Yep, 2004 was a vintage year for the Eagles.
The Eagles Live in Melbourne 2004 is an outstanding disc. The sound quality 5.1 surround and picture DVD quality are stupendous. For those few Eagles fans on here, if you do not have that disc from this 2004 concert, released in 2005, you really ought to get it.
Unlike Hell Freezes Over from five years earlier, the Eagles have hit stride, and they are more forgiving in letting each member shine individually:
No More Cloudy Days (New Track), Hole In the World (new), You Belong to the City, Walk Away, Rocky Mountain Way, Sunset Grill, Life's Been Good, Dirty Laundry, are some of the tunes. Joe Walsh really is a guitar God. And it shows on this DVD.
Also, it is after they kicked--for no good reason at all--original guitarist Don Felder out of the group. On this disc, a fellow that looks like a hatchet-faced greaseball in an oversize Texas roadsuit plays the lead guitar with gusto and vigor, note-for-note like Donnie Felder. And this is crucial as (trivia bomb) the Eagles feature two songs with the very uncommon guitar solo outtro (end of the song) with Life in The Fast Lane and Hotel California--check it out next time you listen to those cuts. The Eagles stil soar without Felder, and by tossing just a few sheckles into this studio journeyman's Fedora, the remaining Eagles split the cash cow in fewer pie pieces. Ingenious.
The Long Road to Eden, available only from the Walton family, is a sad countrified piece of grisle compared to this juicy concert from yesteryear. Got an Andy Jackson burning a hole in your pocket? Go with Mebourne.