"Take It To The Limit".....Whatever Your Mood!

This review refers to the Eagles.."Selected Works 1972 -1999" (4 CD set)....



I really think you can not go wrong with this excellent selection of these familiar and classic works spanning nearly 30 years of the Eagles' career. They gave us so many cherished songs and memories to savor. Their music transcends the generations. I am 50 something..when I recieved this as a gift, my 25 year old son, was immediatley all over it, wanting to borrow it before I even unwrapped the cellophane.



What's really nice about this set imparticular, is the way it is packaged. The 4 CD's each have their own theme. Pick your mood...feeling a bit nostalgic?..Disc 1 is "The Early Days" It includes such greats as "Witchy Woman", "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "On The Border" Disc 2 is for dreamy days or restless nights. It is, "The Ballads", and has "Desperado", "Wasted Time", "Love Will Keep Us Alive" and "Lyin Eyes" to keep you company. If you're "Born To Boogie" or need to get pumped up on a long drive somewhere, take Disc 3, "The Fast Lane", on the road with you. Time will fly, and you won't mind being stuck in traffic and you'll have a great time with, "One Of These Nights", "Hotel California", "The Long Run" and of course.."Life In The Fast Lane". The 4th Disc is "The Millennium Concert" and is a great mix of all things Eagles, including "Victim of Love", "The Best Of My Love", and a great rendition of "Please Come Home For Christmas". A few songs from the first 3 discs are repeated, but, listening to them again from the live concert is a whole new expereince. There are 12 to 15 tracks on each disc, and they run about an hour or a little over. See buying infor for complete list of songs.



The CDs sound great. I was espcially impresssed by the Concert recording. A great 42 page book is included with lots of history, photos, and notes on the band and the selected works. The CDs are each in their own holder with cardboard covers(but seem pretty sturdy). They are very nicely boxed.



Long time Eagles fans will surely have any songs, not included on other CDs already. If you are one who is just getting around to upgrading your Eagles collection from cassette(this was my case), you will have a great head start with this wonderful set.



No Matter what your mood is, you can "Take It To The Limit" with this great set.





Thanks Santa, I love it!....Laurie

One Of Those Bands

I really am surprised about how many times older artists keep coming back into the mainstream and on the record store shelves, especially acts from the 70's. Yet, out of all of the group have still maintained that success, The Eagles have constantly been returning as reunions, and more importantly, the songs just keep getting better and better. While so much drama has fallen into the group after the status the group has earned into the 70's, and now, there just hasn't been all that way with a perfectional boxed set to reflect on their career. There was the recently issued box set that displays the highlights that have taken them to the limits.



Selected Works 1972-1999 is a detailed reflection of The Eagles career from the 70's and there recent revival in the 90's with the status of Hell Freezes Over. The collection includes so many great hits including well-receieved tracks like Hotel California, The Long run, Take It To The Limit, Desperado, and their more recent hits, Love Will Keep Us Alive and Get Over It. The songs on this collection have all been remastered very well, without any faults. However, so many of those may consider the more respected 2003 Very Best Of The Eagles collection instead of this because of the price, or the recently 2005 Eagles box set, which includes all of there albums restored graciously.



Yet, The Eagles Selected Works really is a very well detailed reflection, without any problems or faults that were overshadowed. I suggest this for anybody who wants a inexpensive reflection of this legendary band that hasn't lost the edge over all these years.



Album Cover: A



Songs: A-



Price: B



Mastering: A-



Overall: B 1/2+

The Eagles' career summed in a nutshell on one big set

The Eagles' first proper box set The Eagles Selected Works 1972-1999 is a great four disc retrospective of arguably America's best rock band and the best selling North American band of all time.

The four discs are The Early Days*, The Ballads**, The Fast Lane*** and The Millenium Concert

Throughout the 1970's and 80's, The Eagles, a band formed by drummer Don Henley, guitarist/keyboardist Glenn Frey, guitarist Bernie Leadon and bass player Randy Meisner, initially comprised of four gifted singer/songwriters. In later years, guitarist Don Felder joined in 1974 plus legendary ex-James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh replaced Leadon in 1976 and bass player Timothy B. Schmit replaced Meisner in 1977.

This Eagles box set gathered up a mighty good track Selection, and unlike other bands, emphasized their hits for casual fans' listening pleasure, whilst also adding some great deep tracks as well.

From the self-titled debut we have four of the tracks the Top 20 hits Take it Easy*, Witchy Woman(#9 in 1972)* and Peaceful Easy Feeling* plus the album track Train Leaves Here This Morning*.

From Desperado we include Doolin-Dalton*, the lone modest hit single Tequila Sunrise*, the title cut**, the rocker Outlaw Man* and the countryish Saturday Night* which tanked as a single.

From 1974's On the Border(which introduced us to producer Bill Szymczyk and third guitarist Don Felder), we get half of the album including the hit singles Already Gone(Top 40 in 1974 and had duel solos from Frey and Felder)*, James Dean* and Best of My Love(the band's first #1 hit in 1975)**. Plus classic album cuts like the bluegrass sounding Midnight Flyer* and the title cut*.

From the band's first #1 album One of These Nights we get the soul sounding chart topping title cut, the rocker Too Many Hands, The Hollywood Waltz*, the Top 5 hits Lyin' Eyes and Take it to The Limit** and the album cut After the Thrill is Gone**. Then from the band's third #1 album Hotel California we get the chart topping tracks New Kid in Town** and title cut***. Plus the Top 20 rocker Life in the Fast Lane***, Wasted Time and its reprise**, Pretty Maids All in a Row, Try and Love Again** and The Last Resort***.

From 1979's chart topping initial farewell The Long Run we get the chart topping Heartache Tonight***, the Top 10 charting title cut*** and I Can't tell You Why**. Plus you get the rockers In the City*** and The Disco Strangler*** and the ballad The Sad Cafe**.

Then we have two studio cuts from 1994's #1 chart topping Hell Freezes Over, the hit ballad Love Will Keep Us Alive** and the hard rocker Get Over It***.

Interspersed on the first three discs are some oddities like the first disc ends with the Flock of Wah Wahs sketch that appeared at the end of Joe Walsh's But Seriously Folks... album/CD, the off-key piano ditty from the end of the original issue of Eagles' Greatest Hits Volume Two, the One of These Nights Intro was a Glenn Frey/Don Felder goof-around. Then there is a Long Run outtake called Born to Boogie, The Long Run Leftovers were a medley of bits that were not used and some of the riffs would be used on songs from Joe Walsh's later solo albums There Goes the Neighborhood(Rivers of the Hidden Funk) and You Bought It You Name It(Told You So) and some studio banter and goofing off outtakes called Random Victims Part 3.

Disc 4 was the band's Milennium Concert at The Staples Center in LA and featured live versions of two Hotel California cuts which were the title cut and Victim of Love. Then, there is a great live version of Peaceful Easy Feeling which shows that, unlike most bands, The Eagles can pull of an excellent Country Rock song! Please Come Home For Christmas(originally recorded in 1978 and hit #19 then) makes its unofficial debut on an Eagles collection in its live incarnation done very well. Ol' 55, originally on On the Border is a great Country Rock ballad which may have been written by Tom Waits but The EAgles helped Tom get a good royalty check from the success of On the Border. Take It To The Limit is sung by Glenn Frey for a change and done in a different key than the 1975 Randy Meisner sung original! Those Shoes is a great rocker done well live. Funky New Year also makes its debut on an Eagles album despite the fact this is a live recording and has a great slide guitar interlude to signal 2000 in from Joe Walsh before going into the song. Dirty Laundry is next and sounds way better than the studio version Don Henley recorded on his 1982 solo disc I Can't Stand Still and featured duel solos from Walsh and Felder. Then, a spirited version of Joe Walsh's James Gang era rocker Funk #49 which is very good. Then we get an Eagles version of Don Henley's 1985 Top 10 hit All She Wants To Do Is Dance. We close out with The Best of My Love is excellent and gets some saxophone treatment on this song to turn the country rocker ballad into more of an Adult Contemporary Ballad.

The remastering is very good and all were from the remastered versions of The Eagles albums reissued in 1999.

The booklet is well written by Rolling Stone's David Wild and features some incredible info on the band plus rare photos and track by track synopsis on who played lead guitar and who sang each track.

This box set is for those who would rather just buy a good Eagles overview and it saves you a bit of money from buying their six CDs individually.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED