Keno's
Classic Rock n Roll Web Site
ALBUM REVIEW
THE EAGLES
HOTEL CALIFORNIA
Released - 1976, on Asylum Records. Produced by Bill Szymczyk
Don Henley – Lead and Backing Vocals; Drums
and Percussion
Don Felder – Lead Guitars, Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar
Solos; Backing Vocals
Glenn Frey – Keyboards; Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar on track
8; Lead Vocals on track 2, Backing Vocals
Randy Meisner – Bass; Guitar on track 2; Lead Vocals on
track 8, Backing Vocals
Joe Walsh –
Guitar Weaving & Guitar Solo on
track 1, Lead Guitar on track 3, Slide Guitar on track 6; Keyboards; Lead Vocals on
track 7
| SONG (written by) | RATING |
| Hotel California (Felder, Henley, Frey) | 10.0 |
| New Kid in Town (Souther, Henley, Frey) | 7.4 |
| Life in the Fast Lane (Walsh, Henley, Frey) | 10.0 |
| Wasted Time (Henley, Frey) | 6.4 |
| Wasted Time (Reprise) (Henley, Frey, Norman) | 7.2 |
| Victim of Love (Felder, Souther, Henley, Frey) | 8.5 |
| Pretty Maids All in a Row (Walsh, Vitale) | 5.9 |
| Try and Love Again (Meisner) | 6.0 |
| The Last Resort (Henley, Frey) | 7.4 |
| Ave. | 7.64 |
REVIEW
Hotel California was the Eagles fifth album, and some feel it's the best one they ever put out. It was their first LP without founding member Bernie Leadon, the last one with original bassist/singer Randy Meisner, and the first album with Joe Walsh.
The best song on here is the title cut. It features some nice guitar weaving between Don Felder and Walsh, with Don Henley singing the lead vocals, as he does on most of the numbers on this LP. When this song was released, lots of questions and answers went around as to what the Hotel California was suppose to be. Everything from a whore house, to some kind of drug haven, to a house of worship for Satan. Of course it was none of that; according to band members, the song is about living life in excess in America. That of course is also what another excellent song found on here, "Life In The Fast Lane", is also about. This tune is just as good as "Hotel California", but just in a different way, since it has a different feel to it. This track moves about faster and is pure guitar driven rock 'n roll, thanks to Walsh, and this is the only song on the album that he plays the lead on.
After those two top songs, and other than "Victim of Love", which I also dig a lot, the rest of this album wasn't as much of a hit with me as it was to others. When I played it today, it was nice to hear again, but a few songs on here are forgettable to me, and great LPs should not contain such songs. So although I see this one as overrated overall, it is still a good album.
- Keno June 2010
To listen to some soundclips from
HOTEL CALIFORNIA
or to purchase it click on: Hotel California CD
or Hotel California
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