The Long Run (1979)
1. The Long Run
2. I Can't Tell You Why
3. In the City
4. The Disco Strangler
5. King of Hollywood
6. Heartache Tonight
7. Those Shoes
8. Teenage Jail
9. The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks
10.The Sad Cafe
 
When a band is falling apart, yet
somehow manages to release something as masterful as Hotel California, you can't help but not
be surprised when they experience a major burnout. This is exactly what
happened to The Eagles, and it took them almost three years to come up
with a follow up record. To be fair, it did go to number one and it did
produce three top ten singles, but you have to honestly ask yourself if
this was because of the quality of the record, or simply because they
had etched themselves in everyone's mind as simply one of the best bands
of the decade.
The guys sound tired, out of touch and, frankly, out of ideas. They
would later admit this and the whole record seems forced. Bassist Randy Meisner
was the latest casualty, and in his place was former Poco member Timothy
B. Schmidt. Schmidt's one writing credit comes from the same lone song
that he sings, I Can't Tell You Why which is one of the best
things on the album. They definitely slow down the pace on the song
and, as good as it initially sounds, it does wear thin after several
listens. The same criticism could be applied to the title track which
seems to be a bit bluesy-Memphis sounding. Joe Walsh's slide guitar on
top of the band's harmonies knock the song up a notch, but it really
doesn't rival much that the band had released at this point. Glenn Frey
seems to never want to distance himself too far from the sound of the
band's early days, and he puts out a successful sing-along honky-tonk
rant in Heartache Tonight. This one actually sounds o.k. after
one has consumed several alcoholic beverages.
So that takes care of the singles. So what else is left? Sadly, not
much. One listen to the awful The Disco Strangler and/or The
Greeks Don't Want No Freaks will tell you just how desperate this
band was when trying to write songs for this album. They actually sound
like they're not even trying. Then they try too hard with
King of Hollywood that essentially has the same theme as the song
Hollywood Waltz from One of These
Nights yet it's nowhere near as good, or even interesting as the
song it tries to copy. Also in the "leftover" department is Joe Walsh's
In the City that sounds o.k., but it's always a bit ironic when a
band "re-releases" a song by one of its members that they already
covered as a solo artist (Walsh did it solo on the soundtrack to the
movie The Warriors).
Teenage Jail and Those Shoes both have some interesting
themes and hooks that keep things interesting, but even on those tunes,
it sounds like they were being stretched mighty thin. To be fair, the
album's closer The Sad Cafe is a pretty good, somewhat overlooked
track. It seems to be a good closer to an album, or in this case, a
closer to a career. It was sad indeed to see these guys go away.
There would be a tour, and it would be massively successful, yet the
band basically imploded on the road. They were just all sick of one and
other and getting under everyone else's skin. It was a bit of shame
that they had to go out this way. Of course, financially the album was
a "success" and no one seemed to mind the lack of quality at the time.
It's only in hindsight that it seems a bit lackluster. Then again, had
they packed it up after Hotel
California, people would have complained that they "quit while they
were at their peak". After the breakup of this band, Don Henley quipped
that they would get back together when "Hell Freezes Over". Although no
one knew it at the time, he would be proven wrong, to the delight of
everyone, about a decade and a half later.
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