This collection brings together almost four hours of music, including a (too short) disc of live material, a few rarities, and thirty-some songs from the Eagles' six original studio albums.Almost all the hits are here, as well as numerous album tracks, and the compilers have made some great selections, as well as a couple of inexplicably bad ones (why is the awful "King Of Hollywood" chosen over the beautiful "Doolin-Dalton / Desperado Reprise" from the "Desperado" album?).Most of the lesser-known songs are excellent, though, like the beautiful acoustic shuffle "Train Leaves Here This Morning", the lovely mandolin-driven "Saturday Night", and Randy Meisner's "Try And Love Again".The three studio CDs are divided into "The Early Days", "The Ballads", and "The Fast Lane" (i.e. most of the band's electric rock songs), and the third disc also contains what little unreleased material there is, but anyone hoping for greatness is going to be disappointed. On the live disc, The Eagles have gone out of their way to perform songs out of their usual repertoire (and Glenn Frey takes over from the absent Randy Meisner and sings "Take It To The Limit"). It includes several solo hits (a dubious choice), and both sides of their 1978 seasonal single, "Please Come Home for Christmas" and "Funky New Year". Much of this is minor or atypical material, though, and that's the main problem with this box set: It doesn't really offer anything to genuinely add to the legacy of the Eagles, and the serious fan, who probably has all the band's original albums already, won't really find too much of interest here.Likewise, more casual fans would probably be better off with the Eagles' two orginal Greatest Hits-albums, or the new "The Very Best Of The Eagles" CD.The music is superb, but it's hard to see why you should go out and buy this set at fifty-some bucks in order to get a mediocre live CD and a couple of unreleased (and unfinished) songs. If you want four hours of Eagles music, go get their original albums instead, and the fine, underrated "Eagles Live".3 1/2 stars.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Even before they published their first album, the Eagles declared that they wanted to be more than a one-hit wonder; they wanted to create something lasting. They certainly have - although you don't even need this particular compilation as evidence of that fact. Maybe even more probative in that respect is their surprise reunion after their bitter 1980 break up and subsequent "14-year vacation," fittingly entitled "Hell Freezes Over." So why bother with this one?First, because of the Millennium Concert CD; not only because you don't get that particular CD without the boxed set anyway. (OK, I admit I went to the show, loved it, and would have bought the boxed set for that reason alone. But even if you didn't see the show, it's still worth the expense.) The disc opens, as the Eagles' shows have for years, with "Hotel California" - their signature song which personally, I can't get enough variations of; so I am very happy with yet another live version, particularly as (in hindsight) this is probably the last recording with the participation of Don Felder. In addition, this CD contains the first live version of "Take It to the Limit" since the departure of Randy Meisner (with Frey, who declared during the show that the song "is now in G," taking over lead vocals), and several tracks the Eagles have never officially recorded live; although Glenn Frey may have been a bit tongue-in-cheek when he said during the concert that they didn't even remember ever *performing* those songs live before: "Victim of Love," "Please Come Home For Christmas," "Funky New Year," "Those Shoes" (one of my all-time favorites) and Tom Waits' "Ol' 55." (According to Frey, Tom Waits wasn't very happy with their cover at first "... but then he got the check. And since then, Tom and I, we're really close.") The Millennium Concert CD is also an adequate reflection of the Eagles' tour program ever since "Hell Freezes Over:" Like it or not, they have been performing the individual band members' greatest solo releases in concert alongside the band's songs for years now (and conversely, all of them are doing Eagles tracks in their solo live appearances), so it's only fair that at least some of those tunes should be included in the band's live CDs. The inclusion of at least one of Frey's songs, e.g., "Smuggler's Blues," would have been nice; but short of that, I'm happy to at least have Eagles versions of two of Henley's solo releases and of Walsh's "Funk #49" ... to me, Walsh's guitar work in "Dirty Laundry" alone is worth the bargain, not to mention Frey's and Schmit's harmony vocals in Walsh's solo track.Second, the sound quality on this boxed set is unquestionably superior to the 1980s' CD releases of the band's individual albums - if you compare those to the vinyl versions of the same albums, there is no mistaking that those CDs were sloppily produced and a lot was lost. Not so here; credit, among others, Elliot Scheiner's sound engineering with that. Eagles fans have been waiting for years for the release of true "original recording remastered" CD versions of the band's studio albums. Barring the repurchase of each and every individual album as an eventually-released originally remastered CD, this is a pretty darn good substitute with regard to most of their songs. I also like the arrangement by themes, which shows the band's continuity - and proves that they are much more than "the people who helped invent country rock." (Witness, for example, "Desperado" on the same disc as "Sad Café," and "Get Over It" on the same disc as "One Of These Nights;" with a rather quirky intro from way back when ... when Felder had just joined the band and they were still getting along great or at least, sounded like they were - and closing on an equally quirky "Random Victims Part 3," almost 10 minutes' worth of the band's goofing off in the studio, secretly [?] recorded on Bill Szymczyk's infamous separate two-track machine.)Would I have wished for the inclusion of more, or of different songs? Yes, but not many. "My Man," Bernie Leadon's tribute to Gram Parsons, and "Bitter Creek" (likewise by Leadon) are examples. But this compilation is entitled "Selected Works," not "Complete Retrospective" or, on the other hand, "Greatest Hits And A Little More." All in all, it's a very rounded and well-produced selection of the Eagles' work over the course of almost three decades - with a nice 40-page booklet which contains articles by Glenn Frey, David Wild ("Rolling Stone") and the Eagles' long-time producer Bill Szymczyk, and some great photos of the band, not all of which were previously published; some by legendary photographer Henry Diltz, whose work is also featured on the band's studio albums and who is probably best known for his contributions to the Crosby, Stills and Nash biography and his "Under the Covers" portrait CD-Rom of some of rock's greatest stars. During the production of their last studio album, the Eagles sometimes jokingly called that album "the long one," because it took them all of three years to finish. But not only since then, they have shown that they really are in there for The Long Run; and this compilation is a fitting tribute to their career.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Nothing new from the Eagles but some classic songs remastered. The live disc of the millenium concert is top-class, and with live versions of the Eagles so rare, it is greatly appreciated. Every good group releases a definitive collection - this is it for Henley, Frey and co. Even if you have the previous greatest hits albums this is another which needs to form part of your collection and worth every penny.
Rating: 4 out of 5
This is a poor example of a box set. The only new unreleased songs are 'Born to boogie'(a half finished demo) and 'Random victims' which is another early take on Hotel California. The songs are also placed at random with no thought to chronological order.Save your money on this one and buy the original albums.Mike Edmunds
Rating: 2 out of 5
For any Eagle's fan this may appear to be another cash spinning solution for a tired and old rock band, BUT I BEG TO DIFFER!!!!This is a 4 cd box set covering an entire 30 year career of music, in short BRILLIANT. From the early country rock hit Take it Easy to the blasting anthem of Life in the Fast Lane this collection echoes sheer class. You'd be hard pushed to find a tune thats not on this collection and for the moneywell...The collection contains a few lesser known songs and some humourous out takes of recording sessions, complimented by their millenium gig in LA which is worth the money alone. Live Hotel California, Live Take It to the Limit, Live Victim of Love, colorful booklet with an interesting summary of the career of these greats. What more could you ask for....BUY IT!
Rating: 5 out of 5