Editor's note: The Eagles continues its four-night stand today and Saturday at the Blaisdell Arena. Here's a look at one of the band's greatest-hits releases.

CD: "The Very Best of The Eagles"; Warner Strategic Marketing

Release: October 2003

Style: Classic rock

My take: The Eagles, one of the biggest bands in America in the 1970s, churned out a staggering number of popular singles in the first half of the decade, then followed up that success with the release of its capstone album, "Hotel California," and became megastars. However, the fame, infighting and clashing egos took their toll, and the band released only one more album, 1979's "The Long Run." After that, The Eagles split until 1994 when they recorded "Hell Freezes Over."

After a few compilations failed to encompass the Eagles' career sufficiently, Warner took a stab at it and released this two-disc effort, splitting the Eagles' catalog into pre- and post-"Hotel California" eras.

The first disc is filled with much more somber, slow and earnest songs such as "Take it Easy," "The Best of My Love" and "Desperado," with a few upbeat tracks including "James Dean" and "Midnight Flyer," a song that crosses the country-genre line some say the band often teetered on. Ending the first CD is "Hotel California," the perfect way to convey the underlying message that this song was the catalyst to the band's split.

Disc two has more up-tempo songs and is infinitely more compelling to listen to and catchy, except for a few tracks that go into sob territory, something the band often did. It's an interesting flow from "Life in the Fast Lane," which chronicles a day in the life of party-hearty junkies, into "Wasted Time," which is balladeer to the core. Other songs filling the compilation's second half are the angry "Get Over It," which even now could serve as a reality check for whiners, "Heartache Tonight," "Victim of Love," "In the City" and "Please Come Home for Christmas," the antithesis of the jolly holiday music department stores love to play nonstop. There are heart-wrenching epics "New Kid in Town," "The Sad Cafe" and "The Last Resort," as well as a live performance of "Seven Bridges Road," even though the studio version would have worked, too, and "Hole in the World," the only new recording. The only red flag here is the exclusion of "Outlaw Man," a single that never garnered much attention.

Despite a somewhat odd flow between some songs and the absence of that single, "The Very Best of" is the band's definitive compilation. For veteran fans, it summarizes the catalog into one collection. For newer fans, it covers enough ground for a good taste of the material without their ever having to buy another Eagles album.

So no matter what reason you have to buy this collection, do it. You won't regret it.

Jeremy Castillo is a student at Windward Community College and editor of the college newspaper, Ka 'Ohana.