Heartache Tonight 1979 (Screamer-040140/015)
Expo Park, Osaka, Japan – September 22nd, 1979
Disc 1: Hotel California, Already Gone, In The City, Doolin-Dalton, Desperado, Lyin’ Eyes, I Can’t Tell You Why, Desperado, Heartache Tonight, One Of These Nights
Disc 2: Turn To Stone, The Long Run, Life’s Been Good, Life In The Fast Lane, Rocky Mountain Way, Take It Easy, Tequila Sunrise, The Best Of My Love
Heartache Tonight 1979 is a complete very good sounding stereo audience recording. It is just short of being excellent due to the pronounced hiss present and several insignificant cuts. There may also be some problems with the tape speed although that issue isn’t a distraction.
This document is from The Eagles’ second tour of Japan right when their latest studio LP The Long Run was released. They played in Tokyo several week before this show in Osaka and they played in Hawaii the week following. Their final show for fourteen years would be in the spring of 1980, so this comes right at the very end of their most creative part of their career.
The concert is definitely a “greatest hits” affair with almost every song being a staple of classic rock radio. It is all so smooth, slick and professional with very little room for improvisation (and this is probably why I really enjoy this show). I find it interesting they begin the show with their biggest hit “Hotel California”: begin with a bang and keep the momentum going.
There are some stops for dialogue (“We’re The Eagles from Los Angeles”) but very little improvisations. Some of the exceptions are the “Desperado” segue at the end of “Doolin-Dalton” and an extended Joe Walsh jam in “Rocky Mountain Way” which seems endless. Timothy B. Schmit sings “I Can’t Tell You” and Walsh is given another of his solo songs “Life’s Been Good” which sounds very good live.
Joe Vitale is given a long introduction before “Turn To Stone” since he had been helping the band on their tour of Japan playing many instruments. The packaging is very sparse with a couple of very static action shots on a black background. It is a typical functional design which characterizes the Screamer label.
Heartache Tonight 1979 was releases with Live At Boston Music Hall 1975 and Mid-Summer Music at the same time by the same label with Mainstream copying the Boston show under the title Crazy Old Night…Live 1975. The Eagles market has been dominated by cdr releases from their more current tour so it is very good to see older material surfacing on silver titles. The sound quality on this isn’t the best but is very enjoyable and is worth having.
