Review #118: Hotel California, The Eagles
#118: Hotel California, The Eagles
Some people say they hate the Eagles but what they REALLY mean is, “I love the movie The Big Lebowski.”
Glenn Frey was VERY angry about the Dude saying “I hate the f***ing Eagles, man!” in The Big Lebowski. I don’t hate the Eagles at all, but I do think it’s funny to imagine Jeff Bridges hiding from Glenn Frey’s wrath at parties.
Don Felder, the Eagles’ lead guitarist who wrote “Hotel California,” wrote an autobiography titled Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974–2001).
The big takeaway from the book is that the Eagles absolutely hated each other. Bernie Leadon (who left the band and was replaced by Joe Walsh right before Hotel California was released) once poured a beer on Glenn Frey’s head. Also in 2000, Don Henley and Glenn Frey started taking a greater percentage of earnings, which justifiably pissed off their lead guitarist.
But who cares, all the best bands hated each other.
FAVORITE SONGS:
“Hotel California” — I know this song is not universally loved, but it’s a perfect song. Love when they did it in AHS: Hotel.
“Life in the Fast Lane” — I used to listen to classic rock radio all the time, and this song came on every single day. I love the line He was brutally handsome/ She was terminally pretty.
“Victim of Love” — Don Felder actually sang the lead vocals on this song, but the rest of the Eagles decided that he sounded so bad that they secretly replaced him while their manager went out to dinner. Jeez, no wonder these guys hated each other.
“Try and Love Again” — This one is on the slower side, but I still thought it was pretty.
LEAST FAVORITE SONGS:
“New Kid In Town” — *Extremely* easy listening. I started to notice that this album followed a pattern: I would hear one awesome rock song that I loved, then I would hear one desperately slow song that was just torture to listen to. This one was torture for me.
“Wasted Time” — Oh God, whoever is singing is killing me.
“Wasted Time — Strings” — Oh God, I have to listen to it as an instrumental, too?!
“The Last Resort” — How could this song exist on the same album as “Life in the Fast Lane”?
IS RS FULL OF IT?
Okay, I definitely do not f***ing hate the Eagles, but I do hate half of these songs. Still, I like all the good ones so much that I’ll let it slide. Besides, I think intra-band turmoil makes everything a little better.
