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Customer Reviews of The Long Run

This is not your father's Eagles album
Things change, groups change. And by the time they recorded The Long Run, if not before, the Eagles were changing. For The Long Run, the group added Timothy Schmit, former bassist for Poco, to replace Randy Meisner. Far more important for the purposes of this album, however, was the addition, before Hotel California was recorded, of former James Gang axeman and solo artist Joe Walsh. Walsh's talents and sound were evident on Hotel California, but they flower here. Henley and Frey were still writing a lot of the songs and singing the lion's share of the vocals, but musically The Long Run is Walsh's album.

Gone are the sounds of the earlier years, collected on the first greatest hits disc and the band's first four albums. The early Eagles were a straight contry-rock outfit, their sound plainly inspired by The Byrds, Gram Parsons, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, to name a few. The new band simply rocked. From co-writing with Jackson Browne on "Take It Easy," from their first album, they now recorded a Bob Seger-penned number, "Heartache Tonight," and it became their final #1 hit. This album has its sweet moments, but it is mostly characterized by sharp electric soloing and edgy, satirical lyrics. Perhaps The Long Run is not as commercial as Hotel California -- it generally lacks the AOR-radio hits that peppered that lp from beginning to end, but it is an admirable and eminently listenable extension of the Eagles' musical range.

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The Long Run Indeed
"The Long Run" is the last Eagles studio album, and aftermath of three long years of bickering and rivalry among the bandmembers. There was a lot of tension involved in finishing the project, and towards the end of the album one can tell that the Eagles wanted to be released from one another and go their separate ways. The introduction of Timothy B. Schmit helped heal the dying soul within the band. It is ironic that positive songs like "I Can't Tell You Why" and "The Long Run" are on this album. "The Sad Cafe" seems more appropriate for the mood behind making this album. Joe Walsh's "In The City" is a nice contribution but seems out of place with the rest of the songs. "King Of Hollywood" is a dark song featuring Don Henley singing in a much lower range, adding a nice touch to Timothy and Glenn's harmonies. They performed this song during their 1979-80 tour and it sounded just like the studio cut. "Heartache Tonight" and "Those Shoes" are easily recognizable as they are often played on the radio. The remaining three songs I have not mentioned, "The Disco Strangler," "Teenage Jail," and "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks" should not have been included on the album. They are mediocre in comparison to the lyrical and melodic efforts of the other tracks. "The Long Run" has a polished production, further explaining the amount of time it took to complete the album. Great album, and highly recommended. Check out Eagles Live too if you want to hear some of these tracks with a harder punch.

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***½ - great, good, and awful in about equal measure
Lacking the acoustic country-flavours of the Eagles' first four records, "The Long Run" is a straight-ahead rock record with plenty of excellent songs and almost as many mediocre or downright bad ones.

The singles are all great, from the almost-too-sweet ballad "I Can't Tell You Why", which is sung by new bass player Timothy B. Schmit, to the R&B of "The Long Run" and the #1 rock n' roll hit "Heartache Tonight".
Joe Walsh contributes the excellent hard rocker "In The City", and the grand ballad "The Sad Café" is nice as well, as is the lightweight but enjoyable hard rock stomper "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks".

But why it took the Eagles three years to finish "The Long Run" remains a mystery...third-rate songs like "King Of Hollywood", "Teenage Jail" and "The Disco Strangler" sound like they couldn't have taken three weeks to come up with. The lyrics are boring and self-righteous, and the songs are tuneless and bogged down by a sticky mess of synthesizers, processed vocals, and too-frequent use of that anoying guitar "talk box" that Joe Walsh used to like.

So, several great songs here, and some of the worst material the Eagles ever recorded as well, all gathered on one disc.
Tough choice, eh?