FEATURE:
Vinyl Corner
Eagles – Hotel California
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IN future editions…
PHOTO CREDIT: RB/Redferns/Getty Images
of this feature, I will include more albums made by women – as I am aware that many of them in Vinyl Corner are from men. I wanted to cover the Eagles’ Hotel California as, to me, it is one of the strongest albums ever. I suggest people buy the album on vinyl, as it is a tremendous record and one that is absolutely jammed with classics! How many albums have an opening trio of songs as strong as Hotel California, New Kid in Town and Life in the Fast Lane?! I think this might be up there with the very best opening three songs ever! The album’s title track is one of the greatest songs ever, and it is this incredible piece that has various movements and stages; one of the best choruses you can imagine, and an amazing band performance. It is a perfect way to open a phenomenal album, and it sets the bar very high! Life in the Fast Lane ends that open set with a kick and has a slightly different pace to the other two tracks. Wasted Time completes the first half and, even after four songs, it feels like you have been listening to a greatest hits collection! I think Hotel California is top-heavy if anything, as its three best songs are done with by the end of the first side. That said, Victim of Love and The Last Resort are awesome tracks, and there isn’t really a weak song on Hotel California. The fifth album from the U.S. band, Hotel California was recorded between March and October of 1976.
There is debate as to which Eagles album is the very best, but I think it would be between Hotel California and One of These Nights – released in 1975, it is the album that preceded Hotel California. I think the fact guitarist Joe Walsh replaced Bernie Leadon offered the band new direction and possibilities. One does notice new sounds and varieties that were not present on the band’s first few albums. Hotel California topped the Billboard chart, and it was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys – it lost out to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (showing what stiff competition there was that year!). Interestingly, Hotel California was not recorded in Los Angeles, as the band favoured, but Miami. Producer Bill Szymczyk was fearful of earthquakes in L.A., so they recorded largely in Miami – although there was also some recording in Los Angeles. I am not sure the Eagles had a stronger line-up than Don Felder – guitars, backing vocals; Glenn Frey – guitars, backing vocals, keyboards, lead vocals; Don Henley – drums, percussion, lead vocals, backing vocals, synthesizer; Randy Meisner – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals, guitarrón, and Joe Walsh – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals. With the songwriting powerful of Don Henley and Glenn Frey (who died in 2016) leading the songs, it is no wonder Hotel California is such a popular and enduring album. I think the band possibly hit their peak on the album, and you can hear that they are giving their everything to each song.
The reviews for Hotel California are largely positive. When AllMusic assessed the album, this is what they had to say:
“The Eagles took 18 months between their fourth and fifth albums, reportedly spending eight months in the studio recording Hotel California. The album was also their first to be made without Bernie Leadon, who had given the band much of its country flavor, and with rock guitarist Joe Walsh. As a result, the album marks a major leap for the Eagles from their earlier work, as well as a stylistic shift toward mainstream rock. An even more important aspect, however, is the emergence of Don Henley as the band's dominant voice, both as a singer and a lyricist. On the six songs to which he contributes, Henley sketches a thematic statement that begins by using California as a metaphor for a dark, surreal world of dissipation; comments on the ephemeral nature of success and the attraction of excess; branches out into romantic disappointment; and finally sketches a broad, pessimistic history of America that borders on nihilism. Of course, the lyrics kick in some time after one has appreciated the album's music, which marks a peak in the Eagles' playing. Early on, the group couldn't rock convincingly, but the rhythm section of Henley and Meisner has finally solidified, and the electric guitar work of Don Felder and Joe Walsh has arena-rock heft.
In the early part of their career, the Eagles never seemed to get a sound big enough for their ambitions; after changes in producer and personnel, as well as a noticeable growth in creativity, Hotel California unveiled what seemed almost like a whole new band. It was a band that could be bombastic, but also one that made music worthy of the later tag of "classic rock," music appropriate for the arenas and stadiums the band was playing. The result was the Eagles' biggest-selling regular album release, and one of the most successful rock albums ever”.
The current line-up of the Eagles recently thrilled Madison Square Garden with a Hotel California show, and I am learning new stuff about the album. I think everyone should check out Hotel California, as it is one of the best albums of the 1970s, and a good place to start if you are new to the Eagles. If you are in need of some vinyl recommendation and want to listen to a classic album, then I can definitely steer you in the direction of…
A damn fine record.