Selected Works 1972-1999 [Box set]

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.