The Eagles

Long Road Out of Eden (Universal Music Group)

By Michael Roberts

published: November 08, 2007

Eagles Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit may all love music, but they don't make it collectively unless there's a mammoth payday involved. Maybe that's why this set, which is being released through a profit-maximizing deal with Wal-Mart, seems more inspired by commerce than art.

The exceptions to this rule come from Henley, the act's most ornery member. Although the Iraq-themed title track feels secondhand—betcha he researched it by watching CNN in his den—the wannabe epic gets a boost from Henley's pissiness, as does the decidedly bitchy "Frail Grasp of the Big Picture." (As for "Fast Company," a vomit-inducing white-funk catastrophe, it's all about anger too—mine.) In contrast, Walsh's two offerings seem like toss-offs, and Schmit's efforts constitute ultra-bland filler. And Frey? The tunes he croons, including "How Long" and "No More Cloudy Days," mainly stick to the heavily diluted and extremely tedious country-rock formula that's made these guys as rich as pashas. They're less songs than cashier's checks. Which they'll be taking to the bank very soon.