Nearly every one of their classic rock radio staples has a doppelgänger here, as the J.D. It was a savvy move to release Long Road Out of Eden as a Wal-Mart exclusive, but the album is savvier still, crafted to evoke the spirit and feel of the Eagles' biggest hits. (The album was also available on the group's official website, via .) Far from indulging in a saturation campaign for this long-awaited record, the Eagles released the double-disc Long Road Out of Eden with surgical precision, indulging in few interviews and bypassing conventional retail outlets in favor of an exclusive release with Wal-Mart, which is not only the biggest retailer in America but also where a good chunk of the band's contemporary audience - equal parts aging classic rockers and country listeners - shops. And did they ever take their time - the 13-year gap between Hell Freezes Over and Long Road Out of Eden, their first album since 1979's The Long Run, was nearly as long as that between their 1980 breakup and 1994 reunion.

Fans were satisfied by the oldies, and the band kept raking in the dough, so they could take their time making a new album. It doesn't really matter: there was no pressing need for a new album. So, why did it take them so long to record a new studio album? It could be down to the band's notoriously testy relations - Don Felder did leave and sue the band in the interim, settling out of court in 2007 - it could be that they were running out some contractual clause somewhere, it could be that they were waiting for the money to be right, or the music to be right.

They started cashing in almost immediately, driving up ticket prices into the stratosphere as they played gigs on a semi-regular basis well into the new millennium. Just because it took them 13 years to deliver a studio sequel to their 1994 live album Hell Freezes Over, don't say it took the Eagles a long time to cash in on their reunion.

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