Official: Eagles album in the spring

Don Henley has backed up his recent "60-to-90 days" comment about the timetable for the Eagles to release a new album. Henley told billboard, "Sometime in the next 60-to-90 days. We want to get it out before the summer." The untitled project will be the first set of new material from the Eagles since The Long Run came out in 1979, though a few new songs were included on the original Farewell I Tour -- Live From Melbourne DVD that came out in 2005, and on the updated version that was sold through Wal-Mart over the holiday season. It's unknown whether those tracks will be included on the new album.

Henley's in a much better mood these days about the Eagles and their prospects than he was about two years ago. Back then, he told us the recording sessions had left him questioning the band's future: "There are a lot of things that we cut that are in the vault in L.A. Most of them, in my opinion, are sub-standard. They don't compete in any meaningful way with our older stuff. And frankly, I don't want to put out anything like that. Unless we can get our standards up a bit, then I personally think that we should just move on or forget about it."

The band has been working on the album for a few years now, and Henley explained the delay in releasing it by saying, "We've had a few interruptions. We've had a few distractions. We've had several." He added, "Some days it feels good. Some days it's challenging. It's exhilarating. It's worrisome. It's joyous. It's all of these things. It's a big mixed-emotions kind of thing. It always has been. It's no different from what it ever is. It's just that there are more distractions now with families and charities and lawsuits."

There's no word yet on whether the Eagles will tour once the new album is out, but he told the audience at a show last week in Las Vegas that he'd see them again over the summer, and some people are interpreting that to mean the Eagles will be back on the road.

Henley has been named the 2007 MusiCares Person Of The Year for his musical career, as well as for his charitable efforts and his work on behalf of artists' rights. He'll be honored by friends including Michael McDonald at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday (February 9th).
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