Disco de Eagles: “One of These Nights”

The Eagles' fourth album One Of These Nights was released in June of 1975.

Like its predecessor, was produced by Bill Szymczyk and has the same band lineup as the previous album.

The opening title track, which was a #1 hit for the band, is a rock song with a funk/soul feel which was described as disco-like but it's not a disco number and featured a dynamic vocal from Don Henley whom sang normal in the first two verses and at the end goes into Barry Gibb mode with the falsetto at the end of the track. Next is bass player Randy Meisner's "Too Many Hands", written by himself along with guitarist Don Felder (a bit of an odd couple, but it's a superb mid-tempo rocker with killer guitar solos from Felder and guitarist/keyboardist Glenn Frey). The countryish "Hollywood Waltz", which was the only song written by Frey, Henley and guitarist Bernie Leadon and was, bless them, a real waltz. Don's vocal was great and has more superb falsetto work from Henley at the end of the track and the song was the first Eagles track to have a synthesizer. The first half ends with Bernie's first of two contributions, the wild but stately 7-minute instrumental "Journey Of The Sorcerer" which was a superb piece of music.

The second half of the album starts with the second single "Lyin' Eyes", which was one of Glenn's best songs and one of few 6 minute tracks to top the charts and is a great country-rocker. Next was "Take It To The Limit", a grand and melodious stop-and-go ballad, sung by Meisner whom gave his best vocal performance on this track. The album's hardest rock song "Visions" had guitarist Felder's sole lead vocal which was co-written with Henley. Next, was "After the Thrill is Gone" which was sung by Frey and Henley and was a superb ballad about breaking up. The album closes with Leadon's second of two contributions, the ballad "I Wish You Peace", which ironically was his last song with the band as he would leave in late 1975.

This album was the band's first #1 album here in the States.

I first got this classic on cassette when I was nine and have the remastered CD and this remastered CD buries the original album!

Highly recommended!

Having listened extensively to every Eagles album, I think that One of These Nights is the deepest, as in the number of quality songs for one album. There are very contrasting styles, such as an R&B feel to "One of These Nights", and a more country feel to "Lyin' Eyes". Still, the Eagles show on this album as good as any other that they are one of the best harmonizing groups ever. Most of the songs of this album demostrate that they can bring all the vocal talents together in a blend that is good enough to showcase what they have, but not too over-the-top as to drown out each other or over-reach the material. On "Take It to the Limit", Randy Meisner shows that he can not only sing lead, but sound great doing it. On many reviews I have read, not much attention is paid to the song "Visions". In my opinion it was one of the best Eagles songs ever recorded, because it is a very unique sound for the group at this time, and they pull it off greatly. "Too Many Hands" has Native American undertones, and "After the Thrill is Gone" is an excellent ballad, sung alternately by Henley and Frey. The main thing that makes this album great is the fact that the Eagles focused on newer material and mastered it, as is evident with the contrasting songs on this album, and the outstanding job the band did on the majority of them.

The same year (1975) that their former benefactor and longtime supporter Linda Ronstadt made her big splash, so too did the Eagles with ONE OF THESE NIGHTS. All three of their previous albums were well crafted but not overwhelmingly successful, commercially speaking. This changed everything.

The title track, like "Witchy Woman" from the debut album, has a somewhat sinister and macabre feeling to it. Bernie Leadon's own intergalactic bluegrass number "Journey Of The Sorcerer" is an underrated piece. So too is Glenn Frey's classic "Lyin' Eyes" (which Linda herself should record). The album is topped off by Randy Meisner's "Take It To The Limit" and Leadon's "I Wish You Peace." Leadon was to leave the Eagles shortly thereafter; he would have very little contact with them again until they were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

It's no secret why ONE OF THESE NIGHTS went to #1 on the charts. It was one of the best albums released during a year in which they and Linda were among the only rock barriers against the disco onslaught. Buy it; you won't be sorry that you did.

I have the 1999 remastered version of this CD, which is a large improvement over the 1990 version. Starting with the title track through Lyin' Eyes, the improvements seemed more distinctive than the final four tracks, but all sound very "clean": a wide range of audible frequencies, while still filtering out any hiss and any other limitations of the original, analog master. The ambiance of the recordings are preserved very well, and I can feel as if I am in the studio with the guys, listening to some of the instruments: Don Henley's hi-hat tapping stands out much better on the title track, as do his crash-cymbals that and other tracks; Randy Meisner's bass stands out better, without overwhelming the other instruments. The latter is important, since most low-frequency instruments--if I'm not mistaken--received emphasis of dynamics starting about the time that this album was recorded. There are many other instrumental highlights, but those--as the rhythm section--are imperative to preserve. The guys' vocals stand out well, with good channel separation. The middle-instrumental section of "I wish You Peace" seems to grab me in a certain way on a cold, rainy day during the winter holiday season, when I am alone...not sure why!

As advice, for anyone listening to this album with a large number-frequency equalizer: keep the treble sliders higher than the bass, and the middle-frequency sliders roughly in the middle; fine adjustments may be necessary, depending on each song. A good surround-sound receiver (Pro-Logic®/Dolby®) is recommended. Without further detail, the best of audio equipment (headphones, input output plugs, etc), help make this remaster of OoTN sound excellent!

Since we've all heard bad music we know its difficult to produce good listening tunes with the right arrangement, lyrics, and singers. The Eagles hit their stride with this album which defined their signature sound. They blend rock rhythms with a bit of country style lyrics and beats. The guitars are the heart of many of the songs giving many of the tunes a more country sounding edge. It's easy to listen to one song after another as there are so many great tunes.