Underrated Eagles Song Survivor

[BBKron]

Hi All,

It has been many months since I last dropped by the Border (Hey, just been busy with other stuff). Just on a whim I came by today, and saw that you are having this Underrated song Survivor game. Now that is something that is right up my alley, since most of my favorite Eagles songs are definitely in the underrated category. So, I would like to chime in here. Overall, I think you have a very good field of choices here for underrated songs. Of course, there are a few others I would have liked to see included, such as Train Leaves Here This Morning, Certain Kind of Fool, and Twenty-One. And I guess I wouldn't get any support at all for suggesting that Journey of the Sorcerer may well be THE most underrated of all Eagles songs, because it is so readily dismissed as even being an Eagles song, but is a classic nonetheless.

Anyway, as for the songs in the game, I have to agree with those that have said that The Last Resort is not really underrated at all. It is a great song and one of my favorites, but certainly not underrated or under-appreciated. It is one of the prominent cornerstone songs of the Eagles most famous and successful album, certainly one of the 'pillar' songs that has made that album so iconic and celebrated. Because of the subject matter and great lyrical content, it is considered one of their most serious, 'important', and powerful message songs. A great song, but I don't see this as being underrated at all. In fact, it is one of their most celebrated, as far as their 'non-hit' album songs go.

So my vote has to go for The Last Resort.

[NightMistBlue]

If I was to go by the general public in the UK, all Eagles songs would be underrated, even Hotel California...

Oh, I thought the Eagles have long been popular in the UK, is that not the case?

[UndertheWire]

Oh, I thought the Eagles have long been popular in the UK, is that not the case?

They were never really a singles band in the UK (only 2 singles made it to the top twenty, according to wikipedia) which means they don't get played much on the radio these days.

[Glennsallnighter]

I think the fact that 'Train' was included in the set list on the HOTE tour would elevate its position out of the 'underrated' category!

I think most days I would hear at least one Eagles song on the radio over here. Then again I tend to listen to the 'easy Listening' stations. I also hear some of Don H and Glenn 's solo songs occasionally.

This round I think I will vote off 'The Last Resort' again, as I think the other songs on the list would tend to be even more 'underrated'

[Funk 50]

Oh, I thought the Eagles have long been popular in the UK, is that not the case?

During the 70s and 80s, despite having only two top twenty hits (NKIT & HC), the Eagles were one of the most played bands on UK Radio. Probably more than the 60s bands, The Beatles, The Stones and The Who, definitely more than Led Zep. Mostly tracks from the 1972-75 Greatest Hits album.

When the charts and Top Of The Pops disintegrated, the classic rock bands got played a lot more and the Eagles fell from prominence. They are obviously still loved by listeners who heard them in the 70s but they don't get much airplay now.

The UK's leading media organisation, the BBC, list their top 100 artists each week, based on the number of plays on their various stations.

The Eagles may make the lower reaches, if a member of the band is in the UK on a promo visit but even when the band itself is in the country, they rarely make the top 100 artists list.

BBC - Music - Artists
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists

Radio plays don't count for much these days but the Eagles don't show up much on other media outlets either.


As to which Eagles songs are under or overrated, I haven't a clue.

I can only say, judging by the set list of the HOTE tour, the band underrate their Long Road Out Of Eden album. One of the tracks won a Grammy!

[Funk 50]

I think the fact that 'Train' was included in the set list on the HOTE tour would elevate its position out of the 'underrated' category!

I considered labeling "Train" overrated by the band but I can't see what else they could put so early in the set, featuring Bernie. It's way down the list of my favourite Leadon tracks.

[Jonny Come Lately]

During the 70s and 80s, despite having only two top twenty hits (NKIT & HC), the Eagles were one of the most played bands on UK Radio. Probably more than the 60s bands, The Beatles, The Stones and The Who, definitely more than Led Zep. Mostly tracks from the 1972-75 Greatest Hits album.

When the charts and Top Of The Pops disintegrated, the classic rock bands got played a lot more and the Eagles fell from prominence. They are obviously still loved by listeners who heard them in the 70s but they don't get much airplay now.

The UK's leading media organisation, the BBC, list their top 100 artists each week, based on the number of plays on their various stations.

The Eagles may make the lower reaches, if a member of the band is in the UK on a promo visit but even when the band itself is in the country, they rarely make the top 100 artists list.

BBC - Music - Artists
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists

Radio plays don't count for much these days but the Eagles don't show up much on other media outlets either.

The only two Eagles songs I have ever heard on UK radio are Lyin' Eyes and LIFTL. Not saying that these are the only ones played but really I think these are the only two Eagles songs which come close to HC as the only Eagles songs which the vast majority of people over here recognise. By contrast, Fleetwood Mac continue to receive a lot of attention, with the Rumours album possessing four songs which everyone seems to know (Dreams, Don't Stop, Go Your Own Way, The Chain) with Rhiannon and the Tango In The Night singles also continuing to receive quite a bit of airplay in my experience. Additionally, Rumours also figures high up the list of best selling albums in the UK, with no Eagles albums to be seen.

I read on another forum that the Eagles did not gain widespread recognition in the UK until the release of The Best Of My Love as a single in early 1975, with the One Of These Nights album and its singles cementing their popularity. I mentioned this to my dad and said that in the 1970s most people tended to own the OOTN and HC albums but not the earlier ones (I can imagine Their Greatest Hits 1971-75 would have been quite popular too). I'm not too sure about the popularity of The Long Run apart from the fact that it wasn't as popular as Hotel.

Also worth mentioning is the lack of classic rock radio in the UK - as was stated in the HOTE documentary, this format helped ensure that the Eagles continued to be played on radio after the split. I think this partly explains why their songs are much less widely played now than in the 1970s. Pink Floyd have also suffered from this, with even songs like Comfortably Numb receiving a lot less airplay than in the US, as unbelievable as this may sound. Also, country music, being clearly an American movement, isn't as big over here which doesn't help the country rock songs, although the popularity of Lyin' Eyes doesn't support this (frankly in the UK I'm not sure how many people would recognise any country rock acts other than the Eagles or the Byrds, as far as I'm aware the likes of Poco never made it big on these shores).

As for the members' solo careers, I think the only three songs which have any real widespread recognition are Don's Boys Of Summer, and Joe's Life's Been Good and Rocky Mountain Way. Overall, then I have to say I think the band is significantly underrated in the UK, especially in its early country rock days. In some ways this isn't bad although I can certainly think of bands which get more attention who can't hold a candle to them.

I'll submit my vote for this round soon, just wanted to post my thoughts on this first.

[sodascouts]

Very interesting! After watching a couple British documentaries, I had the impression Desperado was popular there. It sounds like it's more of a critic's darling than popular amongst the people now, though.

As for my vote, what I like and others don't, I consider underrated. The reverse is also true. Simple as that.

Thus, I cast my vote for Long Road out of Eden again.

[BBKron]

I think the fact that 'Train' was included in the set list on the HOTE tour would elevate its position out of the 'underrated' category!

That is not at all true. It is a very underrated song. It's inclusion in the HOTE shows represents it's historical significance to the band, but it is almost never included in discussions of the band's best songs (although it is one), even from the early days. My guess is that it was Bernie that wanted to include it in HOTE, as it is a very important song to him and his career (co-written with Gene Clark before Bernie came to the Eagles), and they needed an early song featuring Bernie. Also, Train probably represents and exemplifies the early style and sound of the Eagles better than any song other than TIE (and they would not consider TIE for that early in the show), so it needed to be there. 'Train' is probably the first Eagles song I heard that really made me fall in love with their music, back before they had any hits at all. But it most certainly is underrated as an Eagles song.

Regardless, it is not included in this Survivor game, so it really doesn't matter. But being someone who has had to stand up for this classic song amid so many others who dismiss it or 'just don't care for it much', I know that it most certainly is underrated.

[Jonny Come Lately]

I missed the first round although fortunately I think I'd probably have voted for MOUAS as well (though I do like it quite a lot) so my vote wouldn't have made much difference.

On one hand, I think there is a lot of logic in BBKron's comments on The Last Resort, which I agree is often mentioned as one of the Eagles' most iconic non-singles. However to me it is more than just an excellent album track, it is one of their very best songs overall, and an absolutely outstanding piece with some of Henley's finest lyrics. It gets me every time and I absolutely love it.

I am not saying that The Last Resort should win this game but I don't think I'm ready for it to go just yet. Therefore, I shall turn to James Dean - I think thelastresort has a good point about it remaining a regular in their live set for several years (something The Last Resort cannot claim, I might add) but also, as much as I love the song and in particular its guitars, I think it is not quite as strong as Good Day In Hell, another rocker from the same album which while reasonably popular on here in my experience, has been all but forgotten in the wider world and someone failed to make the cut for either the Selected Works or The Very Best of the Eagles compilations. This is unfortunate as it is a terrific song notably featuring a great Frey/Henley co-lead vocal and Felder's scorching slide guitar playing - which got him a permanent place in the band, and thus that song has a significant if sometimes overlooked place in Eagles history.

Therefore, with a slightly heavy heart, I vote to eliminate James Dean.