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The Eagles | Long Road Out of Eden (ERC, 2007) If we're going to be absolutely honest about the Eagles' first album in 28 years, we're going to have to say it rocks like it's 1979, or 1976.

I certainly don't mean that as a dig. On the contrary, Long Road Out of Eden sounds just like classic Eagles; if it didn't, we'd be having an entirely different conversation in the yard after school.

In a day and age when classic bands are trying to sound relevant by souping up their sound with rap shadings and electronic doodads, the Eagles have used their innate sounds as their template, coming up aces in the process. Recorded over a couple of years of intermittent sessions, Eden showcases every element of the Eagles sound that stamps the band as classic: peerless vocal harmonies, solid musicianship, and catchy songs that will stand the test of time. (Skip, though, the 10-minute title cut, a meandering concoction that is all atmosphere and not much else.)

The accent is on those sterling vocal harmonies in the opening ballad, "No More Walks in the Wood." The blend of voicings from Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmitt are simply stunning. With only an acoustic guitar strum to accompany them, the band conjures up a brief, alluring aural landscape from which to build on.

And build on that landscape they do. The first single, an old J.D. Souther song performed by the Eagles on the Don Kirschner Rock Concert television show back in the seventies (in basically the same, country-rocking arrangement), is a country radio hit for good reason. The lead vocals, by Frey and Henley, are appropriately gritty; the harmony backgrounds are country-pop all the way. It's a great song, an obvious high point.

The achingly beautiful Frey/Henley song "What Do I Do With My Heart" features a strong melody and those wonderful background vocals. It's instantly memorable, as is the Schmitt-sung ballad "I Don't Want to Hear Any More," written by Paul Carrack. I love Schmitt's voice, two parts angelic and three parts heaven-sent.

On the rocking front, the Jack Tempchin/John Brannen co-write "Somebody" injects a bit of soul into the Eden proceedings. "Somebody" feeds nicely into the rock/soul hybrid "Frail Grasp on the Big Picture," which features some hot Joe Walsh fretwork. Speaking of Walsh, his "Last Good Time in Town" is very typical of the axeman, sporting a great melody, an instantly catchy chorus, and plenty of guitar work to stand in awe of.

The gentle bossa nova (with Mexican trumpets!) of the closing number, "It's Your World Now," is an apt creation with which listener and band can part. The Frey/Tempchin co-write is all about saying goodbye and standing on one's own in leaving's wake. "The curtain falls/I take my bow/That's how it's meant to be/It's your world now," Frey sings in the chorus.

So, it's your world, in which you will be charmed by what has come before, by these gorgeous sounds coming out of Eden.

Alan Haber | December 3, 2007

Go to: The Eagles