Hotel California
EaglesOkay so obviously I’m familiar with the hits on this one... Hotel California, New Kid in Town, Life in the Fast Lane.... all a little corny imo. Hotel California has some undeniably delicious riffs in it but Life in the Fast Lane is just the worst. I never realized how much of a concept album it was until actually listening to the whole thing front to back. There’s definitely a story being told here. I can imagine when this came out everyone lost their minds because it’s a bit cinematic. Victim of Love is kinda sexy too. This album lost to Rumours for album of the year in 1976 and it makes sense. I don’t think that Hotel California stands the rest of time the way Rumours does. I did save Try and Love Again though because it’s hitting all those sweet nostalgic spots for me. It sounds more like the country rock of their last album, One of These Nights. I guess that chalks it up for me- their rock n roll efforts don’t stand up to their peers of the time, but they do country rock soooo well and that’s what I show up for when it comes to the Eagles. The Last Resort is a really good ending to this album! It’s about how we don’t take care of our big beautiful planet. The strings add a lot of grandiosity. Again, super cinematic. If I had been drinking wine I probably would have started crying. It’s crazy to think people were talking about saving our environment in 1976 and we’re still not doing enough about it 45 years later. All in all, I always appreciate concept albums and this one was a good one. It felt somewhat like a goodbye to the 60s and 70s. The opening is strong, the track list is in the right order, and it ends on a beautiful bittersweet note. Well crafted and I would probably reach for it more if I had more of an emotional connection to it.