Long Road Out of Eden was my Summer '08 soundtrack. It typically ends
up, each summer seems to have it's own soundtrack album and this
summer which I spent a lot of time on the Cape with a house I rented
there, it formed an interesting backdrop, what with all this
Bostonians on cellphones and black-windowed SUV's everywhere. I heard
of it on the first real interview the Eagles had done in recent
memory, in of all places, 60 Minutes. The only problem was, for it's
first year of release it was to only be sold through an exclusive
contract with Walmart, so I decided to hold off in getting it.
Then, last winter I decided to try to get it online via Walmart's
downloadable music site. But it wouldn't work on my (legal) copy of
Windoze ExPee (go figure). So last spring I finally broke down and
bought a copy.
My favorite is the illegal alien love song "Waiting in the Weeds".
Very apropos for what's going here , right now.
Just got the new Jackson album on iTunes a couple of weeks ago. His
two recent acoustic live CD's are great as well.
Dimeadozen has some excellent boots of the Eagles recent tour--the new
songs carry over very well live. The 60 Minutes interview is also on
YouTube and worth a gander.
On Oct 19, 2008, at 11:30 AM, TurquoiseB wrote:
"Long Road Out Of Eden," by the Eagles
First, I got the 2-CD version of this album; there is sup-
posedly a single disk version, with fewer songs. But I'm
a songwriting junkie, so am I going to go for the Reader's
Digest version? Duh.
I knew I was in good hands from the first note. A big 12-
string provides the only background to a choral piece
based on John Hollander's poem "No More Walks In The Wood."
Truly lovely, its last notes leave me with the proverbial
peaceful, easy feeling.
And then "How Long" kicks in, and I *really* know that I'm
in good hands. This is is definitely *not* peaceful, easy
feeling Eagles music; this is classic, kickass Eagles music
(even though it's written by Eagles bud J.D. Souther). I
actually got up and danced. "Busy Being Fabulous" kept the
momentum going...classic Don Henley witchy woman rock. But
to be perfectly honest (and I may be guilty of not paying
enough attention), the rest of the songs on the first CD,
while all interesting in their way and done with that Eagles
recording perfection, didn't really grab me by the gnarblies,
except for the stark, Waldenesque simplicity of Don Henley's
"Waiting In The Weeds" -- that's lovely.
Disk 2 woke me up. "Long Road Out Of Eden" is clearly Don
Henley's centerpiece for the album. It starts with middle
Eastern sounds, and segues into the Baghdad Blues, but with
spiritual overtones:
Silent stars blinking in the blackness of an endless sky
Cold silver satellites, ghostly caravans passing by
Galaxies unfolding; new worlds being born
Pilgrims and prodigals creeping toward the dawn
But it's a long road out of Eden
Very, very powerful. For those who would get the comparison,
it's essentially Don Henley's "The Charity Of Night." That
is a compliment.
"Frail Grasp On The Big Picture" and "Business As Usual"
are classic Henley rants-to-music, if you like that sorta
thing. I do. But far more, I am a sucker for syrupy waltz-
time love songs, and "I Love To Watch A Woman Dance" is one
of the most syrupy, and most lovely.
And then all heaven breaks loose with "Hole In The World."
This song is anthemic, and could be used as a "theme song"
for a politician who wanted to inspire people instead of
trying to frighten them. It worked on me, and might on you
as well. If you like that sorta thing.
On the whole, neither of these albums is on the level of
"Late For The Sky" or "Desperado," or even close. But they
each contain enough moments of magic to remind us that the
creators of those albums of our youth still have a few chops
in their dotage. And I don't know about you, but that
inspires this particular old fart, and gives him hope.
