There can barely be an Eagles fan on the face of the planet, after waiting patiently for the best part of 30 years--ignoring the piecemeal (and some might say mean-spirited) sprinkle of new songs on 1994's Hell Freezes Over--that doesn't crave every last minute of this epic stack of original work. But then there also hasn't been a double album in history that couldn't have been improved by shedding at least some of its load and tucking its jeans into its cowboy boots. Long Road out of Eden is no exception to that rule. Much of the first disc passes by in a shuffle of fairly standard, although admittedly enjoyable, mid-beat country-rock (see especially "Busy Being Fabulous") and the appearance of a drum machine on the second hints at a frankly unnecessary dalliance with 80s MOR pop--and one they'd already avoided by splitting the first time around. It's music made by professionals, but lacking the classic, cinematic poise that has made Hotel California a mainstay on the best albums of all-time lists. But then the ambitious reach of the wind-swept, politically charged 10-minute title track really pulls things back, while the pleasant calypso drift of "It's Your World Now", near a cappella melody waterfall of "No More Walks in the Wood" and moody blues swagger of "Somebody" prove there's still just enough wind beneath these wings. --James Berry
