Eagles’ First Album in 28 Years — Long Road Out of Eden –To Be Double Album, Wal-Mart Exclusive
Make mine a double.
It’s kind of funny that it’s taken The Eagles 28 years to record a new album and when they return, it’s with a 2-CD set being sold exclusively through Wal-Mart. Oh, the times, they are a-changing.
28 years for a double makes you wonder why they couldn’t have aimed for a single at 14. At least that way two or three of their tours might have had some new music in the mix. Of course it can be argued that at the prices they charge for a ticket, no one wants to hear the new stuff.
I want to hear this new stuff — just not at an overpriced Eagles show. I’m interested to hear what they’ve come up with. I’m interested in what 28 years later has brought us. Of course, they haven’t been working on it for 28 years seeing how they weren’t actually speaking to one another for the first 10+ years of that break. Regardless, there has been a nearly three decade gap between proper Eagles albums. How will Long Road Out of Eden compare?
It’s astonishing that Mr. Social Conscious, Don Henley, has aligned himself with one of the most vilified corporations on the planet, Wal-Mart, for this first album in 28 years. This pairing is surreal! Don had better be careful or Bonnie Raitt is going to kick his ass.
I seem to remember Don Henley running around in the ’90s sweating me for the last $10 in my wallet to help him save Walden Woods. I understand the cultural significance of Walden. What I didn’t understand is why Don needed my $10. He wasn’t just asking for it, either. He had his hand out and accusation in his eyes. That’s the way I interpreted it and it went up my ass sideways.
The Eagles have the best selling album of all time in the form of their Greatest Hits Vol. 1. That album has sold nearly 30 million copies. Hotel California has sold more than 20. Two Eagles albums, both sold more than 20 million copies and it’s not like those are the only Henley/Eagles albums that anyone bought. I was working at BlCockbuster Video in the ’90s. He needs my money to save Walden? What the fuck did he do with his fucking royalty checks? Now, the King of Thoreau’s Ghost has buddied up with the Ghost of Sam Walton. Hmm… there’s an album title in that somewhere, isn’t there?
I loathe these exclusive partnerships. The Stones and Elton have teamed up with Best Buy to release DVD box sets, Paul McCartney works for Starbucks, and now The Eagles and Wal-Mart. Am I the only one who wants to know what happened to these former Flower Power-lovin’ hippies? The new motto seems to be “Make Cash, Not War.” Lest I be misunderstood, I don’t have a problem with the artists I love making money at what they do. I gladly pay for my CDs and hope that some of the money is earmarked for the fabulous talents behind it. There are days it doesn’t seem like as much fun, though.
I’m glad Paul McCartney has money in the bank but I think I enjoyed enjoying his music more when it didn’t seem like he cared about it. Even The Stones, who have never been shy about their financial aspirations, aren’t quite as much fun because The Rolling Stones don’t go anywhere without Stones, Inc. there to count the t-shirt sales.
I do hate these exclusive offerings, but I have to admit music fans are getting a pretty good deal when they happen. The 4-DVD boxes from The Stones and Sir Elton were sold for $29.99 and Wal-Mart is going to sell the double-album Eden for $11.88. That’s a damn good price, if you’re willing to actually pay for your music and ignore the fact that your freedom of choice was restricted.
Here is the Tracklist for Long Road Out of Eden. It will be available at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores Oct. 30.
Disc One:
- “No More Walks in the Wood”
- “How Long”
- “Busy Being Fabulous”
- “What Do I Do With My Heart”
- “Guilty of the Crime”
- “I Don’t Want To Hear Anymore”
- “Waiting in the Weeds”
- “No More Cloudy Days”
- “Fast Company”
- “Do Something”
- “You Are Not Alone”
Disc Two:
- “Long Road Out of Eden”
- “I Dreamed There Was No War”
- “Somebody”
- “Frail Grasp on the Big Picture”
- “Last Good Time in Town”
- “I Love To Watch a Woman Dance”
- “Business As Usual”
- “Center of the Universe”
- “It’s Your World Now”
Filed under: A Day Late and a Dollar Short, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, The Eagles
Brother Josh, I don’t quite see the issue with the Wal-Mart or Starbucks thing. So the Eagles record for Wal-Mart rather than Warner Brothers. It’s not like WB was some little hole in the wall family business. Sounds like some meaningless symbolic distinction. I don’t see how your “freedom of choice” is particularly restricted, other than that the record is copyright and we can’t all just start making copies to sell at the flea market.
The partnership with Wal-Mart kinda sticks in my craw as well, but I’ve always been a fan of The Eagles. That being said, I heard “How Long” on Sirius and it did nothing for me :-/
Thanks for the comment, Al. Let me attempt to clarify because your comment leads me to believe I might not ultimately have been as successful at making my points as I’d hoped. I see a couple of issues here and the release of the new Eagles record opened the door for me to talk about them but I might not have done so very clearly.
One issue I saw is the way a number of high profile artists have cozied up to large corporations, seemingly in contradiction to publicly stated social positions they’ve taken. They are free to do it, but it strikes me as disingenuous on the part of some artists. Another issue is the exclusivity deals that are becoming more and more common.
The reference to Paul McCartney and Starbucks alludes to that first issue, not the second. His Starbucks record — which is a fairly decent album — is available at virtually any brick-and-mortar retail location as well as online retailers. Fans have numerous choices as to where they’d like to buy the record.
The Eagles and The Stones have each released music exclusively through a single retailer. Neither The Stones nor Eagles have signed with Best Buy or Wal-Mart Records (respectively). Both have created works that they then restricted to be sold through only one retailer and it is this that creates a restriction on my choice. I either have to buy the Eagles’ record at Wal-Mart or not buy it at all. I don’t like having my hand forced like that. I also think it’s interesting that Don Henley, an outspoken activist, would partner up with a corporation as vilified — fair or unfair — as Wal-Mart.
Katrina, I haven’t heard “How Long” yet. I’ll have to be on the lookout.
I just did a quick search, and they have it up on their Myspace site
http://www.myspace.com/eaglesmusic
“How Long” can be heard at the Eagles site.
it sounds like a long-distant cousin to “Already Gone”.
Thanks, Mark. I’ll have to go by later today and check it out.
Thanks, Katrina. The MySpace profile is another option. I have no more excuses. I’ll listen tonight.
“Wal-Mart is going to sell the double-album Eden for $11.88.”
They can be in it for the money if they pass the savings on to the fans.
I’m not an Eagles fan but won’t rain on everyone’s parade. But I just have to comment on the Walmart thing, about them being such a horrible place. I worked for Target after high school and it sucked. Everything that people have come down on Walmart for was exactly what Target did back then, and continued to do for many years afterward. They were horrible to their employees. Remember Walmart getting nailed for failure to pay their employees for overtime? Target did the same thing. Cashiers would work their 8 hour shift, clock out, and then would spend between 1 and 3 extra hours every night helping to stock and straighten up the store. They never got a dime for it, and no one raised any hell about it. I was stunned they got away with it. There were few benefits to working outside in the Lawn & Garden section, and one of them was that I never had to do this afterhours-unpaid stocking/facing.
I also remember when Target started populating cities with their stores in the 80s. People were so upset about how they were dooming the mom-and-pop stores, how they were destroying value by filling their stores with low-quality items. Sounds like the same stuff we hear today about Walmart, doesn’t it? Walmart is the Target of 20 years ago.
As for the Walmart exclusive, it’s annoying, but it’s only an extension of a trend that’s been going on for quite a while now, which I believe was started by Best Buy. Anybody remember when Pearl Jam was going to release Single Video Theory, I think it was, and it was going to come with a Best Buy exclusive live album? I don’t remember what happened with that to pull the plug, but someone (I hope the band) put a stop to it shortly before the shipments hit stores.
“How Long”? So after all these years, they’re down to covering Ace songs???
(yes, I was joking)
As for exclusive distribution deals, it doesn’t seem to be limited to just the superstar acts anymore. When I wrote my review for California Transit Authority recently, I searched long and hard for any link to where you can order the physical CD online. With a Chicago fan’s help, I finally located it at the Borders site. As far as I know, it’s the only place where they are selling the media online (although you can buy the audio files at iTunes).
Josh, you said it PERFECTLY! It takes a wise man to understand exactly what you said. Freedom of choice is becoming less and less available to us…very scary. AND absolutely when you talk the talk, you need to do the walk. Thanks for a great commentary/article.
[...] box set for $29.99. It’s a great price for such a deluxe package, but I’m on the record hating these exclusive deals and am not going pull punches just because I happen to adore Tom Petty & The [...]
So, I have read all your comments…checked it out for myself. I checked it at Walmart - site down - I checked it at Sam’s Club and at the Eagles site and at MySpace…And then I pre-ordered it from the Eagles site. (And with the pre-order you get to download How Long and add it to your iPod right now.)
The song How Long grows on you (me) so I hope I like the rest of the album. I also ordered one for a friend as a gift.
I can hear the comparison to Already Gone and, yes, it’s truly not The Eagles we all know and loved, but then we aren’t the same people who loved the Eagles way back when, ya know? Time marches on…So we just enjoy them as they are today. I’m glad they have something new for me and I can’t wait to hear the rest.
I will say, though, I am not a huge fan of music videos and this one is much like most, kind of cheesy. If they would just show us the band in the studio or on stage performing the song, music videos would be so much better. That’s just my opinion….
The exclusive deal with Wal-Mart just plain sucks. The Eagles did not become millionaires by themselves. They got their wealth and fame becasue a major record label was willing to take a chance on them and release thier record way back when they were nobody. Their record was then sold at hundreds of thousands retail locations atound the world, played on thousands of radio stataions, all that would not have been possible without the initial support of a major label. Yes the record label has made huge dollars from the deal, but they could just have easily lost millions as well if the public did not buy the records, as is the case in a large majority of music that is released. Please don’t forget all of those mom and pop retailers that supported the band - there are still a few of us around. We now have to watch our regular customers drive to Wal-Mart if they want to buy the new Eagles album. The deal with Wal-Mart is just plain selfish from the band’s side of the deal and is a slap in the face to people like me, who over the years have helped to put millions into their pockets by stocking and selling their music. We don’t mind competing with Wal-Mart and the other big boys - they have a right to sell whatever they want at any price they chose. We just feel very betrayed by artists that sign exclusives with big retailers. I learned years ago not to expect loyalty from anyone, but it still hurts when stuff like this happens. Shame on the Eagles, The Stones, Elton John, Garth Brooks and all the others that have entered into excluve deals for telling their fans where they have to buy their music and shutting out the moms and pops that have worked hard on their behalf in the past.
The labels abandoned any semblance of moral authority eons ago when they made it S.O.P. to screw any artist that didn’t know any better. That they might suffer under a particular arrangement doesn’t arse me at all.
As for indie retailers, I feel for them. I hate what has happened to them. Hell, I feel bad for a chain like Tower. At least Tower was dedicated to music. Still, the true indies out there have been getting crushed for decades and it’s a damn shame.
I loathe these exclusive deals. Loathe them.