Anybody heard the new Eagles CD? I picked it up yesterday and can't put it away. So reminiscent of the old Eagles, but the harmonies are even better--much better. Nobody should be allowed to harmonize like that.
Greg Leisz plays some tasteful steel on a couple of great country rock tunes--really brought back the memories. I kept thinking, "Man, could this kind of music ever make a comeback?
Although I like Walsh's playing, I always thought he dirtied-up that old pure country-rock Eagles sound. But his playing on the new stuff is very tasteful in my opinion.
But man, those harmonies...hard to get beyond them. Time will tell, but this may wind up as my all-time favorite Eagles project. At this point it definitely is.
Looking forward to hearing it. I too preferred the early Eagles with Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon than the later version with Joe and Timothy. I thought Don Felder was a great addition later on, and was sad to see him get the axe.
They put it out on their own label and you can get it from their website or from Walmart. Walmart doesn't make anything on the record, so it's only $11.97 for the 2 CD set.
If you go the eaglesband.com you can hear the video explanation of why they did the thing with WalMart. It sounded like a cop-out to me--a real double standard considering the political statement they try to make with some of the songs. I do kind of agree with what Frey says about not distancing themselves from businesses they don't agree with, but rather, getting involved with them in hopes of making a difference, even though it might be a stretch in this case. Like most stars who get involved in activist agendas, I think they make it too black and white.
Nevertheless, the cd's got some really nice stuff on there if you're a fan of old-school country rock and great harmonies. Hard to take that away from them even if you don't like 'em.
I bought the new Eagles CD and I have mixed
feelings about it, the harmonies are great
I don't like a lot of keyboard layered
with strings.
I was hoping to hear something similar
to Hotel California, Life in the Fast Lane
Tequila Sunrise....etc
I'll continue to listen to it, maybe it will
grow on me.
Rick, I'm with you in the string parts. I didn't care for them either, but there are plenty of good songs without them. Overall, the whole CD has grown on me. But, since I am a fan of the old Eagles more than I am of the Walsh era, there's a lot on there for me to be diggin.'
I bought it and think it is horrible. The single is okay, but after that it is just pap. An embarrassment. The playing is pedestrian and plastic and doesn't even sound like the Eagles. I'll grant that everything is in tune and in time... but there is no there there... the hotel california wanna be track is among the hokiest things I've heard in a while... the middle eastern sounding stuff at the beginning sounds like the worst demo of a cheap sythnthesizer I've heard.
I am gratified to hear a good review of the album, I loved the Eagles first 3 albums.. but this thing... oh my. If anyone is still listening to it in 3 weeks I'll be surprised. I guess they worked on it for five years... if you have to rehash a jd souther song on a lost record to find a single... the material is thin! This double album should have been just the single... the blue eyed soul stuff could have been released as an SNL parody if you ask me.
Buy this album if you just like giving money to Wal Mart. (My in laws do)
I think it's horrible. The singing sounds like a boy band. And the songwriting is lame and ordinary.
They obviously can still sing and play, but this is the best they can come up with during their time off?
Maintaining your passion for anything, including music, requires some care and feeding, more as you age I fear. I don't hear it here from them. I wonder what they themselves listen to?
I'm know I'm going to have to learn some of these songs to play at gigs, for sure. Are they playing them on the radio? Maybe in the next few months some of them will start sounding more interesting to me.
I've always liked the Eagles and been impressed with their harmonies too, in pre-autotune days.... they never needed autotune....I'm just wondering how anyone can be impressed by harmonies nowdays, when if a person can get something close to the part, the rest can be done in post.
That is what is so fun about this forum.
I bought the CD and think every song is great.
I personally don't want it to sound like Hotel California- I want Hotel California to sound like Hotel California. If I want to hear the old stuff I just play it.
Musicians need to move forward or else the music dies inside. Sometimes by moving forward they loose some of the old fans but gain a whole new group.
I guess I am just an old fan with an open mind.
Well said Gary. If a band doesn't progress, they fade away and die.
Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.
Well, I've listened to it on and off for the last 5 days. My first impression knocked me out, but my enthusiasm has dwindled a bit. I still think the harmonies are great, but there are clearly good and bad songs on board. Some of them do seem to be filler and make me wonder why they bothered to make a 2 CD set. Still, there are a lot of tunes that I a really like.
I agree that the advent of auto-tune has made good harmony less exciting than it was back in the days when you knew it was the real deal, and the harmony on this project is either suspect, or simply that good. Not sure which.
I haven't heard it yet but am certainly not losing sleep over it.
My question has to do with the out-loud wondering here about whether or not any of this batch of songs will be enduring classics. I have no idea how you'd be able to tell.
After all, when we first heard them, did any of us think we'd still be hearing Peaceful Easy Feeling or Hotel California thirty times a day after all these years? I certainly didn't, but maybe that's just my perennial poor judgement about what makes for "great" music.
Aswith almost every double album/CD, proper editing would have made it a good single CD. As it is I have to forward through a lot of tracks. It seems to be more of an obligation killer, in some respects. Or financial considerations made them do it, though they should be fairly stinking with money at this point in their careers.
Webb Kline wrote:I agree that the advent of auto-tune has made good harmony less exciting than it was back in the days when you knew it was the real deal, and the harmony on this project is either suspect, or simply that good. Not sure which.
Yeah, exactly... I've heard some songs lately where the harmony was <i>so</i> perfect, I thought, "WOW, listen to that harmony, it's <i>perfect!</i>......hey, wait a second....!" Bummer.
As any persons taste, equallity is hard to achieve. I picked up the CDs and I did so because I've always like the Eagles..Their old stuff might be consided too Country for today market. I'm enjoying the music so far and I'm glad its not what I already have of them. Better yet its nice to hear and see them together again..New fans not only need to hear what was but also what still is. The Eagles certainly still are very capable to soar again.
I remember they have had many great songs.
But I also remember not every album was totally great songs.
A few were.
But all in all they had so many albums it's easier
for us to remember them as greate4st hits compilation,
than as any single album. Making it an somewhat
unfair comparison, so soon into a release.
These guys could always sing better than most,
and they also had supurb production skills.
And having seen them on the tube live more than
a few times, it was clear in several decades,
the cats can sing live too.
No surprise the harmonies are perfect.
They take their time,
They practice before hand,
and they can afford all the studio time
they need to get ALL members voting for
a good take.
With their chops and track record,
perfect production would seem de rigeur.
Now song writing, well I have heard only one,
it was very well constructed, but I didn't
find myself humming it all day.
But then again few songs do that.
They always had throw away songs,
or at least lesser tracks on most albums,
as do many other artists. 'Dualing Daltons'
never exactly struck me as a 'best of' keeper...
Haven't heard 'James Dean', in a long time either.
Nice tune but no Take It Easy,
Time will tell, but my suspicion is several
tunes will have decent legs.
DLD, Chili farmer. Plus bananas and papaya too.
Real happiness has no strings attached.
But pedal steels have many!
Donald, that's a good point. It is easy over time to remember any band collectively But, you're right. I don't think there was an Eagles album that I liked every song. It really does take some time for anything new to set in before you know whether or not it's going to have lasting qualities. I've written songs that I was really excited about only to wake up the next morning and listen to it and wonder what I was thinking. Conversely, I've heard new songs that I hated only to wind up loving them after a few listens. For me, that is the sign of a good song if it is deep enough that it takes time to wrap your brain around it.
Timothy B added a bunch of harmonies to a Richie Furay track I worked on recently--about a dozen tracks of un-Autotuned vocals--and it was so in tune it was scary. If you put AutoTune on it, it didn't even flinch . Some people can still sing in tune...
John Macy
Rockport, TX
Engineer/Producer/Steel Guitar
Tim B. one of the great under-heralded singers of our time.
What, he only sang one maybe 2 lead vocals for the eagles.
Harmonies up the ying yang of course.
A gorgeous voice,
but the other guys just pump out a notch more emotion, maybe.
But that tells you the company he keeps...
Add that to John's first person anecdote.... hmmm
What I liked about the tune I saw,
they just passed the lead vocal around to whom ever fit best.
Not a hint of 'I wrote it, I sing it' ego trip at all.
More of
'Hey Bud you'd sound good on this line' you take it.'
Last edited by David L. Donald on 6 Nov 2007 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DLD, Chili farmer. Plus bananas and papaya too.
Real happiness has no strings attached.
But pedal steels have many!
