Hotel California

"I hate the fucking eagles, man."

Where California isn’t a setting, but rather an idea about feeling ugly and dark when everything around you is gorgeous and sunny. As we learned from another 1970’s song, it never rains in (southern) California. But man, it pours. We’re always going to fuck up a wet dream. Dreams of land, cocaine, the warm smell of colitas, relationships, cruising the freeway with a drug dealer named The Count, success. The album's theme is how inevitable it is that we’ll destroy everything that's beautiful. And it's the masterpiece from perhaps the most-hated, most-loved band of the past 50 years. This is the sound of a band clicking on all cylinders. A band that finally realized their strengths (their drummer being their best vocalist and songwriter, having now two rock guitar virtuosos in their lineup) and eliminated their weaknesses (Glenn Frey might have been the band’s “leader”, but his vocal skills were better suited to harmonize with Henley and Meisner). It’s Henley’s voice that dominates the album, but Frey, Joe Walsh, and Randy Meisner each get a lead vocal on standout songs. Don Felder, the lone band member who doesn’t get a lead vocal, makes his presence known on two killer songs in particular that he co-wrote: “Victim of Love”, a song he’ll go to his grave believing he was promised was his to sing lead on; and the title track, which wouldn’t be the classic rock staple it continues to be without his incredible guitar work. The guitar “duel” at the end between Felder and Walsh is so incendiary that the band insisted on keeping it unedited on the single, where it went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Each member’s contribution on that song alone is essential, from Henley’s seething vocals to Meisner’s bassline. Frey especially shines on “New Kid in Town”, the vocal arrangements of which are among my favorites of any song. It’s a pretty song, where the band admits they’re hot shit right now, but they know there’s a slew of rising artists bubbling up on the scene ready to take their place (The Eagles worrying about when all the fun will be over certainly seems like the most Eagles thing ever). Bob Dylan said that Joe Walsh’s “Pretty Maids All in a Row” could be “one of the best songs ever”. I’m not one to judge Dylan’s taste, but I’m all in favor of anything that makes Joe Walsh feel good. But again, the vocal harmonies are nothing short of sensational. When they harmonize like this, I’ll take the Eagles over any band. I’ve always thought of “Try to Love Again” as Meisner’s sequel to “Take It to The Limit”. In my mind, the Eagles aren't the Eagles without Randy Meisner, an exceptional bass player with a high falsetto so breathtaking it eventually became too much for him to perform on a nightly basis (which fits right in with this album's theme now that I think about it). But this is really when Glenn Frey realized it’s best to get out of the way and just let Henley cook. Henley handles the lead vocals on 5 of the albums 9 songs, including the band’s best-known track. Henley's voice is perfect for emphasizing how anything that feels so good comes with a price on “Life in The Fast Lane”, and the album’s closer, “The Last Resort”. And it's on the heart-wrenching, underrated ballad “Wasted Time” where Henley firmly steps out from the drum kit and is allowed to just stand alone and wail. His vocals brim with soul and emotion in his attempt to reach out to a former lover and convince her to accept that it was all worth it, underscored by the quick instrumental reprise that opens Side Two of the album. There’s a reason why Don Henley’s solo career left Glenn Frey’s in the dust. Henley was not only a better songwriter, but a more soulful and interesting vocalist (just listen to Henley’s background vocals on Linda Ronstadt’s cover of “Blue Bayou” for further proof). This is one of my Desert Island Albums. Frankly, any album that an artist can play in its entirety live in front of sold-out crowds is essential. I own this album on practically every format possible, save for 8-Track, because I’m not a monster. The Eagles even got me to buy a remastered 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition, which included a live set from the band at the peak of their powers (listen to that version of the album on your preferred platform). If I could only listen to 10 albums from this list for the rest of my life, this is clearly one of the ten I'd choose.

NOW That's What I Call Dad Rock

Instructive listening for a Warren Zevon fan. I now understand how much of his 70's output was an Eagles piss-take. But that's just another instance of the anti-Eagles sentiment I've been surrounded by forever. From the Dude's antipathy in The Big Lebowski to Zevon's jokes to Elizabeth Nelson's article in The Ringer earlier this year (so good!), the message has been loud and frequent: This Is A Not Good Band. Yet always with the not-at-all-confusing rider: Except They Kind Of Are. Now I've taken the plunge, consider me still confused. I mean, they're exceptional players. Dependably harmonic and pretty much faultless in all things song construction. They rip through solos like a crisp lettuce leaf, even rhyme well every so often. And it all happens within a synthesised country-rock aesthetic so polished you could go blind looking at it. But you might also go dumb listening to it, because even though there's more than a little to enjoy (have you heard the title track, by the way--although what is that accent he's doing?!) the emotional girding is always big dick bathos. Whatever they have to say (mostly gripes about women and some laurel canyon mysticism mixed with LA grit) it's all couched in self-pity--none of it self-reflective or self-critical. Twas ever thus with dudes who love their instruments as extensions of their egos.

Aside from a few half decent songs I’d always discounted the Eagles as boring, middle of the road, country-rock. On the evidence of this album I was probably right to do so. Title track drags the album up to 2 stars.

I hate the fucking people who hate the fucking Eagles, man.

I fucking love the eagles, man.

having to listen to the whole album almost made me quit my 1001 albums project altogether

“Hotel California” by the Eagles (1976) “Hotel California” is a prime teaching example of what can make an “album” great. It delivers excellent performances of inspired songs by gifted artists, with state of the art production. All that is a given. But the temptation with this recording is to deal with it as a mere collection of songs, with ‘hits’ and ‘misses’, and to ignore the conceptual unity that holds it all together (even in the reprise of “Wasted Time” as you turn the LP over from side one to side two). Here’s a record with brilliantly brooding thematic cohesion. It powerfully declaims its main topic: the dark side of the American ‘paradise’—a darkness that nevertheless resolves into redemptive hope by the album’s end (but not without a well deserved prophetic dig at a misguided American version of pop Christianity). This is a sermon in sound. Lyrically, there are multiple levels of meaning in virtually every line. Don't let anyone tell you a given expression means ‘x’ or ‘y’ or ‘z’. It probably means all three and more (the song “Hotel California” is notorious for spawning countless hermeneutical ‘certainties’). These lyricists (primarily Henley, Frey, Walsh, and Meisner) were all intelligent enough to be aware of the referential overtones. Take, for example, the clause “She came from Providence", the opening line in the closing track “The Last Resort”. Songwriters Henley and Frey explicitly tell us in the next line “It’s the one in Rhode Island”, but it’s not just a meaningless reference to a random city. Do they really want us to ignore why Roger Williams (in 1636) named it “Providence“ in the first place? It was a testimony to the fact that God has mercifully provided what is good, true, and beautiful. Now this is a theological datum which, admittedly, got transmogrified in history into pseudo-pious sloganeering like “Manifest Destiny” and “Go west, young man!”. But in what other country could you get rich by calling that out? Despite America’s record of huge injustices and flaws, scores of millions have striven to get here, and still do, with no end in sight. Carly Simon was also right (in “Let the River Run”): “We, the great and small/Stand on a star/And blaze a trail of desire/Through the dark'ning dawn.” Contrast the flip side of this same coin as the Eagles deride the namers of ‘paradise’ who watch “the hazy sun, sinking in the sea.” The Eagles (Check the symbolism of the group’s name) are well aware of this tension, and have put it to good use in the pursuit of their music and their successful careers. And later in “The Last Resort” they ask “Who will provide the grand design?” We know intuitively. Patience and Providence are both rightly attributed to God who loves. The Eagles employ a variety of compositional styles, from the unique flamenco rock of the title track, to their signature country rock (“New Kid in Town”), to jazz rock (“Wasted Time”, beautifully symphonized in the reprise), power riff rock (“Life in the Fast Lane”), stadium rock (“Victim of Love”), with elements of blues rock, folk rock, and protest rock. But it all rocks. And it’s all harnessed in service of expressing the sadness, disappointment, fear, and disillusionment in the main theme. Vocally, this gang would be a choir director’s delight—and also his nightmare. With widely different timbres and projection styles, these five tenors pound their voices into a unified blend that is magical (“Try and Love Again”). Vocal solos consistently demonstrate the fruitful labors of singers who potently evoke within their limitations. Are they better than CSNY? On this album, yes. Listen to “Pretty Maids All in a Row” and tell me how one could put a more perfect choral texture behind the voice of Joe Walsh—Joe Walsh, folks! Instrumentally, the Eagles show stunning virtuosity, from innovative percussion arrangements (Henley) and bass lines (Meisner) to the splendid guitar work by three masters (Felder, Frey, and Walsh). And the guys in the control booth did their part, with skill application of effects. This is a near perfect collaborative product. If you haven’t yet heard this album when it comes time to die, you should apply for an extension. 5/5

I hate the Eagles and everything they stand for. To quote Elizabeth Nelson's excellent article 'The Case Against The Eagles' : "It is tempting to connect the [Eagles'] dual animating impulses of aggrievement and ambition to a boomer generation that would, in 1994, usher in a new era of hard-right American politics." She quotes Rob Sheffield, who calls them "the official band of toxic boomer masculinity." Thus, their loathsome nature extends far beyond the banality of evil that are their records, and becomes a malevolent cultural force creeping into our daily lives. I don't trust anyone who tells me that they love the Eagles. It's not that I don't like their musical taste -- that's fine, like whatever you like -- but I don't trust their politics. The Eagle's career is the chart of how the Flower Generation ultimate morphed into MAGA. Their music is ubiquitous -- I know nearly all the songs on this album just from ambient music in supermarkets -- and inescapable. But ubiquity (or even 'quality') is not the same as virtue or worth. Musically, the Eagles are a pox on rock and roll, and a clear indicator of why we needed punk rock. I despise their technical proficiency, their smooth harmonies, their polished songwriting and slick production. I don't necessarily hate any of these particular facets of their music (they are all forgivable, in the right context), but combined in a monster of ambition, entitlement, sexism and hubris like this is just horrible, and the antithesis of good rock and roll. That said, the documentary 'The Story of The Eagles' is fascinating, just as a tale of how far some people are willing to go for the sake of ambition. Glenn Frey and Don Henley are two of the greatest villains of rock history, which makes for good viewing. But I did not mourn Glen Frey's death, and neither will I mourn when Don Henley finally shuffles off this mortal coil. So, how to rate this album? It's sold, like 30 million copies, and so I admit it is a classic album, and you should listen to it at least once. But, if you have ever been within earshot of recorded music, you almost certainly already have. It has some really big songs on it, well sung and played, and spit shined to a glossy radio sheen. Hotel California is a metaphor of itself; it is a song that we all checked in to and can never leave. Again, I really cannot stand the Eagles or anything they stand for. 1.5 stars, rounding down. My recommendation is don't listen to the album. Go read Elizabeth Nelson's article instead. You can find it here: (https://www.theringer.com/music/2021/5/5/22420083/the-eagles-glen-frey-don-henley-50-years)

If the rest of album was as good as “Life In The Fast Lane” and “Hotel California” we’d have a 5 here but sadly the rest of it is just okay to me. Solid 3.

Classic. Many consider it overrated but in my opinion that's just because of how ubiquitous it is. Every song hits, and even though they're nothing groundbreaking or spectacular, you still feel them all the same.

Love it, have always loved it, will always love it.

This album asks the brave question "What if Steely Dan sucked ass?" Hotel California is my sleep paralysis demon.

I don't think I've ever been more disappointed when seeing a new album pop up. How can a 43 minute album feel this long? 2/5

The song Hotel California always felt a bit too earnest and pompous for me. Pretty boring.

I fucking hate Hotel California. It’s a metaphor for dog shit.

You know that feeling you get when your mother has stuffed cake after cake down your fat gob and although you love the taste of the chocolate frosting and the sponge and the jam and the cream, you've just over indulged so much that you're violently sick all over your grandmother and her new pristine white air max trainers? Well, this album perfectly encapsulates everything about that feeling. Except the cake tastes like rotting fish guts.

Fucking hate the Eagles

Mellow rock started here. The warm smell of colitas, rising through the air. The Eagles have the highest selling ‘best of’ album because of their steady even flow of songs. They can also rock out, as evidenced by Victim of Love. Glenn Frye has a smooth voice and Joe Walsh can slam the guitar. In a world of British rock, the American Eagles stand out.

Eagles, at their edgiest, are just barely sharp enough to be interesting. When they soften that edge even slightly, the songs quickly become mind-numbingly boring. It's boomer soft-rock and I'm not interested in anything but the two hits ("Hotel California" and "Life in the Fast Lane"). The rest of the album is utterly forgettable. In the words of my 9-year-old daughter, "I didn't really like that. It's kind of boring. Like, The Beatles have slow songs but they're interesting. These slow songs weren't interesting. I'm glad it's over, dad."

How can you be this slow and this boring and be on that much cocaine.

Yes, love The Eagles. Although that's long past, they used to be my favorite band for a while and I even had a t-shirt with this album art. The guitar-work on this album is fantastic throughout and I consider the title-track nothing short of a masterpiece. My criticism would be that the album is a bit too ballad-heavy and that those ballads can tend to the kitschy side. I'd prefer less "Wasted Time" and more "Life in the Fast Lane". Or if their calmer songs would all be like "The Last Resort" (my second favorite track of the album) there would be absolutely nothing to complain about.

Such a great album. So many good songs. Been listening to this one since it came out (high school).

Obviously HC is a classic, and so are some other songs I didn’t know were Eagles’ songs.

Fantastic album. One of my favourites

Hotel California, Eagles:7/10 The title track is a certified classic for good reason. Iconic guitar riffs and solos, singalongable lyrics, plus danceable drums and fantastic production all make this song infinitely replay-able. “New Kid in Town” is very catchy with vocal harmonies that are like candy to the ears. “Life in the Fast Lane” starts out with one of the most iconic guitar riffs of all time, and doesn’t get any less good throughout the entire song. “Wasted Time” is a surprisingly sentimental soft rock balled that’s quite good, if not a little dramatic. “Wasted Time (2.0) is a beautiful stringed instrumental that serves as a nice interlude before the next half of the album. “Victim of Love” is a solid track, but maybe lacks a bit of the emotion or energy of some of the previous tracks. “Pretty Maids All in a Row” is a pleasant sounding piano balled where the Eagles once again show off their talent for harmonies. “Try and Love Again” isn’t anything too special, but still a solid song, albeit it might stretch a little longer then it needs too. “The Last Resort” is a fitting ending to the album, combining aspects of what I thought were the best parts about the album as a whole. Conclusion: Classic album, an absolute powerhouse for the entire first half, but maybe loses its momentum in the second section.

This is quite the collection of truly boring soft rock ballads. The hits are okay, and the guitar playing is fine, but I find no pleasure in the majority of these songs. 2 stars.

I think a quote from the Dude best sums this up - "I had a rough night and I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man!"

Meh... it hasn't aged well for me. So middle-of-the-road, so massaged, I found the second half to drag to the point that I was treating it like supermarket music... which, when I think about it, is where I mostly hear Eagles these days. Highlights are the title track and Life in the Fast Lane.

I hate this album.

I had to listen on YouTube because I refuse to stream this and let it fuck up my algorithm. Fucking dreadful album and band.

Jokes aside, there isn’t a miss in this album and there are a couple of songs in the top 100 of all time.

Hotel California by The Eagles. This is some archetypical dad rock and I am unapologetically loving it. Similarly to a few of the albums that we have experienced so far, we kick off with a banger. The title track and an absolute classic, Hotel California slowly guides you into the LP with a gentle rock ballad including a soaring chorus punctuated with lovely little guitar licks and a classic rock guitar solo. I was expecting the second tune to be a big rocky blast but surprisingly out came the soft and easy listening 'New Kid in Town' which I actually really liked. As the 2nd tune came to a close, I started to wonder if this album really was going to be one for fathers to listen to whilst dropped their kids to school. It turns out that it was; even down to the name 'Life in the Fast Lane'. The Eagles 3rd track gives us a big guitar riff to kick us off and nod our heads to. However, it doesn't last long as 'Wasted Time' brings us back down with a very slow but lovely tune mostly orchestrated with piano, including an orchestral 'part 2' lasting a minute afterwards. 'Victim of Love' almost made me wet myself laughing as we blast straight back into some solid guitar riffs from the get-go and provides us with a power ballad feel. 'Pretty Maids...' and 'Try and Love...' were both less full-on rock with gentle but quality tunes to enjoy and smooth us into the end of the album. 'The Last Resort' (we see what you do did there) is a 7-minute creeper that slowly builds and builds as we enjoy the soft piano at first that builds up, drops again and then fills our ears with a loud orchestral finish. I was maybe expecting a couple more loud rocky numbers but I'm not disappointed with that. Thoroughly enjoyed throughout.

"THIS IS ROCK AND ROLL RADIO. STAY TUNED FOR MORE ROCK AND ROLL!" That's the radio announcement that rings in my head whenever I hear an Eagles song. A few weeks ago I went to an Adam And The Ants gig. The support band were a 3 piece, two girls and a lad, all still teenagers, playing raw punk (F.Y.I. they were called Yee Loi). I have no doubt they formed because they just wanted to be in a band. And chose Punk because they loved it. Maybe their songs have a message. I couldn't tell over the shouting. They certainly looked like they loved what they were doing. And I loved watching them. I imagine the Eagles band meetings were rather different. "How can we make piles of cash? I know, we'll write songs that appeal to housewives and get a lot of radio play. Then we'll sell a heap of records. kerching". In that they were hugely successful. The Hotel California title track is, no doubting, a true classic. But having listened to the rest of the album I'm now doubting myself. Is it just because I've heard it so often? No. I do think they stumbed on a gem. But they bloody milked it well. In fact they sold a gazillion albums on the back of one track. Other tracks I had heard before.. Life In The Fast Lane - a soft turd trying to harden up. New Kid In Town - boring nothing ballad. And the rest of the album is just middle of the road, souless and sterile. Radio pap to sell soap suds with. For a "classic album" I was hugely disappointed.

Althought I'd never listened to it I was pretty sure I hated this album based on the singles (except for Life in the Fast Lane, which gets a pass for its use in Fast Times at Ridgemont High). It's actually even worse than I thought.

It sounds like some dudes were sitting around and decided to form a corporation in order to manufacture tubes of overly-saccharine rock-music goo to feed into the hot, grubby maw of the radio-listening public.

The title track is very good which almost saves this from a 1 star. I really don't like anything else by the eagles. Will I listen to again: 0%

Eagles are the worst mix of boring and uninsightful. What is the point of this music?

Sheesh

45 minutes of my life I can never get back

They made me listen to it. At first it didn't hurt as much as I expected. But soon I got that gnawing feel... "It might feel good, but its bad for you." either literally or figurately. Like chewing gum, processed food, breakfast television, and Guantanamo Bay or infinite detention at Nauru, Christmas Island, of the Australian mainland (another kind of hotel your cant leave). Ok, its going too far to equate The Eagles with human rights violations. Special rendition. and Enhanced interrogation (kidnap and torture int he same of freedom, or revenge, or deterrence?). smooth, polished and sweet, and a bit flavourless and lacking fibre

The dude was right. The 1 star is for the title track, even though Gipsy Kings did it better.

0 ⭐️

You can check out but you can never leave. Stone cold classic.

Look, I hate the Eagles as much as the next bloke but this is a monster record.

What can I say about Hotel California? It has one of the greatest songs of all time kicking it off. Such an incredible song, no words I say can do it justice. From the soft guitar intro kicking it off, to the smooth lyrics, to the outro. Just a perfect song. And that outro? It's a full two minutes long, normally I'd say that's too much. The song is over, just end it. But not Hotel California. That outro just keeps up the amazing energy the song brings. If anything, it feels too short, I could hear those guitars wail for a lot longer. I could give this album a 5 star rating on this song alone, even if the rest of the album was terrible. But it's absolutely not. It keeps going strong with some more good smooth rock with New Kid In Town. Life In The Fast Lane kicks the tempo up a bit nicely. Wasted Time tones it down a bit, but still a nice song. Victim Of Love was ok. Pretty Maids All In A Row was sweet. Try And Love Again moves along nicely. The Last Resort ends it out smoothly. Great album, loved it the whole way through. I also love that this album was released on my birthday, 7 years before I was born. Best song: Hotel California

A seminal Fave

Hotel California One of those albums where everything on it sounds just right, both sonically and thematically. Each track works individually but they all contribute to the coked out, unsettling, sunshine drenched, harmony ridden, end of the hippy era vibe. The first side in particular is excellent, the title track of course is fantastic, New Kid in Town’s and Wasted Time’s harmonies are so so good, and the song reveals itself as an absolutely superb ballad on repeat listens. And Life in the Fast line is their most convincing riff driven rocker, benefitting from the lack of Bernie Leadon’s country influence and Joe Walsh’s more rock approach. The second side does perhaps dip a little with Victim of Love and Pretty Maids All in a Row, but only in comparison to that first side and the superb final two tracks, particularly the Last Resort. I do also like the Martin-esque Wasted Time string reprise, it gives a nice sense of sad grandeur. A classic for a reason, the songs are great, the harmonies are superb, it sounds fantastic and it nails it’s thematic concept of ‘loss of innocence, the cost of naiveté, the perils of fame, of excess; exploration of the dark underbelly of the American dream, idealism realized and idealism thwarted, illusion versus reality, the difficulties of balancing loving relationships and work’ - it sounds sunny and hopeful on the surface but is undercut with despair and seediness. Easy 5. 🏨🏨🏨🏨🏨 Playlist submission: Obvious, but Hotel California

I fucked with this waaay more than expected honestly hotel california is the worst song on the album I can’t believe it’s their biggest hit bc the rest of it is fireeeee . love the instrumentals too

Probably one of the best albums ever made. And I'm not even really an Eagles fan. It's just that good. Don Henley fucks.

For a start the title track has one of the best guitar solos ever written. That said I had never listened to the album as a whole, but the funny thing is the music is so entrenched in the world it was all completely familiar. It’s a beautiful slice of Americana. The guitar tones are like honey, and the drum production is a dry as the dessert. The band produce fantastic performances across the whole record. Unfortunately the album doesn’t finish as strong as it starts. The meandering The Last Resort doesn’t feel as well constructed as the rest of the songs, and it takes a bit of the shine off, after an otherwise fantastic record.

Classic and soft. Good background vibes

Did I know this album before: Yes! Had it on CD at some point. The production, the instrumentation, lyrics, vocals, are all "perfect". This is a strong contrast with yesterday's Foo Fighters, which was all muddy and grungy, with instruments played and lyrics written in a mad rush. This album you feel they must have spent months over, tweaking mixing panel knobs until they were happy with every single waveform. YES this album is over-produced. I'd be surprised if the tapes they mixed on hadn't worn through to transparency given the layers and layers of sounds we're hearing. But that's the whole point. This is the natural end point of the production train, and here they show us what is possible from some instruments and a mixing desk. But: Do I truly love it? There are great songs, but their tales of a broken American Dream doesn't quite tug at me in the same way some other albums do. So maybe this is around 4.4*, missing out on a top score by a whisker.

Hotel California has one of the best guitar solos ever!

-Came and stayed for Hotel California the song, but this was very consistently good and catchy -The first half of the album specifically is so majestic -Favorites are Hotel California, Life In The Fast Lane, and Victim Of Love

Wait… the Eagles are epic?!?

A dark classic, the title track would have been enough to immortalize this record. It’s strange to think they achieved such massive success and recognition (along with a gang of dedicated haters) from a record which is essentially a meditation on the perils of excess, the spiritual ennui of the West Coast, the betrayal of love, and the desolation of fame. That’s a bit of a neat trick, all played and sung with a glossy LA sheen. It’s unclear if it’s a loose concept album or not—seems like we’re meant to think so. In any event, we begin at the enticing haunted house of “Hotel California,” full of cocaine paranoia, and we end on “The Last Resort,” a tale of suburban sameness that manages to cover additional sociopolitical critiques of colonialism, religious hypocrisy, and environmental destruction. Of course, this is the Eagles, so they have to make even their political commentary sound perfect, railing against conformity and excess in a bloated 7+ minutes in the most musically agreeable way, complete with string section. No wonder this record was such a giant hit—even when they’re trying to expose the tarnished promise of the American Dream, the band can’t help but spin FM gold.

Almost everyone knows of this band and the same would go for at least two of the tracks on this album. I honestly find it hard to believe anyone could actually dislike these songs. They might be a little too familiar and yes you’ve probably heard the hits way too much...but it’s surprising how much you can still enjoy them once you decide to sit and listen again. They are comforting & homely and no doubt raise various emotions for just about every person. Ultimately though, you know what you’re getting and it’s absolute in it’s promise...but isn’t that really what we all long for every now and then? 4 Stars!

Listened in two segments. Initial thought is that wow, they have one banger but I don't otherwise really fuck with the Eagles. Wasted Time was cool! Life in the Fast Lane is ... not a good song. They get way more baroque and weird with keys and strings and stuff than I'd expect! Which I normally like. Why don't I like it here? Try and Love Again is a good slow song.

Its fine I guess. It's the hotel art of rock music. Inoffensive and broadly appealing as possible and boring. Not something I'm going to listen to on purpose.

The Eagles will always be a standby for a few good jams and the rest of the album being listenable but bland

Solid shit. Spanish hotel California slaps tho lol

3/10 This album is the equivalent of that photo of builders eating their lunch on the steel beams of the RCA building while it’s under construction, or the painting of dogs playing poker. The fact that so many people have a copy in their house doesn’t actually mean that they’re peaks of their respective art forms. While the title track is an absolute all time classic, for me this just massively tailed off from that point on. Sure, there are moments here and there, but by and large it feels to me like music that’s been written by committee, rather than someone with an artistic need to create. There are some nice riffs, the occasional groove and even the odd bit of grit, but for the most part, it felt pretty soulless. Very competent, yes, but on the whole just incredibly bland. The production is decent; everything has its place, and there is clarity to the sound, but again, it all just felt a bit too slick and lifeless. It’s like the band gathered up all their influences, pieced them all together using the Penguin Guide to Songwriting, and then pulled out a belt sander to makes sure there were no edges anyone could possibly snag themselves on. And that more or less covers the inoffensive parts. At its worst, this album is saccharine, uninspired and beige. In fact, it’s kind of remarkable that it didn’t really manage to evoke any emotional response in me at all. It was just pretty flat, boring and obvious. I wonder how many people bought this album on the strength of the title track alone? In all honesty, this feels like music for people who don’t really like music, but prefer to avoid silence and being left alone with their own thoughts at all costs. But fair play to the Eagles; this is the American Dream writ large. Make something competent enough for people to embrace, inoffensive enough to not turn them away, and with with one aspect that captures the zeitgeist. Add in a dose of incredible luck with the timing and exposure you get, and cling onto that for as long as you can and wring every cent out of it that you can. It gets a point extra for the title track, but it’s luck to get that. Hotel California - A song that’s almost impossible to listen to without the baggage of it being almost permanently included on every radio station or shopping centre playlist for the last 50 years. It’s got a great groove to it, it’s super hooky and their playing is super tight. Quality soloing too. The use of little licks to break up the vocal parts is nice, and there’s a good blend of dynamics. A classic, no doubt, but a classic for a reason. New Kid In Town - This is pretty pedestrian and flat. I mean, it’s perfectly nice, but it’s pretty boring. It just doesn’t do anything particularly interesting or invigorating. It takes a handful of soft country, a handful of soft rock, stirs them up and buffs them to a slick sheen of inoffensive edgeless music soup. Meh. Life In The Fast Lane - A solid riff to kick us off. It’s got some grit and drive to it, which is good, but it doesn’t quite grab me for some reason. I think they just don’t have the authentic attitude or edge to be fully convincing. There are bits of it that I like, but it’s just too clinical for me. It’s like a group of middle-aged dentists cosplaying as Deep Purple. The component parts are pretty good, but it just feels a bit soulless. Wasted Time - This is saccharine. Cheese central. Nothing wrong with a ballad and there are elements of this that remind me of Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, which is a great Elton John track, but has so much more soul than this. The other thing it reminds me of is Community Property by Steel Panther, which is a complete piss take of this type of song. This is really, really bad. No real hook, massively overproduced and less edge than a snooker ball. His vocal delivery of ‘baby’ also made my toes curl. Wasted Time (Reprise) - That song was so bad they couldn’t leave it alone and had to drag it on to the second side of the record. Victim Of Love - Much better. A solid riff with great feel leads into a pretty heavy, crunching riff. The vocal seems more convincing here too, and as a whole, this verse has got a good bit of swagger and grit to it. But it all just falls apart when we come to the chorus. It seems to foreshadow some of the more offensively power ballad tracks of Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. It’s just too much cheese in the wrong kind of way for me. Cheese that is trying way too hard to be sincere. Pretty Maids All In A Row - This just plods along like a soft rock lullaby. It just feels like it’s got literally nothing to say and, oddly the production makes the bass have such prominence that the softness of it isn’t even particularly well indulged. The strings are awful, just doing the most by the book thing you could possibly imagine and sounding super thin. If you’d have thrown in some sleigh bells, this could have been one of those sad ‘I’m alone at Christmas’ songs. At least then it would have felt like it had a purpose, even though it would have still been a shit purpose. Try And Love Again - More saccharine soft rock and it’s pretty low energy too. There are some nice moments of musicianship here and there, but they don’t really serve to elevate this. It all just feels like a wash of beige sound. Even the drum fills feel like they’re being read from a book of drumming basics. It just doesn’t really evoke any feeling from me whatsoever. The Last Resort - Cut my life into pieces. Just make sure none of those pieces contain this song. Plodding, flat, boring, uninspiring. It’s soft pop rock by numbers and again, it just feels like they’ve got nothing to tell me at all, but they’re going to keep trying to tell me that nothing for way too long and way too repetitively.

This lbum falls off QUICK. Hotel California, the single, what a masterpiece. Quite simply a masterclass in how to write a single that will still be heralded decades (and generations) after release. The rest of this album is pants though. How can you go from /that/ solo to what is ultimately an additional hour of filler. Just release the single bro! Were it not for the single this would easily be 1*

I enjoyed like one song but the rest was boring

2/5. I get it, it's capital G great and is the provenance of most rock ballads. But it just sounds like all other rock ballads after it which makes for an uninteresting listen.

I try to separate the artist from the art but Don Henley is a piece of shit human being drugging and raping 16 year old girls but getting a pass because your famous and have good lawyers is not a forgivable offense.

Don henley is a nonce

Welcome to the Lowest Rated Albums section of my user summary.

I hate this album.

this just solidified my rock obsession. eagles are a voice i haven’t quite heard in my life. hypnotizing vocals compliment the funky and entrancing instrumental. this album is a masterpiece. can’t believe it took me so long to discover them.

One of the best ever

Yesterday's album was Boston's debut. I made some jokes about my age and growing up in the 70's and the concept of Dad Rock. In the case of that album, I commented on my dislike of it then and now. Hotel California, on the other hand, is an album I loved back then. Prior to this release, I didn't really care for their music other than a few of the hit singles-Desperado, Lyin' Eyes to name a couple. But this album got me immediately back then. What I loved most, aside from the fantastic title track, was the second side. It wasn't heavily played, but I thought it had better songs. A few years back a friend asked if I'd go see them in concert. I was apprehensive, mainly due to it being Don Henley and Joe Walsh and other non-Eagles, but I went. They did this album in full and I loved every second of it, especially that amazing back half. And so many people in the arena knew all of the words to those songs, which was very cool. So, as much as I groaned yesterday when the Boston album came up, I smiled today with this. And it was a great listen. Everything I loved about it before I still love about it. And I appreciated that overplayed first side too. These are just great songs and they form a very cohesive concept about California back in the 70's (and likely still). And I stand by the thought that The Last Resort is one of the best closing songs ever.

Perfect album. No notes.

i wanna learn how to play the Hotel California riff on the electric guitar so badlyyyy

They don't miss

One of the best albums of all time

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

fantastic. what a tremendous work of art. although desperado remains their finest, its a true tour de force of what west coast america could achieve. morally reprehensible and absolutely industry sanitised they ruined country music but it remains possibly the greatest rock album ever. for the record HC is the worst song on the album

One of the best

Iconic Eagles. I actually have a different album that is my favorite from them but still this gets 5 stars from me.

10/10

Favorite Songs - Hotel California, New Kid in Town, Life in the Fast Lane, Wasted Time, Victim of Love, Pretty Maids All in a Row, Try and Love Again, The Last Resort

If I remember correctly, this album owned the 1970’s. Well deserved.

One of the greatest

Yes

“The Last Resort” is the fifth greatest song of all time

This album was perfect. No notes. 10/10.

ABSOLUTE CINEMA.

Last day of the semester, and I get one of my favorite albums! Go me! #albumsky #musicsky

Absolute classic.

If you dont make cumface at 4 minutes & 20 seconds when that guitar solo hits on Hotel California then I'm not sure we can be friends.

Love this album! Fantastic storytelling on the title song and amazing riffs and energy throughout. Easy five stars.

This was the Eagles very best album. There is no doubt as to how it should in turn be rated.

Such a great voice. How did I go decades without hearing this album in full

With this many guitars I can't not give this a 5. Might be a sin if I don't.

feels nostalgic, now I know why it has 30+ millions spotify listeners each month (born 2006)

A really great classic rock album, near perfect from start to finish. Beautiful guitar throughout. I love my old man music haha Standout Songs: Hotel California Life in the Fast Lane Wasted Time Victim of Love Try and Love Again The Last Resort

YES!