Eagles "The Long Run"

The Long Run is the sixth studio album by American rock group the Eagles. It was released in 1979, on Asylum in the United States and in the United Kingdom. This was the first Eagles album to feature Timothy B. Schmit, who had replaced founding member Randy Meisner and the last full studio album to feature Don Felder before his termination from the band in 2001.

This was the band's final studio album for Asylum Records, and would turn out to be their last studio album until 2007's Long Road Out of Eden.

Three singles were released from the album, "Heartache Tonight", "The Long Run", and "I Can't Tell You Why". "Heartache Tonight" reached No. 1 on the singles chart and won a Grammy Award. The album was certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA and has sold more than eight million copies in the US.

The album was originally intended to be a double album, however the band could not come up with enough songs and the idea was therefore scrapped. The recording was protracted; they started recording in 1977, and the album took 18 months to record in five different studios, with the album finally released in September 1979. According to Don Henley, the members of the band were "completely burned out" and "physically, emotionally, spiritually and creatively exhausted" from a long tour when they started recording the album, and they had few songs. However, they managed to put together ten songs for the album, with contribution from their friends J.D. Souther and Bob Seger who co-wrote with Frey and Henley on "Heartache Tonight".

According to Henley, the title track was in part a response to press articles that said they were "passé" as disco was then dominant and punk emerging, which inspired lines such as "Who is gonna make it/ We'll find out in the long run". He said that the inspiration for the lyrics was also "irony", as they wrote about longevity and posterity while the group "was breaking apart, imploding under the pressure of trying to deliver a worthy follow-up to Hotel California".

Randy Meisner decided to leave the Eagles after an argument in Knoxville, Tennessee during the Hotel California Tour in June 1977. He was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit, who brought an unfinished song to the band, "I Can't Tell You Why". Schmit wrote the song based loosely on his experience; both Henley and Frey liked the song and they finished the song together. Joe Walsh also contributed a song on the record – "In the City", which was first recorded by Walsh for the movie soundtrack for The Warriors. The tune for "The Disco Strangler" was written by Don Felder using a four-on-the-floor disco beat as the basis for the composition, with concept and lyrics from Henley. The song was intended as an antidote to disco as the band dislike disco that was then popular. The song "The Sad Cafe" was inspired by the club Troubadour where Eagles once played and Dan Tana's restaurant that they frequented, while "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks" was written as a homage to Sixties "frat rock" such as the song "96 Tears" by ? and the Mysterians.

The album was produced by Bill Szymczyk, although the Eagles were listed as co-producers.

The original vinyl record pressings of The Long Run (Elektra/Asylum catalog no. 5E-508) had text engraved in the run-out groove of each side, continuing an in-joke trend the band had started with their 1975 album One of These Nights:

Side one: "Never let your monster lay down"

Side two: "From the Polack who sailed north" (may be a reference to the producer of the album Bill Szymczyk)

Track listing

Side one

1. "The Long Run" 3:42
2. "I Can't Tell You Why" 4:56
3. "In the City" 3:46
4. "The Disco Strangler" 2:46
5. "King of Hollywood" 6:27

Side two

1. "Heartache Tonight" 4:27
2. "Those Shoes" 4:57
3. "Teenage Jail" 3:44
4. "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks" 2:21
5. "The Sad Café" 5:35

Christopher Cross "Christopher Cross"

Christopher Cross is the self-titled debut album by Christopher Cross, released in December 1979. Recorded in mid-1979, the album was one of the early digitally recorded albums, utilizing the 3M Digital Recording System. In 1981, it won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, famously beating Pink Floyd's The Wall. It has been noted for being one of the most influential soft rock albums of the early 1980s.

Don Henley "The End Of The Innocence"

The End of the Innocence is the third solo studio album by Don Henley, the lead vocalist and drummer for the Eagles. The album was released in 1989, on Geffen Records, and would be his last release on that label. It was also his last solo album of the 1980s and it would be eleven years before he released another solo album, 2000's Inside Job.

The album is his best selling album, selling over 6 million copies in the United States alone, peaking at #8. The album featured three Top 40 singles "The End of the Innocence", "The Heart of the Matter", and "The Last Worthless Evening". Those singles reached #8, #21, and #21 respectively. The album also featured "New York Minute" which reached #48 on the charts and was recorded by Henley and the Eagles for their live album Hell Freezes Over in 1994. Henley won another Grammy and an MTV Video Music Award for the title track. In 2003, the album was ranked at number 389 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The song "I Will Not Go Quietly" features Guns N' Roses vocalist Axl Rose in the background, who at the time was also a member of the same label.

Rolling Stone magazine wrote of the album at the time, "Returning to the theme of "Desperado," the former Eagle hitched some of his finest melodies (especially on the gentle title track) to sharply focused lyrical studies of men in troubled transition – from youth to adulthood, innocence to responsibility."


Reviewing retrospectively for AllMusic, critic Vik Iyengar has written of the album, "Henley took some time before completing his highly anticipated third album, The End of the Innocence. Although he manages to duplicate much of the magic of his previous album, Henley has backed off of the synthesizers and expanded his musical palette." they also add that "Throughout the album, he manages to balance being cynical yet hopeful, and his great melodies allow his poignant lyrics to penetrate. This album is highly recommended for those who like their pop music with a message."