Celebration of "Desperado"

[Ive always been a dreamer]

HAPPY 43RD ANNIVERSARY TO DESPERADO!!!

I absolutely adore this album from start to finish. It's second only to Hotel California for me.

And shun, thanks for finding the Under the Cover videos. I need to go back and watch that whole DVD sometime soon - it's very entertaining. Henry and Gary have an impressive list of credits for sure.

[Dawn]

shunlvswx - thanks so much for posting the videos I really enjoyed them!!

[Brooke]

It's my favorite Eagles album! Love it from start to finish!

shun, thanks for the videos too! I will watch those again soon as I can get time!

[NightMistBlue]

Yes, thank you, Shun! I enjoyed the America segment too - gorgeous scenery, and I can't get over how young Gerry Beckley in particular looked.

How about Don H. saying he didn't have very much to do with the first Eagles album? He talks like he was a bystander or something. Yeah, he *only* wrote Witchy Woman, their second big hit and a classic, timeless standard - that's all. What a slacker.

[DJ]

They Made A F---ing Cowboy Album....And it turned out
to be one of the best albums I own!! CONGRATS!!

[Jonny Come Lately]

A few days late but happy 43rd anniversary to this superb album!

Desperado is my second favourite Eagles album, although there are some days when it tops the tree for me (Hotel California remains my favourite on balance, but there's not that much in it). I love the whole thing from start to finish, all of the songs are very strong and I think all of the band members get their chances to shine. The writing is more consistently strong than the debut album, which can partly be attributed to the start of the Henley/Frey songwriting team, but I can't fault Randy or Bernie's contributions here either - Certain Kind of Fool and Bitter Creek are wonderful songs, and Twenty One is great as it's the only truly happy song on the album when the outlaws are at the start of their journey (it was also a neat little reference to Emmett Dalton's age at the time).

Musically, Bernie's versatility on this album is amazing - the debut album already showed how good he was with a Telecaster and a banjo, but here he also shines on dobro and mandolin. Glenn's harmonica on Doolin-Dalton and Randy's bass solo on Outlaw Man are also great moments. I cannot pick one single song on this album as a personal highlight, as the whole Doolin-Dalton and Desperado arc is extremely special to me and I prefer to consider those three songs combined as my favourites. If you put a gun to my head (this is the Desperado thread after all!), I'd nominate the Reprise as it combines the previous two great songs and offers a fantastic lyric in its own right.

One thing I'd love to mention is the transitions between songs on this album, which are extremely clever and well done. I love the moment when the banjo of the Doolin-Dalton instrumental gives way to the intro of Outlaw Man, but to me the song that is most cleverly incorporated into the album is Out Of Control. I love the moment when those power chords rudely interrupt the outro to Twenty-One and then when Glenn screams and the song proper starts. But even better to me is the way that it leads onto Tequila Sunrise - after the powerful extended climax to Out Of Control (which itself works, possibly, as a musical replication of a gunfight), hearing the lone guitar that opens the next song is a fantastic metaphor for waking up the following morning with a terrible hangover, wondering whether the wild night had ever actually happened.

I also have to say that the Doolin-Dalton/Desperado (Reprise) is one of the few times in music when opening with the vocal really does work (there are other songs which do use this effectively, but generally I'm not a great fan if this technique is overused), and it's because the imagery is so powerful and vivid, setting the scene perfectly for the finale.

[shunlvswx]

Happy 44th Birthday to Desperado. This album really has grown on me.

[Brooke]

My favorite! Love it, still!

[Delilah]

Congratulations, Desperado!!

What a great album! I'm so glad it's stood the test of time and is being appreciated more by both critics and the public as a standout work. According to acclaimedmusic.net (a website that "aggregates music critics' lists and ratings of albums and songs"), this album is ranked #1329 out of 3000 albums, the 2nd highest-ranking of the 4 ranked Eagles albums on the list (as of 8/21/2015). After this album, the band made a major transition -- in sound, personnel and producer. Perhaps that's why reviews such as Michael Gallicci's in "Ultimate Classic Rock" say Desperado is the band's "last stand at innocence."

There's not a single song here that I dislike, although I'm a bit burned out on "Desperado" since I heard both the original and Linda Ronstadt's versions so many times in the 70s, then Clint Black's cover in the 90s was in constant radio play.

Here's a video of "Out of Control" with a cool Glenn guitar solo and a great bass groove by Randy. Don gets a good workout on those drums too. I like Bernie's little kick at the end.
[ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GwwQa9fxd-o[/ame]

[East Texas Girl]

Great album, congrats Desperado!!

Thanks for the info and video Delilah! Those Eagle medallions were sure shining here.