The question of when an album is genuinely “finished” is unanswerable. The curse of deadlines is the only thing that forces most artists to either finish their favorite songs or concede defeat and leave their masterpieces exactly as they are—most are always experimenting with how their songs should sound. Even after their release, Don Henley believed that the Eagles had made a mistake while recording Long Road Out of Eden. This was because the band had already set a high standard when combining their new material with their classic records.
It’s not as though they were short on time to get ready. The 1994 release of Hell Freezes Over marked the reunion of the California icons. Since then, they have only released one major single, the 9/11 response track “Hole in the World.” Occasional fear deters people from visiting the studio, although they could have started years earlier.
They had already parted ways with Don Felder. Having set such a high standard with The Long Run in the 1980s, how in the world were they going to reach Hotel California heights once more? The short answer is that they made no real effort to equal their prior success.
Long Road Out of Eden is a bit of an odd outlier in their catalog, being their first double record. Some of the deep cuts are far less interesting than even their drab moments from the 1970s. However, some amazing songs like “How Long” had gone unnoticed. Henley’s “Business as Usual” and “Frail Grasp on the Big Picture” are way too serious slogs that belong on the back end of one of his solo records, in contrast to a silly song like “Last Good Time In Town.”
With 20 tracks, the album is also far too long. A more tasteful single album would have finished things off nicely. Henley was a little miffed that the album was too long. Though the group was so successful that they could have easily put out a triple record and made their money back.
Don Henley expressed his dissatisfaction to Rolling Stone after the album’s release. He stated that if the band had been able to work on it for a longer period of time, the record could have been a true farewell statement. There are certain weak points. Although this album is excellent, it could have been even better. However, the concept of democracy emerged. Removing some songs would have ruined the record’s flow, despite the need for their removal.
