Rating: 
Summary: Great music, not so great personalities
Review: As a fan of the music of The Eagles, I am very glad I never had to spend one minute in the same room with any of these obnoxious, egotistical and petty men. Tension between members of rock groups is common, but Henley and Frey brought it to new heights. The text was entertaining and even touched upon a little rock history(California sound), but by far the best part of the book was the extensive discography which ran 65 pages. Now I can find the albums on CD that are missing from my collection. I must stop reading about the lives of rock musicians so I can continue to enjoy the music. I'll probably never be able to listen to The Eagles again without a slightly slanted view of the group.
Rating: 
Summary: To The Limit : The Don Henley Selective Memory Memoirs
Review: As an Eagles fan, I began reading this book with high hopes. But then reality set in. "To The Limit" centers around Don Henley, and must have been written with his cooperation because stunningly, no mention is made of Henley's scandal with the two girls in a hot tub, which made headlines and inspired his songs "Nobody's Business" and "Dirty Laundry." Joe Walsh is all but ignored, which is strange since he is the group's most popular member. All in all, it sounds like the book was dictated by Henley. The "Untold" stories of the Eagles in this book are the stories of any band member not named Frey or Henley.
Rating: 
Summary: I didn't know he did that.
Review: As someone who was a child in the 1970s, I really wasn't hip to all the news of the day concerning bands like the Eagles. This was all old news by the time I was seriously listening to The Eagles. I liked the way Eliot weaved his way through the L.A. music scene to bring together what was the original Eagle's line-up and how he progressed though all the ego trips which caused the band to change(for the better ). This could have been a five star book had Eliot researched (or written) more about the abundant talents of Joe Walsh, Don Felder, and Timothy B. Schmit. I love to find out who is, and was, connected to whom, and this book does that for the average music fan.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but far from definitive book on the Eagles
Review: Eliot probably could have devoted quite a bit more space to this sprawling, ambitious book. Because Henley is the only Eagle to give input into the book, the focus is pulled away from the other band members. Although Eliot follows the trevails of Frey, Meisner and Leadon, he virtually ignores, or spends little time on the other band members beyond their immediate involvement in the band and, instead, focuses quite a bit of time on "unofficial" band members Jackson Browne and J. D. Souther. The book would have earned five stars if Eliot had spend a little more time on reflecting as to the true dynamic between Henley and Frey. We get little sense of true reason they were drawn together as collaborators beyond some superficial analysis. A good template for Eliot to have followed would have been Mark Hertsgard's excellent book on the Beatles, A DAY IN THE LIFE. That book was unauthorized and had absolutely no input from any of the band members, but still comes off as a stunning analysis as to what made the band click, their place in music history, their influence and, finally, the collaborative process of Lennon and McCartney. Eliot hasn't written a bad book, but it is a little on the lite side. If Eliot hadn't been so ambitious he could have easily put together a great book focusing on Henley/Frey, the band, or the souther California scene that contributed to the band's formation and success. Instead, he tries to focus on all of the above in a brief, superficial book. Nevertheless, Eliot has some compelling stories to share and Henley's short involvement with the book makes it of interest to most fans. Read it in the bookstore, or at the library.
Rating:
Summary: There was something in here untold?
Review: File this book under "heard it all before". This book is little more than a Don Henley puff piece with a picture or two thrown in. Approximately a third of the book concerns itself with blbliography, the index, and what has to be the most incredibly overstated discography ever to grace a book of this type. Not only do you get an Eagles discography, but also one on each band member, INCLUDING any and all side projects they ever appeared on. There's very little new in here, in fact, there's very little in here at all, which leads one to believe that the Eagles were one of the most boring bands ever to survive to tiresome middle age. The only book I've read of this ilk that I consider worse is the Zep book by their former road manager. Do yourself a favor and do like I did, check this out of the library when you're sick, it's nasty out, and you'll be in bed anyway, only don't block off a large amount of time.
Rating:
Summary: Eagles soar despite biased writing
Review: Having long been a fan of the Eagles, I was quite ready to read a biography of this splendid, though somewhat lacking Southern California band. Eliot does a fair job of presenting their history, but he lacks in descriptions about the making of the music, and he focuses too much on Don Henley. On one hand Eliot seemed to be fixated with Henley, and on the other hand he seemed to have an axe to grind with him. To The Limit really came off more as a Don Henley book, than an Eagles book.
For one thing there are too few quotes from Glenn Frey, who in my opinion really gave the band its heart. Just because Henley began singing almost half of the songs on the last two albums, doesn't mean he should have. I can think of several songs, that Glenn Frey could have sung just as well. I'd also like to have learned more about why Leadon and Meisner quit. Though Eliot did explain it in some detail, there was much missing. It would have been interesting to have heard from Glenn Frey on those issues, as well as from Leadon and Meisner.
The book is heavy in quotes from Henley, but short on quotes from any other band members. Much of the material seems to come from other previously published material, i.e. Rolling Stone reviews, interviews, articles, and much of it comes from Mansion On the Hill, a detracting book written in the early 90s which includes a section on Geffen and Azoff.
While is was interesting reading about Henley's take on Joe Walsh joining the band, I would have really liked reading about Joe's take on joining the band. In my opinion, Walsh's guitar playing saved the Eagles from fading into country-rock mediocraty.
I would have also liked to have learned more about Felder's role in the band. Learing about Felder's role in the song, Hotel California was really interesting, but it made me want to know more about Felder's and Walsh's guitar work. How did they work out strategies? How did they bounce ideas around? Did they feel left out of the inner-cirlce?
Nonetheless, I really enjoyed reading about the Eagles, and I'd like to read another book about them, though I'd really like for it to be less about Don Henley, and more about the Eagles.
Rating: 
Summary: Unreadable
Review: I am filing this "review" in the hopes of bringing down the average number of stars for this truly awful book. I love juicy rock bios, so I thought this would be just the book for me. Look how wrong you can be! The two main problems with this book are as follows: 1) It is unspeakably boring. I honestly couldn't even finish it; the grind just wore me down. 2) Factual errors. Others have already pointed this out, but it is especially galling to see George Grantham (the superb musician and singer from Poco) referred to as George Lantham. And how 'bout that gig in Hawthorne Beach? Where the heck is that? Somewhere between the City of Hawthorne and Hermosa Beach, perhaps. You get the idea . . . . It would drive you out of your mind if you weren't already bored out of your mind. Perhaps the fact that Amazon has 62 used copies ("from $2.95") gives you the best indication of this book's overall merit. Proceed at your own risk.
Rating:
Summary: Unreadable
Review: I am filing this "review" in the hopes of bringing down the average number of stars for this truly awful book. I love juicy rock bios, so I thought this would be just the book for me. Look how wrong you can be! The two main problems with this book are as follows: 1) It is unspeakably boring. I honestly couldn't even finish it; the grind just wore me down. 2) Factual errors. Others have already pointed this out, but it is especially galling to see George Grantham (the superb musician and singer from Poco) referred to as George Lantham. And how 'bout that gig in Hawthorne Beach? Where the heck is that? Somewhere between the City of Hawthorne and Hermosa Beach, perhaps. You get the idea . . . . It would drive you out of your mind if you weren't already bored out of your mind. Perhaps the fact that Amazon has 62 used copies ("from $2.95") gives you the best indication of this book's overall merit. Proceed at your own risk.
Rating:
Summary: told me what i wanted to know
Review: I DID NOT DISCOVER THE EAGLES UNTIL THEIR REUNION. STARTED BUYING THEIR WORK AND WAS INTRIGUED BECAUSE THEY APPEARED TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE LEAD. THEIR MATERIAL WAS ELECTRIC, EXCITING, AND HAUNTING. I WAS THRILLED TO FIND MARC ELIOT'S BOOK. I STILL LOVE THEIR SOUND, AND GREATLY RESPECT THEIR ENORMOUS TALENTS AND CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC, AND THANKS TO MARC ELIOT, I KNOW ALL THEIR NAMES! IF YOU LOVE THE BOYS, BUY THE BOOK.
Rating:
Summary: Eagles soar despite biased writing
Review: I enjoyed this book immensely. What happened to the Eagles happens a lot in pop/rock music. The writing of the book is superb. The description of the LA music scene in the 60s and 70s is especially good. I also felt that the writer listened to everone, not just the people who screamed the loudest. Eliot makes a wonderful point when discussing the relationship between Henley and Frey. The things that made them so effective together are the same things that drove them apart. I did not particularly like the Eagles when I started reading this book but it has now piqued my interest to buy a couple of their CDs.
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