Title: Eagles – Hotel California – 40th Anniversary Release Date: 2017 Recorded Date: March – October 1976, Criteria Studios, Miami, FL; Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA Genre: Rock Artist: Don Henley – lead and backing vocals, drums, percussion, synthesizer; Glenn Frey – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals; Randy Meisner – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals, guitarrón; Don Felder – guitars, backing vocals; Joe Walsh – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals
The Eagles’ Hotel California was a critical and commercial phenomenon when it was released in December 1976. The album topped the Billboard charts for eight weeks in the U.S., won two GRAMMY® Awards, sold more than 32 million copies around the world, and featured two Billboard #1 hit singles. 40 years later, it still ranks as one of the best-selling albums of all time.
The set also marks the debut of ten live tracks that were recorded during the band’s three-night stand at the Los Angeles Forum in October 1976. The concert recordings — which were recorded about a month before the album came out — feature one of the first ever live performances of “Hotel California” and “New Kid In Town” along with other Eagles classics including “Already Gone,” “Take It To the Limit,” and “Witchy Woman.”
The Eagles made their triumphant return to the stage this summer at the Classic East/West festivals, earning raves from critics and fans alike. More live dates are planned for this fall, with the band being joined on stage once again by country superstar Vince Gill and Deacon Frey, son of Eagles founder, Glenn Frey.
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. –AllMusic Review by William Ruhlmann
Tracklist:
1 Hotel California 06:31
2 New Kid In Town 05:04
3 Life In The Fast Lane 04:46
4 Wasted Time 04:56
5 Wasted Time (Reprise) 01:23
6 Victim Of Love 04:10
7 Pretty Maids All In A Row 03:59
8 Try And Love Again 05:11
9 The Last Resort 07:24
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