It has been 28 years since The Eagles released The Long Run, the band’s last full-length studio album. But after a 14-year hiatus, The Eagles return – but do nothing surprising – with the mellow-rock-heavy Long Road Out of Eden.

Long Road Out of Eden is a bloated affair with its two discs (one with 11 tracks, one with nine), and could have easily been trimmed down to fit a single disc, especially if some of the album’s ridiculously long tracks were left on the mixing-room floor. The album holds a few highlights, but fans will have to make do with skipping the filler tracks on their own.

“How Long” sounds like vintage Eagles, circa “Hotel California,” with a worn-in, comfortable quality. With its warm guitar sound and pleasant harmony, “How Long” recalls any number of Eagles hits from decades past – in fact, its first guitar notes sound like the classic “Take It Easy.” The band learned “How Long” from J.D. Souther in the ’70s, but abstained from recording it at Souther’s request. It makes sense that the band does its best work with a song they had some familiarity with – and the song is far better than the rest of Long Road Out of Eden’s 19 other tracks.

On the slower side of things, “I Love to Watch a Woman Dance” is the best ballad present on the album. The guitars are quiet – gently plucked and strummed – and meld perfectly behind Glenn Frey’s vocals to create the smoothest track on Long Road Out of Eden.

Sadly, not all of the album’s songs fit in with the better material. For example, the album’s title track may be the most overblown song the band have ever recorded. “Long Road Out of Eden” begins with woodwinds and the whistling wind, and just gets worse from there. It’s also incredibly ironic that a song which takes aim at American consumerism – with lyrics about driving SUVs and smoking fancy cigars – is licensed for exclusive distribution at the beacon of American consumerism, Wal-Mart.

But that isn’t the worst of the album – “Last Good Time in Town” holds that title. The song uses the terrible technique of repeating whispered verses throughout almost all seven minutes of dreck this track encompasses, and is surprisingly disappointing from a band that can do so much better.

Unfortunately for patient Eagles fans, Long Road Out of Eden’s two discs would have been better served as one, as many of the 20 tracks are too long or simply lousy.

tripp@umd.edu

RATING: 3 stars out of 5