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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ended a string of excellent music, January 3, 2003
If you have to go out, you should go out with a bang. The Eagles did that with this album, which yielded three singles: "The Long Run", "Heartache Tonight", and "I Can't Tell You Why". The three songs may sound similar to some, but the third song was a mellow ballad, the second had a fast beat with solid percussion, and the first song, as much as I enjoyed it, I always thought of as The Eagle in molasses. A good song, but I always thought the song strained to be sped up.Not to be overlooked on this album is the last song, "The Sad Cafe", which is a swan song for The Eagles much like "The Long and Winding Road" was The Beatles' swan song. The bluesy, sad song ends the 1972 to 1979 run of The Eagles nostalgically. Coincidentally the end of The Eagles coincided with the end of the decade, the eminence of disco and the transition to New Wave and the techno driven pop of the 80s. Looking back, perhaps it was time for The Eagle to move on to other things (though I still don't think so). The rest of the album is decent, generally listenable. Six of the songs were co-written by at least three people. The other four songs were written by two people. Glenn Frey and Don Henley contributed the most, but I still think that the huge difference between "Hotel California", "The Long Run" and what came before shows the influence of Joe Walsh. After the break up of The Eagles, Glenn and Don were considered sufficiently up-to-date to have their music selected for the then extremely stylish and modern "Miami Vice". Quite a change from the early cowboy boots and rattlesnakes era of The Eagles. Perhaps this album wasn't their best. I think it would be more fair to say it is not my favorite Eagles' album. But who cares? We all have our own favorites. The question is whether the album is worth owning. I think it is. I prefer this album over the second greatest hits collection that was largely from "Hotel California" and "The Long Run". If you are influenced by the other reviews to be concerned that you might not like many of the songs on this CD, then buy the second volume of The Eagles' greatest hits and pass this one by. I think it is a good album and worth having in my collection.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This was an acquired taste for me., September 6, 2003
I was kind of an Eagles fan already when this album was released in 1979, though their only other album I had at that point was "Hotel California". I was a bit surprised at the change of musical style when Long Run came out, and my first impression was that I didn't really care for it. But I was only 19 years old and freely admit now that I didn't know much about music at that time.About six months after getting the album, my girlfriend and I began experiencing *serious* problems. At that point, this album really came to mean a lot to me, as a lot of the lyrics really hit home even though I was likely interpreting them wrong. I played that album literally 100 times or more during the coming months, and I now say that it was one of the few things I looked forward to at that time in my life. So my opinion is biased. The quality of this album from beginning to end is absolutely first-rate, which is a given for any Eagles release. There is a change in style from their previous work, and I found that change to be best described as 'edgy' and slightly dark. I love every song on this album. All this said however, it ranks second place with me after "Hotel California" which was a difficult album to improve upon. It's not a quality issue though. Merely a style issue. I do like this album's style quite a lot, but nothing could top "Hotel California". And this style change, though subtle and certainly not a negative aspect, may take some getting used to if you haven't heard this album already. Also please note that Elektra has just released a "Digitally Remastered For The First Time" edition of this CD. The ones I've seen have a sticker on top of the cellophane stating exactly that, so I would try and get that release if possible. I cannot imagine any lover of music being disappointed with this CD.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Music is 5 star but remastering job a farce at ZERO stars, December 30, 2005
Let me start by saying that I have known this recording intimately since it was first released. I still have a mint LP copy and the first release of this on CD from 1984 (solid puuple Elektra silkscreen CD label). So like any audio enthusiast I bought this "remastered" edition (I also bought the Dec 2005 remastered Japan version in the mini-LP...read that review as well). In a word: disappointment.
Credit Bill Szmyczyk for creating a great (if somewhat muffled...and maybe that was the intent) recording to begin with. The ONLY thing this new incarnation brings to the table is a much louder volume. There is NO sonic revelation, there is NOT a replication of the original complete artwork, there is NO indication on the actual inserts that this is a remastered edition. The only indication is a black sticker on the shrinkwrap. So if you have any of the CD versions out there, DO NOT PITCH THEM TO BUY THIS ONE...you will be disappointed.
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