Eagles Album: “Hotel California”

Hotel California was the first Eagles album to feature Joe Walsh. By combining with Don Felder, they created a potent tandem and pushed the band to a harder sound. Like many other residents in the state, the band are not native Californians. Despite that fact, they have become synonymous with Southern California. On this album, they examine all the high and lows of the land of hopes and dreams. The word classic is thrown around a little too often, but the album's title track is one of only a handful of songs that are worthy of the title. From the opening guitar riff, to the cynical and vivid lyrics to the closing guitar coda, the song is a tour de force. Don Henley sings with a snarl in his voice and Mr. Walsh and Mr. Felder trade guitar licks in a can you top this fashion. The song is a masterpiece, became their third number single, won the 1977 Grammy for Record of the Year and one never tires of hearing it. "New Kid In Town" was the album's other number single and Glenn Frey sings with a smooth charm. The song perfectly captures that breezy Southern California sound the Eagles made famous. "Life In The Fast Lane" is the infamous rocker that details the hedonistic lifestyle of the late 70's that the band wholeheartedly embraced. "Wasted Time" is pretty ballad and the orchestral reprise of the song leads into a stinging rocker "Victim Of Love". Joe Walsh's Eagle lead vocal debut is the suprisingly sweet "Pretty Maids All In A Row". Randy Messiness' swan song with the band is the soaring "Try & Love Again". The album's closer, "The Last Resort", almost matches the title cut in power and brilliance. It tells of the pilgrimage from the east coast out to California and that it has to offer. Hotel California was the band's peak and one of the best albums of the 70's.

She'd taped a cool new song off the radio, a friend told me a little less than 25 years ago; she'd play it for me when I'd come to her place after school.

The song was "Hotel California," and my perception of music changed then and there, once and for all. I didn't even really understand the lyrics -- I had barely begun to learn English, and apart from everything else I sure as hell didn't know what "colitas" meant. But understanding all the song's words wasn't necessary. From the first chords played by Felder and Walsh, this song was different from anything I had ever heard before. The layers of electric guitar riffs alternating with and ornamenting Don Henley's vocals, soaring in the chorus and culminating in a moving and evocative duet, touched a spot deep inside me that required no further explanation. Nor, really, did the other songs on this album which I instantaneously knew I had to have. I got the message conveyed in the raw edges of "Life in the Fast Lane," Joe Walsh's riffs throughout the song, the two guitar solos and Don Henley's sneering vocals, as well as I could hear the sense of loss in "Wasted Time," "The Last Resort" and "New Kid in Town."

This is not to say, of course, that the lyrics didn't matter to me once I was able to fully understand them. Rather, that understanding deepened my appreciation for the album; and yet another level of insight was added when I came to California for the first time in 1991. By that time I was an ardent fan, and although the Eagles didn't even exist as a band back then, their music has become an inseparable part of my memory of those months - particularly the album which bears the state's name and is so often called the quintessential California rock album (not only of the 1970s) that this description in itself is bordering on clich' now, true as it may once have been.

Since the release of their 1976 studio album, the Eagles have published several other versions of "Hotel California," and I love them all. (I even -- sometimes -- like the ska version Don Henley and his incredible tour band performed during their 2001 "Inside Job" tour.) But ultimately, it all comes back down for me to the duet of those two electric guitars which forever redefined the way I listen to music.

Also recommended:

DCC deserves tremendous credit. Don Henley had expressed several years ago his dissatisfaction with the sound of the Eagles' catalog. Wisely, the two albums DCC chose to remaster is the Greatest Hits (now the biggest selling album) and this one!

What hits your ears immediately is the bass. The songs have a bottom to them that was lost when issued in the mid 80's. There is also tremendous clarity in the high end as well. The superior sound makes this CD worth the extra cost!

The CD duplicates the orginal album, complete with gatefold sleeve, fold out poster, and inner jacket.

Oh, and let me correct an error in describing an uncollected b-side that would make a contender for an expanded Eagles singles anthology when I reviewed the Eagles Greatest Hits gold disc. I had said that Get You In The Mood (the b-side of Take It Easy) was written by Henley-Frey. In fact, the song was only written by Frey. See, I told you my info on the song was sketchy!

The Eagles were always better at recording singles than whole albums. At least, they were until guitarist Joe Walsh joined the fold for "Hotel California" in 1976. Give Walsh credit. He already had a successful solo career, and didn't need to merge with Henley, Frey and company to enhance his popularity. What Walsh managed to do was improve the band's songwriting and give it a stronger sonic edge. That is readily apparent on the title track, which is the band's best song. Without Walsh's expert picking, the song simply wouldn't be the same.

"Life in the Fast Lane" and "New Kid in Town," were also radio hits, but unlike previous Eagles albums the remaining songs don't sound like mostly filler material. Walsh even gets in a lead vocal on "Pretty Maids All in a Row." Ultimately, "Hotel California" is a true group success, with all five members contributing equally, a major feat given the egos that must have been involved.

Overall, "Hotel California" deservedly ranks as The Eagles' best studio album.

Though often the favored target of rock's more esoteric critics, and prone to many of the ego clashes and chemical excesses of most rock bands, the Eagles nevertheless had a strong discipline when it came to creating records. This was true on every studio album they ever made, but particularly so on their monstrous 1976 smash HOTEL CALIFORNIA.

This time around, the band became more hard-rock oriented, thanks to the departure of lead guitarist Bernie Leadon and the addition of Joe Walsh just prior to beginning work on the album. In many ways, HOTEL CALIFORNIA, like their 1973 classic DESPERADO, is a concept album with various themes consistently running through it, thanks to the combustible nature of Glenn Frey's and Don Henley's songs. Whereas DESPERADO was centered around the Old West, this album is centered around the dark side of urban life in Los Angeles--what one might call SoCal Gothic. The almost supernatural feel of the title track and the highly-charged "Life In The Fast Lane" contrast quite well with Frey's heartbreak classic "New Kid In Town" and Henley's epic closer "The Last Resort." The most poignant moment of the album is almost certainly Henley's own "Wasted Time", inspired in large part by a real-life breakup with girlfriend Loree Rodkin.

Propelled further by the dual guitar work of Walsh and Don Felder, and Randy Meisner's exceptional bass playing and vocals, HOTEL CALIFORNIA proved to be the band's biggest studio album in terms of sales (fifteen million and still climbing), but also a very hard act to follow, which sadly caused the band to disintegrate a short three years later, not to return until 1994, when, as we all know, Hell froze over. Knowing this history, however, does not dampen the impact of either the band or this incredible 1970s chronicle. It is one of rock's essential albums, without dispute.