Long Road Out Of Eden

I want to tell you about two new albums I bought. I'll save the Paul Potts album for another day because today I want to rave about the Eagles' new album LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN. (If you follow the link, you can hear the album.)

In fact, I want to thank Glenn, Don, Joe, and Timothy B. for this new album. Guys, I know that sometimes you don't get along, or so the celeb rumors go, but when it counts, you gather together and create great music. I told my husband just yesterday that this album is on the same level as HOTEL CALIFORNIA, one of our all-time favorites.

You don't have to be an Eagles fan to like this album. Let me tell you why I think the music and the lyrics make it great. I'm no music critic, but this is how I see it as someone who listens to a LOT of music of every variety.

The strength of the music is in the layering of instrumentation, the melody, the counter melody, and the foot-tapping beat.

The lyrics? The specific words chosen, the ideas they represent, the internal rhythm, the poetic meter, the expressed emotion, the emotional response evoked in the listener.

The arrangements? Eagles to the max. The same elements that make HOTEL CALIFORNIA songs recognizable as an Eagles product are present in these songs too. I'm so glad they know what their strengths are and haven't tried to "modernize" or suddenly incorporate hip hop as certain others have. I'm glad they realize their style or "sound" is as good today as it was when they first joined forces.

Put all that together, and you get songs that make you think as you're listening and think about their ideas even when the song isn't playing.

Another thing you get? Singable songs. These are the kinds of songs that you can sing, and that is a rarity in today's music world. Oh, they're also songs you can dance too. That's important, at least to me.

This album is a WalMart exclusive (very smart marketing). The Eagles have acquired a business savvy over the years that other creative artists should probably emulate. For example, after their famous lawsuits, they are now their own producers and their own recording company.

EDEN sold 711,000 copies the first week out. Number 1 on Billboard, thank you very much. It's a 2-CD album for the paltry Wally World price of eleven bucks and change.

EDEN is so good that I'm hard pressed to pick one or two favorite songs. But I'll try.

How Long - nice rocking song -- love the line, "How long, how long, woman will you weep? Rock yourself to sleep." Also love, "wish I lived in the land of fools and no one knew my name." (Sometimes I think I do live in the land of fools.)

Busy Being Fabulous - "You were just too busy being fabulous, too busy to think about us." This song makes me think of too many men and women I know who got enthralled by the whole fame/power/money thing. They didn't have time for their children's school activities, for their kids' problems and needs. I guess they just didn't have time for kids period. Hard to think about PTA meetings, Little League, or Sunday school class in the climb up the corporate ladder or the rush to write a bigger book for a bigger contract. Now these people who "made it" can't understand why their kids are such problems or why their kids are too busy to visit during the holidays. Too many self-absorbed people bewildered by their adult children's indifference.

What Do I Do With My Heart - Oh! The ultimate breakup song question. Its lyrics say what we've all wondered at some point in our lives.

Fast Company - Everyone wishes their kids heeded them when they warned of this.

Do Something - Utterly love it and the meaning behind it!

Don, Glenn, Timothy B. and Joe, I'm a fan and have been for a couple of decades. I've seen you in concerts - solo and collectively. My husband and I raised all our kids to be fans. When you had your first concert tour after years of being apart, we spent nearly a thousand bucks to take all the kids to see you.

We own all your music, your albums as Eagles and each of your solo albums. You're great as solo artists, but you're breathtaking shattering as Eagles.

Congratulations on a wonderful album. Hope it sells and sells and sells! And thanks. Long Road Out of Eden was worth waiting for.