it, but guess that's never gonna happen!

[Delilah]

I've been considering getting this to add to my vinyl collection. Outside of the documentary, I've only heard a couple of songs off of it. It seems like there are a lot of slower songs on it.

I'm curious to hear from some of you hardcore Eagles fans how it holds up compared to other albums.

If you are a completist then by all means you should get it. As said above, they run pretty cheap these days and it is output from the latter-day band.

As for myself, I checked out the cd from the library a couple of times to give it a few listens. I found much of it tedious and fairly soulless. I'm not a fan of Henley's crusty soapbox either. The few songs I really did like I bought off iTunes.

Does it hold up to their other studio albums? IMO, no.

[scottside]

I've been considering getting this to add to my vinyl collection. Outside of the documentary, I've only heard a couple of songs off of it. It seems like there are a lot of slower songs on it.

I'm curious to hear from some of you hardcore Eagles fans how it holds up compared to other albums.

I'd say that it's difficult to compare this to any of the other Eagles albums as it was made under entirely different circumstances. It's very apparent that many of these songs were not recorded as a band project, but became part of the fabric of the album as it was created. A substantial portion of the material sounds like it could be solo work with the Eagles trademark harmonies added to give the appearance that this is a total band collaboration.

I think overall the material is excellent, but there are some weaknesses. The vocals are great as you would expect as is the recording quality. However, to my ears, this was somewhat overproduced. I would've preferred less polish and a little more rawness. And, most of all, even though there are some songs that rock, I could've stood for a lot more of that.

[thelastresort]

It's very apparent that many of these songs were not recorded as a band project, but became part of the fabric of the album as it was created. A substantial portion of the material sounds like it could be solo work with the Eagles trademark harmonies added to give the appearance that this is a total band collaboration.

Indeed, I am convinced some songs do not feature Don H. or Joe at all (aside from some vocal harmonies). Given Glenn's credit for bass too, I do wonder if TBS was present throughout too.

[scottside]

Indeed, I am convinced some songs do not feature Don H. or Joe at all (aside from some vocal harmonies). Given Glenn's credit for bass too, I do wonder if TBS was present throughout too.

That's an interesting perspective. I was thinking similarly except that I also think that Glenn probably wasn't playing on some of the others songs. It's conceivable that "Waiting In The Weeds" was crafted without him playing anything at all. Joe could've likewise not been playing anything on that track either.

I agree with an earlier point you made....Joe was way under utilized everywhere. His guitar should've been all over that album.

[Freypower]

That's an interesting perspective. I was thinking similarly except that I also think that Glenn probably wasn't playing on some of the others songs. It's conceivable that "Waiting In The Weeds" was crafted without him playing anything at all. Joe could've likewise not been playing anything on that track either.

I agree with an earlier point you made....Joe was way under utilized everywhere. His guitar should've been all over that album.

But you can hear Glenn's acoustic guitar all through WITW! Who else could that have been? I doubt it's Steuart. I may sound biased, but I would have thought out of the four of them, Glenn would have been most likely to have had some sort of presence on each track. However, if I were told that he isn't on BAU or FGOTBP or FC, I wouldn't be that surprised. The almost complete absence of credits for the main band members is a glaring weakness. Sadly, a couple of Glenn's songs seem to feature him and virtually nobody else.

Regarding Don's political songs they are far superior to what he served up on Cass County, in my view, because at least he has the other Eagles to sweeten the pill if you like. For me LROOE is one of the greatest things he ever wrote or the band ever did. The fact is, it's now my favourite Eagles album, ahead of ALL the 70s albums. It just means more to me personally.

[scottside]

But you can hear Glenn's acoustic guitar all through WITW! Who else could that have been? I doubt it's Steuart. I may sound biased, but I would have thought out of the four of them, Glenn would have been most likely to have had some sort of presence on each track. However, if I were told that he isn't on BAU or FGOTBP or FC, I wouldn't be that surprised. The almost complete absence of credits for the main band members is a glaring weakness. Sadly, a couple of Glenn's songs seem to feature him and virtually nobody else.


It's easy to assume that Glenn is playing the acoustic on WITW because he did it alive, but I'm way less inclined to believe he did so in the studio. That's not to say that he didn't (I don't know that), but for the sake of expediency it's very possible that Steuart did most if not all of guitar tracking for this song. As far as the others you mentioned, I think you're probably right about Glenn not being on BAU or FGOTBP, but there are guitar parts (electric) on FC that sound uniquely like something he would play. I also agree that there are some of his songs that he may be the only "Eagle" playing on although I'm sure the backing band members are there in various numbers.

As for the missing credits, I can only think that was done intentionally to avoid publicizing what little collaboration there really was while making the album. There are only a few songs that I feel really sound like a band: "How Long," "Somebody." "LROOE," and "Busy Being Fabulous." Maybe one or two others might be possibilities also.

[Freypower]

It's easy to assume that Glenn is playing the acoustic on WITW because he did it alive, but I'm way less inclined to believe he did so in the studio. That's not to say that he didn't (I don't know that), but for the sake of expediency it's very possible that Steuart did most if not all of guitar tracking for this song. As far as the others you mentioned, I think you're probably right about Glenn not being on BAU or FGOTBP, but there are guitar parts (electric) on FC that sound uniquely like something he would play. I also agree that there are some of his songs that he may be the only "Eagle" playing on although I'm sure the backing band members are there in various numbers.

As for the missing credits, I can only think that was done intentionally to avoid publicizing what little collaboration there really was while making the album. There are only a few songs that I feel really sound like a band: "How Long," "Somebody." "LROOE," and "Busy Being Fabulous." Maybe one or two others might be possibilities also.

If you're right about the acoustic on WITW, I find that very sad, just as I guess others find it sad about the 'Glenn only' tracks. We'll never know. You're obviously right about the credits. My question is.... did they seriously think their fans wouldn't notice & remark on it? Not even knowing which (if any) tracks feature Don on drums, even though Glenn made a big deal during HOTE of how they put the title track together, as if they were all in the same studio playing their respective instruments. If you think about it perhaps that was one reason why discussion of the album was so brief in HOTE.

[scottside]

If you're right about the acoustic on WITW, I find that very sad, just as I guess others find it sad about the 'Glenn only' tracks. We'll never know. You're obviously right about the credits. My question is.... did they seriously think their fans wouldn't notice & remark on it? Not even knowing which (if any) tracks feature Don on drums, even though Glenn made a big deal during HOTE of how they put the title track together, as if they were all in the same studio playing their respective instruments. If you think about it perhaps that was one reason why discussion of the album was so brief in HOTE.

I think that maybe LROOE (the song) might've been one of the few that was actually recorded as a band. In the HOTE video, Glenn said, that Tim was on acoustic guitar, Don on drums, Joe on electric guitar and he sat at a keyboard when they were writing the song. In the end, I'm not sure if anyone except for Joe actually played any of these instruments when it came time to record the song, especially when you see what each person played during the LROOE tour.

It isn't really uncommon for the Eagles to generically list credits on their albums because they weren't that forthcoming on many of them. DESPERADO lists NOTHING. EAGLES has general credits and even the albums with more complete credits still don't itemize exactly what each member played on every song. I think the big difference with LROOE is that the band did not hide the fact that they recorded in different studios and emailed the files back and forth. That's what really made me think that while it's under the band umbrella, this doesn't really feel like a band album for the most part. The vocals are the main thing that tie everything together.

[Delilah]

It isn't really uncommon for the Eagles to generically list credits on their albums because they weren't that forthcoming on many of them. DESPERADO lists NOTHING. EAGLES has general credits and even the albums with more complete credits still don't itemize exactly what each member played on every song. I think the big difference with LROOE is that the band did not hide the fact that they recorded in different studios and emailed the files back and forth. That's what really made me think that while it's under the band umbrella, this doesn't really feel like a band album for the most part. The vocals are the main thing that tie everything together.

Another thing that sets LROOE apart from the Eagles and Desperado albums is the dozen of extra musicians contributing to LROOE, including a guitarist, keyboardists and percussionists. On Eagles and Desperado, only the 4 band members are credited, so at least the listener knows an Eagle is playing a certain part, even if the specific band member is unknown.

That being said, I believe it was common in the past to give general credits to the session musicians, and not list which specific songs they played on. Maybe the band was just observing the older tradition with LROOE.

I'd like to add that had I been one of those waiting in frenzied anticipation of this release, chances are my opinion of the album would be different. But since I only listened to it for the first time in the last year or so, I don't have that sentimental attachment affecting my feelings about it.

[scottside]

Another thing that sets LROOE apart from the Eagles and Desperado albums is the dozen of extra musicians contributing to LROOE, including a guitarist, keyboardists and percussionists. On Eagles and Desperado, only the 4 band members are credited, so at least the listener knows an Eagle is playing a certain part, even if the specific band member is unknown.


I'd like to add that had I been one of those waiting in frenzied anticipation of this release, chances are my opinion of the album would be different. But since I only listened to it for the first time in the last year or so, I don't have that sentimental attachment affecting my feelings about it.

Right...while they have used other musicians sporadically in the past, not since HFO has there been such a wide use of outside players. That's also what complicates who's playing what now. In the earlier days, you could make an educated guess and probably be right a lot of the time. On LROOE, I have no clue who played on these songs except on a few of the songs.

As for the sentimental attachment, that may be true for some people. I waited for this album for well over ten years and when it finally came and was in fact a double album, I was thrilled by the prospect. After hearing it in full the first few times, I felt that it was a great success in that it accomplished much of what I was hoping for. However, there was a touch of sadness as well because I still thought that it could've been better and it was probably going to be the last studio album they'd make. Maybe I set my expectations too high based on what they had done in the past, but by and large I still felt that most of this stuff was better than the four new songs they recorded for HFO.

[Delilah]

Maybe I set my expectations too high based on what they had done in the past, but by and large I still felt that most of this stuff was better than the four new songs they recorded for HFO.

I agree.

[thelastresort]

To be honest it wasn't that difficult to achieve ;)

[WalshFan88]

I'm not an LROOE fan, so I'm probably not going to get into why and how, but I think I like the HFO songs better. I think they are just more my kind of songs.

I personally think it is a crime that you never hear Get Over It on the radio. I feel that song sounds like their 70s rockers and I love it, it's one of my favorites and I feel captured the three guitar army that the Eagles had, and EVERYONE had a solo in it. I felt it was a fantastic song, and I love the title message, lol.

For me I also don't like Henley's soapbox-y stuff, I think he is very likely a malcontent as David Geffen suggests, but I feel he was spot on with what he was complaining about for the subject material on GOI. I'll take it and Dirty Laundry over a lot of the soapboxy stuff on LROOE. I dig the subjects more.

The one song I still listen to and absolutely love is How Long. I realize being a rock guy that might shock people but for me I like how it's done on the record as opposed to old live tapes, and that's because of Steuart Smith's great Nashville sounding guitar playing. I really, really like the How Long version on LROOE.