Eagles Album: “On the Border”

Besides Hotel California, this is the Eagles best album. This is an album rich in both rock and country. From the hard rocking On the Border and James Dean, to the countryish sounds of the Bernie Leadon sung My Man and Ol' 55, this is one terrific album. Only Good Day in Hell is a throwaway. Another standout song is the Randy Meisner sung Is it True.

This album was made during the Leadon-Meisner years of the band. Frey, Henley, and Walsh get all the notoriety in the Eagles, but Meisner was the nerve center of the band with his bass and quality vocals, both as a lead and as a harmonizer (listen to his harmonies on Ol' 55). The Eagles are a better band with Meisner as opposed to Tim Schmitt, as On the Border will proves.

Have you ever locked onto a band during their first album, only to be let down by the second and later discs? I remember the early evolution of the Eagles oh so clearly. The first LP caught my ear and the concept of the second moved the band to a new dimension. But this, the third album, was the big buzz for me. Sure, one album later the band was selling much bigger, but this disc was it - the crystalline moment, for the Eagles. Radio jumped on Best of My Love and James Dean while I was in the groove on Already Gone, Midnite Flyer, Good Day In Hell and Ol' 55. The addition of Don Felder catalyzed the band towards a more hard edged, harder rock sound. The Eagles never made it to the land of hard rock, but it sure looked like this album was going to take them there. Next time your boss or your woman or man pisses you off, crank up the volume and play Already Gone. It's pure auralgasmic bliss and reality be damned!

Alot of music fans out there (not heavily immersed in the full catalogue of The Eagles) immediately declare "Hotel California" as the best album done by the band .... perhaps there is some truth to that; after all, I name that particular 1976 classic as my favorite album of all-time! However .... "On The Border" has a deep place within my heart as well, but for a different reason. "Hotel California" is likeable for it's brilliant versatility .... going back and forth between soft and heavy tracks, being sung by other band members (but mainly Don Henley dominates). With "On The Border", there is that same diversity evident .... but further developed, in a realm reflecting the origins/influences of this band. Plus, each band member sings a song and has a chance to shine well .... making the listener wonder who is the best when up to the microphone .... much like the Byrds and the Beatles, The Eagles are a group that can not be narrowed done to one specific 'Frontman.'

From the aggressive beginning with 'Already Gone' to the melancholy reflection of 'The Best Of My Love', "On The Border" delivers a great jam one after another. I like that an R&B reference (with the awesome title track that features fun-filled "face-offs" between all band members) and Bluegrass moment (with the fast-paced 'Midnight Flyer' delivered nicely by the high-ranged Randy Meisner). While alot of the album's theme was heavy rock (more so than the previous release, "Desperado"), there is a definite soft-rock, mellow feel .... one in which will put you in a relaxed mood and state of mind. If your a fan of any individual band members, or rather the band itself, I would highly recommend adding this album to the collection (if you don't already know about its worth and have it sitting there already).

In March of 1974, The Eagles released their third album On the Border.

From the opening rocker Already Gone, you could tell that the band had become a rock band. Not a country rock band but a plain good ol' rock and roll band.

The addition of third guitarist Don Felder in late 1973 gave the band a bigger, more raw, more urgent sound, particularly on the hardest rock tracks, the opening "Already Gone" which had great Felder solos and was the world's real intro to Felder, the rocking "Good Day In Hell" which had killer slide work from Felder (in fact, this very track was the first song Felder recorded with The Eagles) and "James Dean".

Like its predecessor Desperado, On The Border sounds like songs from different albums but the Eagles manages to pull it off.

Unlike its predecessors, the album was mainly produced by Bill Szymczyk (whom worked with The James Gang and J. Geils Band among others) taking over for Glyn Johns whom the band canned after recording the ballads "You Never Cry Like a Lover" and the closing "Best of My Love".

The album may have gone more rocking but there were a few more country numbers like the modern bluegrass sounds of 'Midnight Flyer" and the traditional country rock ballad "My Man" (Bernie's ode to Gram Parsons and his best song for the band) on the same album as the hard rock of the opening Already Gone, the funky title cut and the power chords of James Dean and Good Day in Hell.

This album gave the Eagles their first Gold album the year of release and the band's first #1 single Best Of My Love, a country-tinged ballad. A little bit ironic considering how much Glenn Frey and Don Henley wanted the Eagles to be a rock band rather than a country band, but it is really a beautiful song with a great lead vocal by Henley and pedal steel work by Leadon.

The two rock singles which are now staples of classic rock radio James Dean and Already Gone didn't fare nearly as well, the latter made it to #32, but the former stalled at #77. They're great songs, though, as is the Eagles' cover of then Asylum labelmate Tom Waits' "Ol' 55" which they made their own and because of this album's sales gave Tom Waits a little extra royalty money and the heavy Good Day In Hell. "Is It True" is a much more conventional, very pleasant mid-tempo love rocker with some fine slide guitar from guitarist/keyboard player Glenn Frey but the band wanted a good slide player for this album, and they found that in Don Felder who rocks on Good Day In Hell. Glenn and drummer Don Henley had taken firm control of the band on this album. Frey does two solo lead vocals, Henley three and shares center stage on Ol' 55 and Good Day In Hell. Faithful down-to-Earth bass player Randy Meisner sings on Midnight Flyer and on his own solo composition, the lovely Is It True and guitarist Bernie Leadon does a solid job on My Man, which is dedicated to the late Gram Parsons (Bernie's bandmate in The Flying Burrito Brothers).

I first got this album on cassette two days after my ninth birthday and is still a classic today, especially with the remastering on this album.

Highly recommended!

Having peaked creatively on their second album, there is only one place to go, and that is down. But that is not to say that the Eagles didn't create good music from here on. While it's not quite as inspired as its predecessor, "On the Border" is a worthy follow-up to "Desperado".

Unfortunately "On the Border" it chronologically sandwiched between their best artistic statement in "Desparado" and their commercial "breakthrough" album "One Of These Nights". Consequently,"On the Border" tends to get overshadowed by the artistic success of its predecessor and the commercial success of its successor. And that's even considering that the album garnered their first number one hit.

The big hit here is the acoustic and steel guitar ballad `The Best Of My Love' whose beautifully mixed harmonies dominated the radio airwaves early in 1975. It also includes the great kiss-off rocker `Already Gone' and their homage to the late great fifties rebel in another rocker `James Dean' (which bubbled under the top 40 as a single late in 1974).

Another standout track is their cover of Tom Wait's `Ole `55'. While Tom Waits' tends to write songs with the less than accessible lyrics and not the most engaging melodies, the Eagles worked this one into their repertoire as if they wrote it.

One other track of note is the title track in the George Orwellian paranoia `On the Border.' It's funky rocker bolstered to the edge by Don Felder's guitar. And they truly were `on the border'... to commercial greatness.