Are the Eagles the greatest band of all time?

[BillBailey1976]

Even if there wasn't such heavyweight competition from certain bands mentioned above, the relatively small size of the Eagles' catalogue would make it very hard for them to be considered in a 'greatest band of all time' category. It could be argued they only qualify as the gretest American band through lack of meaningful competition. If you are only looking at in terms of popularity & record sales, perhaps, but that is not what the question is about.

It could also be argued that they were primarily a singles band & that their albums contained too much filler material. I know that statement will horrify some. For me PERSONALLY, the older I get, the less I like some of the Eagles' album tracks. A lot of them just do not stand comparison with the almighty three, which, for the record, are the Beatles, the Rolling Stones & Led Zeppelin. I am also bored with some of the Eagles' big hits as well, but I stress again, that is ME.

After that you get to personal preference, which for me is Dire Straits & Genesis, and I would never claim either of those to be the 'greatest'.

Something that I have seen that really supports your "singles band" argument is the fact that the album sales really do reflect that.
Eagles - 1 m
Desp - 2 m
OTB - 2 m
OOTN - 4
So that's 9 million albums.
Greatest hits 71-75 covering the same time frame sold 29 m
People love the hits, but apparently don't care as much for the other stuff.

[BillBailey1976]

Further looking at the numbers....there's a huge gap between the biggest selling original album Hotel California and everything else.
Eagles 1 m
Desp 2 m
OTB 2 m
OOTN 4 m
HC 17 m
LR 8 m

HC alone sold the same amount as all the other original albums combined.

[YoungEaglesFan]

Something that I have seen that really supports your "singles band" argument is the fact that the album sales really do reflect that.
Eagles - 1 m
Desp - 2 m
OTB - 2 m
OOTN - 4
So that's 9 million albums.
Greatest hits 71-75 covering the same time frame sold 29 m
People love the hits, but apparently don't care as much for the other stuff.

But as Glenn said, they also sold albums better than singles. People liked to buy eagles albums. I’d argue that they had more great songs that just didn’t get released as singles and were promoted as much

[New Kid In Town]

I have to say back in the 70's when I was in HS and College I never bought an Eagles single. I only bought their albums. I did not even remember/know what most of the sleeves looked like. I don't think I ever purchased a 45 since I was maybe 12 years old. I think that was the norm back then. Most people purchased the albums.

Not many groups can say they have sold over 150 million albums. The Eagles can. As I said before, The Beatles are the greatest band ever, they changed everything. Also up their would be the Rolling Stones. The Eagles are, in MHO, the best American Band.

[Brooke]

I have to say back in the 70's when I was in HS and College I never bought an Eagles single. I only bought their albums. I did not even remember/know what most of the sleeves looked like. I don't think I ever purchased a 45 since I was maybe 12 years old. I think that was the norm back then. Most people purchased the albums.

Definitely true for me, too, NKIT. We listened to the whole albums all the time back then.

[My My]

True for me in the seventies too. I bought all of the Eagles albums and listened to them. I bought 45"s in the early seventies when I was in Jr. High. I remember having "Maggie May" and "American Pie."

[travlnman2]

There are many bands I consider to be the greatest of all time.
Note: This is not my specific order of preference

Guns N Roses
Beatles
Skynyrd
Eagles
AC/DC
ZZ Top
Zepplin
Tom Petty
To many bands can claim to be the greatest of all time imo

[BillBailey1976]

But as Glenn said, they also sold albums better than singles. People liked to buy eagles albums. I’d argue that they had more great songs that just didn’t get released as singles and were promoted as much

I understand that, but there's no arguing that the "hits" were the most popular. Otherwise, you wouldn't have 29 m people buying the greatest hits, and only 9 m buying all the albums that the hits came off of.
I don't take this to mean that they sold more 45s, but just that people liked what they heard on the radio...the singles...and chose to buy the greatest hits at a much bigger pace than the individual albums.

[groupie2686]

It's really hard to pick one band as "the greatest of all time" - it's so subjective. I hate those Rolling Stone lists for that reason. But if I had to pick, I would say The Beatles. There may have been better bands in terms of musicianship and songwriting, but The Beatles were unmatched in terms of cultural and historical significance.

As for the greatest American band, it's a toss-up for me between the Eagles and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. There's something about Springsteen that just epitomizes working class America to me.

[Dawn]

Let's not overlook the Beach Boys, in particular Brian Wilson the genuis and driving force behind many of their hit singles and albums including the incredible Pet Sounds album.