Wednesday, December 8, 1976

The Eagles released Hotel California

Hotel California

Eagles


Released: December 8, 1976


Charted: December 25, 1976


Peak: 18 US, 2 UK, 14 CN, 112 AU


Sales (in millions): 26.0 US, 1.8 UK, 32.33 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: classic rock


Tracks: (Click for codes to singles charts.)

  1. Hotel California (Don Henley/Glenn Frey/Don Felder) [6:30] (2/22/77, 1 US, 1 CB, 1 HR, 1 RR, 10 AC, 1 CL, 8 UK, 1 CN, 60 AU)
  2. New Kid in Town (Don Henley/Glenn Frey/J.D. Souther) [5:04] (12/11/76, 1 US, 2 CB, 3 HR, 1 RR, 2 AC, 43 CW, 1 CL, 20 UK, 1 CN, 16 AU)
  3. Life in the Fast Lane (Don Henley/Glenn Frey/Joe Walsh) [4:46] (5/13/77, 11 US, 11 CB, 16 HR, 7 RR, 1 CL, 12 CN, 96 AU)
  4. Wasted Time (Don Henley/Glenn Frey) [4:55] (20 CL)
  5. Wasted Time (Reprise) (Don Henley/Glenn Frey/Jim Ed Norman) [1:22]
  6. Victim of Love (Don Henley/Glenn Frey/Don Felder/J.D. Souther) [4:11] (6 CL)
  7. Pretty Maids All in a Row (Joe Walsh/Joe Vitale) [4:05] (47 CL)
  8. Try and Love Again (Randy Meisner) [5:10] (47 CL)
  9. The Last Resort (Don Henley/Glenn Frey) [7:25] (11 CL)


Total Running Time: 43:28


The Players:

  • Don Henley (vocals, drums, percussion)
  • Glenn Frey (vocals, guitars, keyboards)
  • Don Felder (guitar, backing vocals)
  • Randy Meisner (bass, vocals)
  • Joe Walsh (guitar, keyboards, vocals)

Rating:

4.344 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings)


Quotable:Hotel California unveiled…a band…that made music worthy of the later tag of ‘classic rock’” – William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide


Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

Hotel California proved a major milestone for the already immensely popular Eagles. The band’s sound had previously been rooted in country rock. They didn’t abandon that sound, as evidenced by lead single and #1 hit New Kid in Town – but in the eighteen months between the release of their 1975 album One of These Nights and Hotel California in 1976, they made “a stylistic shift toward mainstream rock.” WR

The Eagles reportedly spent eight months in the studio recording. With “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.” WR “Early on, the group couldn’t rock convincingly;” WR they “never seemed to get a sound big enough for their ambitions.” WR However, the departure of Benie Leadon, “who had given the band much of its country flavor,” WR and the pairing of new arrival Joe Walsh with guitarist Don Felder gave the band more “arena-rock heft.” WR

Nowhere is that stylistic shift more apparent than on Life in the Fast Lane, a song which “drew a line between the band’s country-tinged past and rock and roll future” TL as it “captured coke culture in a catchphrase.” BL

That song was one of six which Don Henley either wrote or co-wrote, signaling another main shift for the Eagles. He was now “the band’s dominant voice, both as a singer and a lyricist.” WR Though his songs, he “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.” WR

Those themes are clearly on display on the title track, “a sprawling epic” TL that “framed Hollywood…in terms so impressively vague they seemed mythic.” BL The song had “Satanic undertones that might have been subconsciously cribbed from Jethro Tull’s ‘We Used to Know’ when the bands toured together. As for the warm smell of colitas, fans are split on whether the word is Spanish slang for cannabis buds or an easy lay. Given the band and the era, the safest guess is both.” TL

“Like much of their catalog, Hotel California seems a lot smarter when you listen to it than when you talk about it.” TL “The lyrics kick in some time after one has appreciated the album’s music.” WR In any event, “the result was the Eagles' biggest-selling regular album release, and one of the most successful rock albums ever.” WR


Notes:

A 40th anniversary edition of the album included a live disc recorded at the L.A. Forum between October 20-22, 1976.

Review Sources:

  • DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Eagles
  • BL Blender Magazine’s “100 Greatest American Albums” (10/08)
  • WR William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
  • TL Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light, Time Magazine’s “All-TIME 100 Albums” (11/13/06)


Other Related DMDB Pages:


First posted 3/11/2008; last updated 8/28/2021.

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