Least favourite Eagles song?

[Brooke]

I can't even imagine not liking Hotel California! I love it, but I must admit that I'm a bit tired of it. It's way over played on the classic rock stations I listen to.

But, even with that, I hear that intro and I'm taken away down that dark, desert highway.............

[Freypower]

I don't see a problem with overemphasizing the Walsh era. He really injected some life back into the band and made them what they are now.... They appealed to a much wider audience with classic rock n' roll than they did as smooth Cali country-rockers. Make no mistake about it, Hotel California turned a pretty successful country band into a rock n' roll supergroup right up there with the likes of Rolling Stones, Beatles, etc. Without him, I honestly doubt they would have ever reached the success that they did with him. And it's not that Bernie was bad, just that rock n' roll and a harder edge appealed to a broader audience and Bernie wasn't into that, so he left. The early days will always be a part of the band's history but they really became big with the success of the Hotel California record and single.

Once again I feel I must point out that the song Hotel California was the 2ND #1 single from the album. The first was New Kid In Town. Prior to this they had had a number one album with One Of These Nights and before that a number one single with Best Of My Love. They were already a supergroup, in my view. They were 'made what they are now' not only by the addition of Walsh but by the superb songs written by the songwriting team of Henley & Frey. All band members were responsible for this, not just one.

In any case it's ironic that this much vaunted 'harder edge' and 'life' supposedly inntroduced by Walsh barely appears on two tracks from this album, Wasted Time & The Last Resort, which are slow ballads dominated by piano & strings. His own song is a ballad & he doesn't exactly feature prominently in Try & Love Again. He plays keyboards on New Kid In Town. Where he did spice them up & make them a different band was in their live show, to the point where to this day, many reviewers seem to think he is the only band member worth discussing.

[WalshFan88]

Once again I feel I must point out that the song Hotel California was the 2ND #1 single from the album. The first was New Kid In Town. Prior to this they had had a number one album with One Of These Nights and before that a number one single with Best Of My Love. They were already a supergroup, in my view. They were 'made what they are now' not only by the addition of Walsh but by the superb songs written by the songwriting team of Henley & Frey. All band members were responsible for this, not just one.

In any case it's ironic that this much vaunted 'harder edge' and 'life' supposedly inntroduced by Walsh barely appears on two tracks from this album, Wasted Time & The Last Resort, which are slow ballads dominated by piano & strings. His own song is a ballad & he doesn't exactly feature prominently in Try & Love Again. He plays keyboards on New Kid In Town. Where he did spice them up & make them a different band was in their live show, to the point where to this day, many reviewers seem to think he is the only band member worth discussing.

Don't forget about LITFL. If it weren't for Joe - that song wouldn't exist.

[Freypower]

Don't forget about LITFL. If it weren't for Joe - that song wouldn't exist.

I didn't forget about LITFL; it goes without saying. However the point of my post was that Joe is not nearly as dominant on the HC album as some would have us believe.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

This is getting pretty off topic for this thread, but, I've always maintained that the Eagles' enduring success is because of the contributions of all of the band members. In addition, I believe part of the reason that they became the legendary band that they are is because of their ability to perform just about any genre of music at a very high level. I agree that they were well on their way to superstardom after the release of the One of These Nights album. As we are so often reminded, the best-selling record of all time in the U.S., Their Greatest Hits (1971 -1975), predates Hotel California.

[chaim]

I won't comment on Joe's importance to the band, but when people speak of "harder edge" I assume that they are talking about live performances (??), as Hotel California is IMO the "slickest" album they ever made. When I want hard edge, Hotel California is not the album I go for. I don't consider Life In The Fast Lane, or Victim Of Love, "hard". The former is very disciplined and sophisticated rock to my ears and the chorus in the latter is pure pop.

I have always wondered about this "edge"/"hard"/"rock" thing when it come to the Eagles. It's obvious that their guitar department was much better later on when it comes to rock music, but IMO if I take their records and put Out Of Control (original lineup) and Good Day In Hell (original lineup plus "Fingers" on slide), they are harder and "edgier" than those HC tracks I mentioned. In Out Of Control the band is really rocking IMO and the rhythm guitars (at least Glenn's) sound dirty.

Something like Earlybird has much more edge IMO than anything on HC. So, once again, I assume that people are talking more about live performances when they say that the Eagles gained "harder rock edge" (or whatever the term is ). Am I right?

[thelastresort]

I would also argue that the Eagles on-stage performance in the early years were more hard and unleashed that during HC. Henley used to be a lot, lot harder on the drums back then and it was a lot more unorganised than it became later on. The Netherland '73 Outlaw Man and BBC '73 Out of Control were a lot edgier than some of their more later shows. With all due respect to Frey and co., they certainly 'loitered' more as the decade progressed.

[WalshFan88]

I won't comment on Joe's importance to the band, but when people speak of "harder edge" I assume that they are talking about live performances (??), as Hotel California is IMO the "slickest" album they ever made. When I want hard edge, Hotel California is not the album I go for. I don't consider Life In The Fast Lane, or Victim Of Love, "hard". The former is very disciplined and sophisticated rock to my ears and the chorus in the latter is pure pop.

I have always wondered about this "edge"/"hard"/"rock" thing when it come to the Eagles. It's obvious that their guitar department was much better later on when it comes to rock music, but IMO if I take their records and put Out Of Control (original lineup) and Good Day In Hell (original lineup plus "Fingers" on slide), they are harder and "edgier" than those HC tracks I mentioned. In Out Of Control the band is really rocking IMO and the rhythm guitars (at least Glenn's) sound dirty.

Something like Earlybird has much more edge IMO than anything on HC. So, once again, I assume that people are talking more about live performances when they say that the Eagles gained "harder rock edge" (or whatever the term is ). Am I right?

I disagree. VOL and LITFL have a very hard edge I think and while OOC and GDIH are more rocking than the first two records (and IMO AG outrocks them both), Joe's rock edge is obvious on HC and LITFL and VOL (slide) are great examples.

He certainly did that for their live shows. Now as far as slick albums, OOTN takes the cake for me.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I won't comment on Joe's importance to the band, but when people speak of "harder edge" I assume that they are talking about live performances (??), as Hotel California is IMO the "slickest" album they ever made. When I want hard edge, Hotel California is not the album I go for. I don't consider Life In The Fast Lane, or Victim Of Love, "hard". The former is very disciplined and sophisticated rock to my ears and the chorus in the latter is pure pop.

I have always wondered about this "edge"/"hard"/"rock" thing when it come to the Eagles. It's obvious that their guitar department was much better later on when it comes to rock music, but IMO if I take their records and put Out Of Control (original lineup) and Good Day In Hell (original lineup plus "Fingers" on slide), they are harder and "edgier" than those HC tracks I mentioned. In Out Of Control the band is really rocking IMO and the rhythm guitars (at least Glenn's) sound dirty.

Something like Earlybird has much more edge IMO than anything on HC. So, once again, I assume that people are talking more about live performances when they say that the Eagles gained "harder rock edge" (or whatever the term is ). Am I right?

I think what people mean is that for whatever reason, with the album HC, the Eagles were thought of more as rock than country-rock. LITFL I'm sure was a primary reason for that, along with HC being so popular across the various charts. While a large portion of the song borders on 'ballad', it's definitely a rock ballad vs. a song like Lyin' Eyes, and of course the duelin' guitars kick it up a few notches and take it out of 'ballad' status, IMO.

I admire the lyrics to HC (and of course the guitars), and can appreciate the talent it took to write that song. It is a masterpiece. It just doesn't do anything for me unless I'm sitting in front of Joe and watching him smoke the guitar at the end. I've never been on a dark, desert highway, and to be honest, I've never wanted to be. So much of songwriting, as Glenn has said, is about triggering the imagination of the ones listening. This song does that. Maybe I just don't like where my imagination goes for this one.

[UndertheWire]

I wish I could love HC more but it doesn't do it for me and it's one of the few that I usually skip. Before last summer, I'd never listened to "The Long Run" album, so that was an interesting experience. There are a couple of songs I didn't care for in the beginning which have now grown on me - "Those Shoes" (after hearing it live) and "King of Hollywood" because I love the guitars whoever is playing.

Even if the thread has gone a bit off topic, I've enjoyed reading all the comments. One thing I've realised is how different the music culture was in the US than the UK during the seventies. Given a common language, the amount of american music played in the UK and the british bands who made it big in the US, I'd assumed it was a lot closer. Here's a thought: HC was the Eagles' only top 10 single in the UK, reaching #8. That same year, the Sex Pistols had three top 10 singles.

I give Geffen a lot of the credit for the Eagles becoming superstars - if he hadn't pushed out the Greatest Hits when he did, they might have lost the momentum they'd gained with OOTN and HC wouldn't have been as huge.