The Long Run (Eagles album)

The Long Run
File:The Eagles The Long Run.jpg
Studio album by Eagles
Released	September 24, 1979
Recorded	March 1978 - September 1979
Studio	Various Bayshore Recording Studios, Coconut Grove, FL One Step Up Recording Studio, Los Angeles, CA Love 'n' Comfort Recording Studio, Los Angeles, CA & Britannia Recording Studio, Los Angeles, CA Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Genre	Rock
Length	42:50
Label	Asylum
Producer	Bill Szymczyk
Eagles chronology
Hotel California (1976)Hotel California1976 The Long Run (1979) Eagles Live (1980)Eagles Live1980
Singles from The Long Run
"Heartache Tonight" Released: September 18, 1979 "The Long Run" Released: November 27, 1979 "I Can't Tell You Why" Released: February 4, 1980

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau	C+
Rolling Stone
Smash Hits	4/10

The Long Run is the sixth studio album by the 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 not to feature founding member Randy Meisner, who was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit. This was the last studio album until 2007's Long Road Out of Eden (though four studio tracks were included on 1994's Hell Freezes Over) and the final studio album for Asylum Records.

When released in September 1979, The Long Run debuted at #2 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart and a week later hit #1 dethroning Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door. It was their last #1 album of the 1970s, and reigned for eight weeks in the #1 slot. The Long Run has sold more than seven million copies to date in the U.S. (it was certified Gold and Platinum in early 1980 by the R.I.A.A.).

The album generated three Top 10 singles, the chart-topping rocker "Heartache Tonight", the album's title cut, and the ballad "I Can't Tell You Why". Those singles reached #1, #8 and #8 respectively. The band also won a Grammy Award for "Heartache Tonight". Also featured on the record was "In the City", a song first recorded by their guitarist Joe Walsh for the movie soundtrack for The Warriors. "The Sad Cafe" (about the band's experiences at The Troubadour in Los Angeles) and "Those Shoes" also received substantial radio airplay.

Critical reception

Reviewing the album retrospectively in AllMusic, critic William Ruhlmann wrote of the album "the Eagles' follow-up to the massively successful, critically acclaimed Hotel California was a major disappointment, even though it sold several million copies and threw off three hit singles," adding that "amazingly, The Long Run reportedly was planned as a double album before being truncated to a single disc. If these were the keepers, what could the rejects have sounded like?"

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"The Long Run"	Don Henley, Glenn Frey	Don Henley	3:42
2.	"I Can't Tell You Why"	Timothy B. Schmit, Henley, Frey	Timothy B. Schmit	4:56
3.	"In the City"	Joe Walsh, Barry De Vorzon	Joe Walsh	3:46
4.	"The Disco Strangler"	Don Felder, Henley, Frey	Henley	2:46
5.	"King of Hollywood"	Henley, Frey	Henley, Frey	6:27

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
6.	"Heartache Tonight"	Henley, Frey, Bob Seger, J. D. Souther	Frey	4:27
7.	"Those Shoes"	Felder, Henley, Frey	Henley	4:57
8.	"Teenage Jail"	Henley, Frey, Souther	Frey, Henley	3:44
9.	"The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks"	Henley, Frey	Henley	2:21
10.	"The Sad Café"	Henley, Frey, Walsh, Souther	Henley	5:35

Album pressing

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:

1. Side one: "Never let your monster lay down"
2. Side two: "From the Polack who sailed north"

Personnel

• Don Felder – vocals, guitars, talkbox, organ
• Glenn Frey – vocals, guitars, synthesizer, keyboards
• Don Henley – vocals, drums, percussion
• Timothy B. Schmit – vocals, bass guitar
• Joe Walsh – vocals, electric guitars, slide guitar, talkbox, keyboards

Additional personnel

• Jimmy Buffett – backing vocals on "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks"
• The Monstertones – backing vocals
• David Sanborn – alto saxophone on "The Sad Café"
• Bob Seger – backing vocals "Heartache Tonight" (not credited in liner notes)

Production

• Producer: Bill Szymczyk, the Eagles
• Engineers: Ed Mashal, Bill Szymczyk
• Assistant engineers: David Crowther, Mark Curry, Bob Stringer, Bob Winder
• Mastering and remastering: Ted Jensen
• Art direction: Kosh
• Design: Kosh
• Photography: Jim Shea

Singles

• "Heartache Tonight"/"Teenage Jail" – Asylum 46545; released September 18, 1979
• "The Long Run"/"Disco Strangler" – Asylum 46569; released November 27, 1979
• "I Can't Tell You Why"/"The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks" – Asylum 46608; released February 4, 1980

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
1980	"Heartache Tonight"	Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal	Won

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1979–80)	Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)	1
Canadian Albums (RPM)	1
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)	3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	20
French Albums (SNEP)	2
Italian Albums	13
Japanese Albums (Oricon)	1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)	5
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	1
UK Albums (OCC)	4
US Billboard 200	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1979)	Position
Australian Albums Chart	25
Canadian Albums Chart	32
French Albums Chart	65
Italian Albums Chart	39
Japanese Albums Chart	41
Chart (1980)	Position
Australian Albums Chart	30
Canadian Albums Chart	6
US Billboard Pop Albums	2

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
France (SNEP)	2× Gold	242,400
Japan (Oricon Charts)		247,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)	Gold	25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	Gold	100,000
United States (RIAA)	7× Platinum	7,000,000
*sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

Preceded by Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan	Australian Kent Music Report number-one album October 22 - November 11, 1979	Succeeded by Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 by Rod Stewart
Preceded by Itsuka Tsumetai Ame ga by Iruka	Japanese LP Chart number-one album October 22–29, 1979	Succeeded by On the Way by Satoshi Kishida
Preceded by In Through the Out Door by Led Zeppelin	Billboard 200 number-one album November 3–29, 1979 (9 weeks)	Succeeded by On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2 by Donna Summer
Preceded by In Through the Out Door by Led Zeppelin	Canadian RPM 100 number-one album November 17, 1979 - January 26, 1980	Succeeded by Cornerstone by Styx
Preceded by Keep on Boppin' by The Boppers	Swedish Chart number-one album November 30, 1979	Succeeded by The Wall by Pink Floyd