| The Eagles | 1972 |
| Desperado | 1973 |
| On The Border | 1974 |
| One Of These Nights | 1975 |
| Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) (compilation) | 1976 |
| Hotel California | 1976 |
| The Long Run | 1979 |
| Eagles Live | 1980 |
| Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (compilation) | 1982 |
| Hell Freezes Over (live) | 1994 |
Post your comments about the Eagles
(reviewed by John Sieber)
Wow. Some of the best classic rock ever recorded, here. Unfortunately, some of these great songs have been transformed into some of the worst soft rock ever to poison the airwaves. Pity. Well, I'm sure you've all heard these tunes ad nauseam on a multitude of radio stations, but that never crippled a song's credibility for me. At any rate, I will say that I "like" all ten songs, however, only a couple of them have my "love". So, we'll start out with the loves. "Witchy Woman" has some great harmonies, and I love that line, "she got the moon in her eeeyyeeeeEEESSS!" Whoo! "Lyin' Eyes" may be the least boring six-plus minute song I've ever heard (except for maybe "I've Seen All Good People"). "One of These Nights" is disco-ey, and those goofy falsettos are, well, goofy, but damn is it good! "Take it To The Limit" is one of those afore-mentioned "soft rock" tunes. But I don't care. This is one of my favorite Eagles tunes. Same goes for "Best of My Love". I think that's what these guys were best at - writing slower, soothing, yet beautiful songs. Like a redneck Moody Blues.
The "lesser" tracks on here begin with "Take it Easy", which almost made it as one of my absolute favorites but was bumped by "Lyin' Eyes". "Already Gone" sounds almost like a sequel to "Take It Easy", so it can't possibly suck too bad, right? "Desperado" is a well written song, however I feel that the boys performed it all wrong. For a far superior version, pick up Clint Black's Greatest Hits and have a listen to his live version of "Desperado". Now THAT fuckin' rules. Hu-ah! Anyway. "Tequila Sunrise" is just alright in my opinion, as is "Peaceful, Easy Feeling". Two smooth tunes that are real mood-setters, but lack true hooks. As this album is, really. A low-key, mellow listen. Evev my dad likes it. Shit, even my Mom, the queen of soft rock, likes it, even the more rockin' tunes! Another compilation that every classic rock aficionado should own. Buy it today. Or tomorrow. Or next week?! Fucking procrastinator.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by John Sieber)
Right now, in my 20th year of existence, I am absolutely entranced by the progressive sounds of bands like Yes, ELP, Moody Blues, and Kansas. And I can say with full confidence that my love for these bands can be traced to this here album that I am reviewing. The reason for this is that Hotel California was the first album I could listen to straight through and enjoy every minute of it. Thus began my appreciation for fully cohesive albums. God bless it. Well, the quintessential Eagles song, "Hotel California", starts it off. The chords are based around this little progression Don Henley strummed on day overlooking the ocean. Thus a legend was born. Interesting, huh? Good song, too. Next is "New Kid in Town", a throwback to classic Eagles sound after the rockin' opening cut. But, have no fear, the rockin sound comes back with the next one, "Life In The Fast Lane", starting off with that killer riff emanating from newcomer Joe Walsh's guitar.
A truly beautiful ballad follows, entitled "Wasted Time/Reprise", an album cut you might even hear on the radio every once in awhile. The "Reprise" part is a bit cheesy, what with that gay-ass string part, but oh well. "Victim of Love" was a successful single, however, and rightfully so, with its sparse guitar solos courtesy of Monsiuer Walsh and memorable chorus. The next tune is a bit hard to get into, but when you do, it's very rewarding. "Pretty Maids all in a Row" is Joe Walsh's debut as an Eagles vocalist. The meat of the song only consists of half the track, as the rest is devoted to the underrated and magical effect of very slowly fading the song in, and very slowly fading it out. Whew. "Try And Love Again", written and sung by the bassist Randy Meisner, is another throwback to classic Eagles, with which I have no prob, bob.
Saving what I consider the best for last, "Tha Last Resort" occupies the ass end of the record to the tune of 7 minutes and 25 seconds. While the instrumental coda is a bit too long, the rest of the song is magically written. I don't care for the lyrics much, talking about some people taking over a piece of land, "paradise" and ruining it for generations to come. Wonder who they're talking about? Who knows. Oops, gotta throw my empty styrofoam cup out the window into the river. Wow. That, ladies and gentlemen was the most sarcastic thing I've ever written. "Call someplace 'paradise', kiss i goodbyyyyyyyyyyye..." Good album. Not a weak song in the bunch. Dare I call this the pinnacle of the Eagles' career? Well, honestly, what else is there to these guys? 15 or so hits strewn over 4 or 5 other albums? Nothing they did ever came close to this. Buy it today, and for Chrissake, Recycle!
Post your comments / reviews for this album
This 'classic' is absolutely laughable, especially the 'steely knives' line. How anyone (L.A. Times critic Robert Hilburn, in particular) could ever find this a great, insightful observation of L.A. or California, or anything else for that matter, is beyond me.
I'll take Tom Waits any day of the week. At least the Eagles had the good sense to record his "Ol' 55."
Wholeheartedly agree with you, pal. Hotel California is undoubtedly the best album of the 1970's and the best American rock LP I've ever had the good fortune to come across.
Some people hate it, but we'll just ignore them, okay?
*grrrrr. . . spoilsports*
(reviewed by John Sieber)
The Eagles' second hits package, like the first, has some essential classic rock tracks on it, as just about every one of these tunes is still heard on the radio today. However, they really scrounged for this one, as the track listing contains 4 cuts from Hotel California ("Hotel California", "New Kid In Town", "Victim of Love", "Life in the Fast Lane", see my review above for these, I'm not going to repeat myself), which are all deserved hits. But they pulled 5 tracks off of their last studio album, The Long Run. 5. Off of one of their lowest-selling, and really boring, albums. However, there's good news! 3 of the 5 kick ass! However, the other two really ain't all that. So let's talk about the songs (even though, when I review The Long Run in full, I'll be redundant and I HATE it when I do that, but I do not have The Long Run yet so I will worry about it later, k?).
First, the piles of shit. "The Long Run", which is obviously the title cut of The Long Run. And it sucks. Well, okay, it doesn't exactly "suck" per se, but the forced "country rock" sound of the arrangement leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps a steel guitar instead of those amplified slide parts would have helped? "After the Thrill Is Gone" carries a really weak melody through the verses (and the chorus for that matter) and the mix buries Glenn Frey's voice with sparse guitars that sound horrid to begin with, like they played the song drunk or somethin'. But the weird piano coda brings up the value of the tune a little (hey, at least it's frigin' interesting!).
Now, I will talk about the gems we have here. "Heartache Tonight" is, in my mind, their best merging of country and hard rock in their catalog. And the melody is ass catchy! Very singalongable. If you can hit that high Bb that Frey hits. Good luck, skippy. "I Can't Tell You Why" is jazzy and also sports a sweet melody and a nut-splitting high note, a B natural this time. And of course, last but not least, my all-time favorite Eagles song, "The Sad Cafe", lyrically about friends splitting up. Fitting, seeing as this was the last cut on the last studio album they'd make together until 1994 and Hell Freezes Over. Off-beat chords in the electric piano and an even better melody than the last two tunes set this one ablaze with beauty, and Don Henley sings better than he has since "Hotel California". God I love this song.
Oh and there's one more cut: a tune entitled "Seven Bridges Road" previously only available on their Live album. Good harmonies make this one a gem, and the fact that it's short and sweet as opposed to the boring extended jamming they do in their live sets really sets this one apart. Highly recommended. As a matter of fact, I really doubt if you need any other Eagles albums besides this, Hotel California (which could be expendable if you're not a fan at all) and the other Greatest Hits album. I dunno, though. They coulda replaced those two crappy tunes from The Long Run with another Hotel California cut (maybe Wasted time?) and "In the City" from The Long Run, which is a forgotten gem, and made this a real item. As it is, it's just a decent hits album from a (at the time) dead band trying to pay the bills. Jesus, I shoulda produced this band. They coulda been famous. Hm? They were famous? Oh yeah, I forgot.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
Index | Main band/artist reviews page