Eagles

Long Run

Delightfully Dark

Review Score:

(10/10)
This album contains some of the best individual songs by the Eagles. "I Can't Tell You Why" accomplishes something that few love songs can siccessfully pull off > it expresses strong emotions without being maudlin. Further the song is one of the most succint expression of self-inflicted problems ("We make it harder than it has to be"). My next favorite from this album is the completely underappreciated "King of Hollywood." I owned this album for several years without this song ever really registering (perhaps this had to do with coming after the bizarre "the disco strangler"). After I moved to Los Angeles, however, the meaning of the song became clear. The song prefectly captures the predatory nature of Hollywood and institutionalized exploitation ("For years I've seen them come and go . . ."). Instrumentally, this song has some of the Eagles greatest guitar solos. I guess songs attacking decadence are better received by the listener than those that malign the systematic abuse of individuals. My third favorite is Heartache Tonight. This song shows the Eagles at their classic strength of harmonizing. The song is a bit on the juvenile side, but not anywhere near some of the band members solo efforts. In the great scope of Eagles albums the chronological sequence those albums is of little consequence to the listener. Yes, this album includes a few songs that are weak but so did most of the other Eagles albums. This album is the Eagles taken to their perfectionist extreme. It reportedly took any agonizingly long time to record and the record company even sent a rhyming dictionary to "help." Regardless, it has a number of powerful songs and marked a return to the featured songs by members other than Glenn and Don. This album is definitely worth buying. I recommned it over virtually any of the band's solo efforts.

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