Eagles - "The Long Run" (double album version)

The Eagles. Love 'em or hate 'em, that seems to generally be one's opinion depending on who you ask. I don't hate the Eagles, but I'm not a huge fan either. The worst I can say about them is that radio has way overplayed their songs to the point of exhaustion.

The Long Run, the band's last album before the group broke up, was supposed to be a double album. But internal squabbling, specifically between Glenn Frey and Don Felder, led to the album being cut short, and eventually the band breaking up.

One outtake, "Born to Boogie," was included in the band's box set Selected Works: 1972–1999. Clues to the rest of the missing songs can be found on "Long Run Leftovers," a compilation track assembled by Joe Walsh also on the box set. But trying to unscramble those snippets and figure out what they eventually became is difficult. After numerous listenings, I can detect two of Walsh's songs, "Rivers (of the Hidden Funk)" and "Told You So," and I think I hear Felder's "Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)."

In trying to reassemble the double album, I did a fair amount of guesswork. Here's the result:

SIDE A

1. The Long Run

2. I Can't Tell You Why

3. In the City

4. The Disco Strangler

5. King of Hollywood

SIDE B

1. Heartache Tonight

2. Told You So

3. Those Shoes

4. Takin' a Ride

5. Teenage Jail

SIDE C

1. Nobody's Business

2. That Girl

3. Rivers (of the Hidden Funk)

4. The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks

5. Still Alive

SIDE D

1. Playin' It Cool

2. All of You

3. The One You Love

4. Born to Boogie

5. The Sad Cafe

I left the first side as is, and then began stitching together the other three sides. In assembling the album, I tried to keep all four sides approximately the same length.

Of course, Walsh's "Rivers (of the Hidden Funk)" and "Told You So" are included. Both were co-written with Felder. I took them from Walsh's There Goes the Neighborhood and You Bought It -- You Name It albums, respectively.

From Don Henley's first solo album I Can't Stand Still, I took "Nobody's Business." He co-wrote it with J.D. Souther (who collaborated on a number of Eagles songs) as well as Bob Seger (who had only collaborated on an Eagles song once: "Heartache Tonight" from this album). That led me to believe that it may have been originally intended for The Long Run. Otherwise, Henley is already well represented on this album and I didn't see the need to add more of his solo songs.

Frey was surprisingly underrepresented on The Long Run, with only lead vocals on "Heartache Tonight" and co-lead vocals on "King of Hollywood" and "Teenage Jail." Maybe that led to some of the bickering. Frey's first solo album No Fun Aloud also includes one track that he co-wrote with Seger, "That Girl," so I included that here as well. I also included "The One You Love," which was released as the single from his solo album. It was co-written, as much of the album was, with Jack Tempchin, who had previously co-written Eagles songs with Frey.

Felder tended to come to the Eagles with guitar riffs, and then Henley and Frey would complete the songs. So what would have become of his riffs in their hands is impossible to say. Felder contributed two songs to the Heavy Metal soundtrack, and I included both of them here, "Takin' a Ride" and "All of You." The former I'm guessing would not have the words "heavy metal" had it been an Eagles song. I also included one song, "Still Alive," from his first solo album Airborne.

It's difficult to say what would have been Timothy B. Schmit's additional contribution as he didn't release his first solo album until 1984. But the title track on that album, "Playin' It Cool," was co-written with J.D. Souther, so I chose that for inclusion.

One thing that had to go was the cover -- that all-black motif is so boring (although it might have reflected everyone's mood). I found this photo of five eagles on the web, beefed up the color, and added the titles. It's certainly brighter. Five eagles sitting on a dead tree looking annoyed might also reflect the band's mood. :)

Song-wise, the final result is basically more of the same as the single album version. So love it or hate it.