The Eagles ready to fly with album, tour

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The Eagles, a group whose crisp harmonies hit U.S. airwaves in the 1970s, are finishing its first full-length, studio album in more than 25 years.

Guitarist Joe Walsh told Billboard magazine all of the band members -- Walsh, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Timothy Schmit -- wrote songs for the album, which "goes in some really, really new different directions."

The album is the Eagles' first studio set since "The Long Run" in 1979.

Walsh said the band, which broke from touring for a year to work on the album, plans to tour extensively in 2008.

The Eagles, which formed in California in the late 1970s, mixed country and rock, spot-on harmonies and guitar riffs to produce a string of hits, including "Take It Easy," "Hotel California" and "Heartache Tonight."

Walsh, who kicked off a 13-show solo tour Tuesday, said he doesn't think he'd leave the nest to record on his own permanently.

"I don't think I would cancel being an Eagle and resurface with a solo career," he told Billboard. "I love being in the Eagles and we're not really done yet."