Album of the day (#977): Hotel California by Eagles

[Romanelli]

The Eagles are hated by a lot of people for a number of reasons:

1) The press hated them. Particularly, Rolling Stone magazine. And then, as now, a lot of people believe what the critics have to say.

2) They are credited (blamed) for a lot of the bad country music that exists today. Reality: mainstream country music has been getting worse since the birth of rock & roll.

The reality of the Eagles is that they were the early leaders of the California rock/singer songwriter era of the 70's. They made some really uneven albums (Desperado should be at the top of that list), but they also crafted some really great singles. Their Greatest Hits (1971-75) is really one of the most impressive compilations of the time...and it still is. Their middle period albums, One Of These Nights, and most notable, the really underrated On The Border, show plenty of growth. The band was originally championed by Jackson browne, and later added impressive players like Don Felder, Timothy Schmidt, and Joe Walsh. Hotel California is the best of the lot, because it's the most consistent. By The Long Run, you could tell that they were going to be over soon.

This band gets a lot of flack, but the truth is that they had some very good songwriters, and they were as good as anyone ever was as far as vocal harmonies. Hotel California is a big part of what people lived musically in 1976, and that can't be denied. It's held up pretty well, and there are some truly great moments on it. I think it's quite deserving of where it is...this seems to be a rare place where the bias against the band hasn't let to them being buried and ignored.
_________________
May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...

[drakonium]

Great post, Romanelli, thanks a lot.

What I don't agree with is the fact that this album is perfect where it is, rank-wise. I'm far from a hater, but this is IMO far from an all-time classic (which it is right now). I've not listened to that many albums, but a least half of them were better than this one. While it's a nice pop/country/whatever record, I think it really brings nothing musically. Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all a kind of #abstractqualities lover, but I do expect legendary records to create a powerful reaction in me, whether I love them or not, and this isn't the case at all with this one. It may have influenced its scene, but it's musically the definition of unstriking (not sure about the existence of this word, you get it anyway), IMO.

That said, all I said before do not apply to the title track. While not challenging or revolutionary (and I don't give a fuck about that), it is a truly stunning piece of music, perfectly composed, with great lyrics and musicianship. Sadly, the fact that it's the only really track I consider exceptional, it puts the album in a position which I'd describe with the word "overrated", even if I really don't like this word because it looks like it's objective.

[ColumnatedRuins]

[Guest]

[sszwalbenest]

While I do enjoy this album I found One Of These Nights to be a better album.