Disco de Eagles: “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 cliché 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 recent "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.

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HOTEL CALIFORNIA (1976) not only is notable as the Eagles' most mature and consistent album, but also for the vocal tour-de-force turned in by drummer Don Henley. With this effort the group ceased to be a machine for grinding out compilations of would-be singles, as their previous albums had been (with the notable exception of their cowboy-flavored second LP, 1973's DESPERADO), and became the purveyors of some of the most accessible and timeless rock (and ballads) of their era. "Wasted Time", "The Last Resort" (both essentially solo performances), and the title cut afforded Henley the opportunity to step into the spotlight as never before, and he didn't fumble his chance. Until this album he and Glen Frey had basically split lead vocal chores, but 22 years later it is Henley who is the one most often remembered as the band's lead singer, and with good reason. His singing on the above tracks as well as "Victim of Love" and "Life In The Fast Lane", while versatile, is also powerfully focused. No question, HOTEL CALIFORNIA served notice that Don Henley would soon be a force to be reckoned with as a solo artist. Far from being anyone's individual vehicle, though, this was a band with excellent musicians in it, as well - and never shown to better advantage than on HOTEL CALIFORNIA. Don Felder and Joe Walsh's dueling yet complementary guitars on "Try And Love Again" can still bring a tear to one's eye, and Walsh's plaintive, stately piano on "Pretty Maids All In A Row" adds just the right punctuation mark to his signature caterwauling (in contrast to the band's haunting, seemless harmonies behind him). And Frey shouldn't be overlooked, either - his (and the group's) perfect-to-the-note rendition of "New Kid In Town" manages to wring out just the right portions of irony and wry humor. Sadly, HOTEL CALIFORNIA was to be the Eagles' next-to-last album, and what's that about all good things coming to an end? It is, after all, fortunate that Don Henley went on to a long and productive solo career. It's also a good thing Hell froze over.

Get off the fence and snatch this one up !!! This is the 2001 5.1 mix as originally issued in dvd-a format and it is stunning. Immerse yourself in this classic like you have never heard it before on sacd. The clarity, separation and lush sound will impress even the most skeptic of just how much we are missing without multi-channel mixes. I would buy this one simply for the 5.1 mix of "Try and Love Again", now my favorite track on this timeless album.

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.