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The Eagles will release their first studio album since 1979 in two weeks, but only in Wal-Mart stores. Glenn Frey told Reuters/Billboard Sunday "Long Road Out of Eden" was years in the making and will reintroduce fans to what the Eagles really are, which I suppose means it’s a rock 'n' roll record despite contemporary country radio's fascination with the band's catalog.

The "Hell Froze Over" tour must have thawed the icy barrier between Don Henley and Frey, because they found a way to work together. And thanks to maturity and MP3s the tandem were able to make this album piecemeal, emailing each other bits between their respective studios in Malibu and L.A. Frey tells Reuters it was very effective.

Frey says the album features half a dozen Henley/Frey songs along with two each from Joe Walsh and Timothy Schmit. The first single from the two-disc record will be J.D. Souther's "How Long," which apparently you can see the Eagles perform on a Holland show back in 1974 on YouTube. Before you start griping about copyright theft, realize if it hadn't been there, it would never have been recorded on the new album, according to Frey.

As for Wal-Mart, he admits it was vast sacks full of cash that led to the exclusive deal with a company whose history of dealing with artists and artistic content – to say nothing of its community business practices – is questionable, at best.