Fly Like An Eagle may be the most complete and effective musical statement Steve Miller has ever made. Always enigmatic, always eclectic, Miller's albums have usually been ill-fitting jigsaw puzzles, but in this latest album he puts all of his cards on the table, face up. The result is a full house of rock & roll.

As usual, Miller taps various genres such as the blues and straightforward rock, and, as usual, he's lyrically preoccupied with mental and physical space. He pieces it all together with surprising simplicity.

A measure of how skillfully the songs have been constructed and arranged is the absence of any riff-based guitar solos. The approach here is raw, with rhythm guitar, bass and drums so completely to the point that a hot, flashy solo would seem gratuitous. In this context, the diversity of an album which contains the jaunty, pop-styled "Take the Money and Run," the three-chord bliss of "Rock'n'Me" and the two riveting blues numbers, "Mercury Blues" and Sweet Maree" (the latter neatly enhanced by James Cotton's harmonica) is that much more impressive.

There are echoes from a past in "Serenade," a long, hypnotic track propelled by Gary Mallaber's tense, smart drumming, "Wild Mountain Honey," with its swirling electric sitar strains, and the dreamlike "The Window." I've never doubted that Steve Miller could do anything he wanted musically. On Fly Like An Eagle, he does more than I could ever hope to ask for.

- Billy Altman, Rolling Stone, 7-15-76.

Bonus Reviews!

First LP for Miller in nearly three years is a mix of easy, more heavily orchestrated and melodic rock than we are used to, and some typically Miller material. Easy, jazzy rock is fun, but the most rewarding cuts here are those in the "Joker" vein, showcasing Miller's "Dion" vocals with smooth singing and flowing melodies. Good mix of electric and acoustic guitars on the rockers, and some fine acoustic work on a blues-flavored cut. One oldie also included, but the majority of material is original. Overall, one of Miller's most appealing albums and certainly his most commercial. Best cuts: "Fly Like An Eagle," "Serenade," "Dance, Dance, Dance," "Take The Money And Run," "Rock 'N Me," "Blue Odyssey."

- Billboard, 1976.

Miller's eccentricity -- James Cotton harp amid the Sam Cooke amid the technological ditties -- has no center or even epicenter except for the pastoral antimaterialism so common among exurbanite rock tycoons. But in the end his borrowed hooks and woozy vocal charm are an irresistible formula. Finds good covers, too -- "Mercury Blues" (copyright 1970 by K.C. Douglas, whoever he is) fits right in. B+

- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.

In his effort to create the ultimate playable album, Miller re-incorporated his interest in spacey sound effects and neat segues and synthesized them with a batch of tightly crafted light pop/rock tunes. The result generated a load of seamless hits like "Take the Money and Run," "Rock 'n Me," and the title track. * * *

- Rick Clark, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

Fly Like an Eagle contains the best single all-around look at Steve Miller's great gifts. * * * *

- Joel Selvin, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

Steve Miller started with a spacey blues sound that drew on the San Francisco ballroom bands of the Sixties. Then a 1972 car accident sidelined him for nearly a year. He came back with an irrepressible pop-rock sound that dominated Seventies radio: slick guitar boogie as catchy as Abba and as danceable as disco. "Rock 'n Me," "Take the Money and Run," "Dance, Dance, Dance" and the title track kept Fly Like an Eagle on the charts for nearly two years.

Fly Like an Eagle was chosen as the 450th greatest album of all time by the editors of Rolling Stone magazine in Dec. 2003.

- Rolling Stone, 12/11/03.

(30th Anniversary Edition) In the late Sixties, Steve Miller began as a young singer-guitarist mixing up hard-edged blues with the psych-rock coming out of his adopted hometown of San Francisco. After a 1972 car accident sidelined him for nearly a year, he came back as a pop-rock hitmaker beholden to young Homer Simpson types and millions of others. Fly Like an Eagle -- reissued here with remastered sound, three demos and a DVD of interviews and concert footage -- found him combining indelible riffs, sly, catchy tunes and danceable grooves into songs that still light up rock radio. There are some duff cuts here ("You Send Me") and some hippie indulgence in the album's psych-rock moments ("The Window") and synth experiments ("Blue Odyssey"). But the 1976 album's three hits -- "Take the Money and Run," "Rock 'n Me" and the seductive title track -- still sound inspired, and even the blues stuff ("Mercury Blues") is plenty engaging, thanks to Miller's tune sense. * * * *

- Christian Hoard, Rolling Stone, 7-13-06.

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