Hotel California pushed the band from stars into mega-stars.
They went on a long tour to support the album and due to increased drug use, tensions within the band increased.
Founding member, bassist Randy Meisner could no longer stand it and left the band after the tour.
He was replaced by former Poco member, Timothy B. Schmidt and the band took time off to refuel.
After three long years, they finally released The Long Run in late 1979.
While not as strong as Hotel California, the album still is something special.
The band treads into new territory with the title track, which is a slice of Memphis Soul Stew in the Stax/Volt vein.
Don Henley gives a spirited vocal and shows he has tremendous range.
Mr. Schmidt contributes the soft and tender ˝I Can’t Tell You Why˝ and his backing vocals are the rest of the album add a new dimension to the band.
Joe Walsh chimes in with the crashing ˝In The City˝.
The album has a dark and ominous tone with the best examples being the menacing ˝The Disco Strangler˝ and the corrupt power of ˝King Of Hollywood˝ in which Mr. Henley sings from the perspective of a Hollywood producer bent on abusing his power. ˝Heartache Tonight˝ was the band’s fifth and last number one single and is a high octane affair co-written with Bob Seger.
˝Those Shoes˝ has an almost funky beat and ˝Teenage Jail˝ follows the dark theme.
˝The Greek Don’t Want No Freaks˝ is a goofy number that lightens things up with Jimmy Buffett singing backup vocals.
The album closes on a pensive note with the longing ˝The Sad Cafe˝. The band would break up not long after their tour to support the album and the song is an appropriate final chapter to one of the biggest bands of all time.