As someone who still listens to “Hotel California” more than every once in a while, this is disturbing on so many levels. From the LA Times:

The Eagles, the rock band that claims the bestselling album in the history of American music, will soon release their first studio album since “The Long Run” in 1979, and, if you want to buy it, you’ll have to get in line at Wal-Mart or wait 12 months to get it elsewhere. “They will have an exclusive on it for the first year,” Henley said, explaining for the first time a core part of the “strategic partnership” announced in late October.

The Eagles have taken plenty of heat through the years for cashing in — their tours have some of the priciest tickets around, and the history of backstage bickering has added to the aura of mercenary priorities — but the 59-year-old singer-songwriter has always been a maverick and rock’s most cerebral grump. He explains that anyone who sees some sort of disconnect between his famed Walden Pond preservation efforts and this new corporate deal is simply not paying attention.

“A lot of the people who have criticized us are obviously unaware of what Wal-Mart is doing in overhauling their operation,” he said, rattling off the company’s well-publicized initiatives to open eco-friendly “green stores,” reduce packaging and use its market share to pressure vendors into pursuing environmentally conscious approaches.

Don, I’m perfectly aware of what Wal-Mart is doing in overhauling their operation and I still don’t buy it. Seriously, if Wal-Mart wanted to put a store in at Walden Pond, would you still man the barricades? And making your fans have to traipse into Wal-Mart to buy it is just sick. Garth Brooks I can understand, but the Eagles?

I take some pleasure from this promise though:

The album that Wal-Mart will be getting won’t be the predictably neutral material it always got from its other corporate troubadour, Garth Brooks. Henley said the lyrics are laced with dark humor and war protest.

The title track is “about the war in Iraq and the evolution of man.” Listening to himself, he chuckled. “It’s not a fluffy little tune … there’s a portion of a song you can dance to.”

I’m guessing songs like that won’t please the Beast or its customer base much at all. If Don is lucky, it will sell about as much as Joe Walsh’s last solo album. When was that again? I guess that explains why they’re getting back together for the benefit of Wal-Mart.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 5th, 2007 at 2055 by Jonathan Rees and is filed under Walmart. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.