THE LONG RUN
Like Meisner, his voice is also
Eagles
Asylum; WEA
(Angel)
WELL, THE EAGLES. THE LAST
thing kumpadre Benjie Umayam wrote on
these pages was a review on the Eagles’ last
album, Hotel California, which was well over
two years ago. In the review, he ended up by
saying that he may be too young to die, but
he ain’t too old for Hotel California. But
where is Benjie Umayam these days? Benjie
is working in a big record shop in New York
and right at this very moment he just might
be shaking hands with Glenn Frey, the lucky
fart. And where are the Eagles?
The Eagles, glad to say, are in The Long
Run, and, after seven or so listenings to the
album, are in fine form. Let’s have a
rundown on the scores:
“The Long Run” – Easily hit single material.
It starts off on the right note:
I used to hurry a lot, I used to worry a lot;
I used to stay out till the break of day.
Oh I couldn’t get it, it was about time I quit
it,
I just couldn’t carry on that way.
And it never lets up. Don Henley’s voice
hasn’t as much soul as Bob Seger’s, and isn’t
quite as raspy as Rod Stewart’s. Still it
manages to connect. The song is great and
very believable, all about a dude who didn’t
know he was lonely till he stumbled upon his
girl.
“I Can’t Tell You Why” – Ex-Poco member
and Randy Meisner replacement Tim
Schmidt is here, and comes up with a
trademark ballad. From the same man who
wrote “Here We Go Again” and “From the
Inside”, he adds a new dimension to the
Eagles.
naturally high . Punctuated by Joe Walsh’s
sexy guitar.
“In the City” -- Joe Walsh’s song. Walsh,
since he joined the band in ’76 for Hotel
California, has driven the Eagles to rock
more. Hotel California, as with this album,
also had a number of rockers. Walsh’s guitar-
playing has definitely made them a tougher
band.
“The Disco Strangler” – The one you hear
often on the radio. An obvious parody on the
disco scene. Henley sings with open derision.
“Look at me, baby, look at me, I’m beautiful,
I’m beautiful, I’m somebody”.
“King of Hollywood” – Ominous guitar,
clever lyrics like ‘just another power
junkie/just another silk-scarf monkey”.
Henley and Frey both seem to sing an octave
lower than usual.
“Heartache Tonight” – The hit single, Glenn
Frey’s song. Frey sings lead less these days,
probably acknowledging the fact that
Henley’s voice is more suited to the rockers.
Frey, though, always sings the first hit to
come off an album: “New Kid in Town”,
Lyin’ Eyes”, “Take It Easy”.
“Those Shoes” – Could be the theme of
Judith Rossner, when the Eagles go looking
for Mr. Goodbar. Mean talk box from Walsh
and Don Felder.
“Teenage Jail” – The song is about, you
guessed it, juvenile delinquency. James Dean
wears his bad sneakers, “and waits for the
weekend to go off the deep end”.
“The Geeks Don’t Want No Freaks” – In
the words of Time critic Jay Cocks, “a frat-
house rocker.” This, along with “Heartache
Tonight”, makes for perfect Saturday night
school dances.
“The Sad Café” – The last song on the
record, and though it may veer too much
toward mawkishness, it nevertheless has good
lyrics and a haunting melody. The Eagles
were the Woodstock generation, California
kids dreaming up an alibi (“We thought we
could change this world/With words like love
and freedom…”) only to realize later that the
dream was over and thus, in the words of
Jackson Browne, “traded in their tired wings
for the resignation that living brings”:

No use in asking why,

It just turned out that way;
Just meet me at midnight, baby,
Inside the sad café.

“The final belief is to believe in a fiction,

which you know to be a fiction, there being
nothing else”, Wallace Stevens once wrote.
I’d like to think that the Eagles believe this
too. “Did you do it for love or did you did it
for money?”, they themselves sing. Probably
both. It’s obvious that the Eagles want it all,
both the truth and the myth, and in The
Long Run, that’s exactly what they get.
--JUANIYO ARCELLANA