Eagles

Long Run

The Sad Cafe...still sad, but remaster sounds better

Review Score:

(8/10)
The White Album, Let It Bleed, The Long Run. What do these three albums have in common? Unrealistic expectations and the misfortune to follow very popular albums. The Eagles (love them or hate them) had a similar impact in music as the Beatles, Stones & Kinks. They were the monsters of the 70's in terms of sales and airplay.

The remastered edition of The Long Run recaptures the vitality that was apparent on the best songs when it was first released in 1979. Ted Jensen works wonders bringing better depth, clarity and stereo separation to this edition of the CD. Jensen has also done a spectacular job on the other Eagles albums as well. Since the cover art is exactly the same look for the black sticker stating that the album was remastered (or Jensen's credit on the back). Unfortunately, this is a no frills remaster with no bonus tracks (outtakes or unfinished songs would have been nice) or notes from the band (or producer).

The Long Run is definitely a bit spotty coming after the band's masterpiece Hotel California. There are more than a handful of songs that hold up to the best tracks on HC. The Long Run has a wistful quality missing from much of the rest of the album. I Can't Tell You Why stands as one of the band's best ballads. In The CIty fits the album perfect (although it might have worked just as well on HC). Heartache Tonight despite overkill on the radio, is a terrific little rocker from the band. Those Shoes might work if not for the annoying overuse of talkboxes by Walsh & Felder. The novelty wears thin after the first listen. The Sad Cafe stands as one of Henley & Frey's finest moments as songwriters. It captures sense of loss and regret for the innocence of our past. It's one of the finest closers on an Eagle album.

This is things get dicey. The Disco Strangler doesn't work. It's a noble attempt to try something a little different but it fails. King Of Hollywood tries to engage the listener the same way that The Last Resort or Wasted Time did. Again, while it's a fine song it just doesn't equal the quality of either of those songs. Teenage Jail has a lot of fury but little substance. The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks works well as a joke but there are only so many jokes you can listen to more than one or two times. The new wave touches are nice and give the song more substance than is really there.

The Long Run demonstrated that the band had reached their creative end. With dissent in the ranks and the alienation of Henley & Frey (not to mention Frey & Felder or Walsh & Henley later on) put an end to a fine American band. While I enjoyed Hell Freezes Over, it was mostly a retrospective and as a result provided a sense of closure for a band that petered out too soon.

Reportedly the band is considering recording another album and doing another tour. While it won't recapture the heights of the band at their peak perhaps, it may allow the band to finally end on a much more solid grace note.

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