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Soaring with the 'Eagles'
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"The Very Best Of The Eagles", is the latest album released by the band. It spans the golden 1970s of retro rock.
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THINK OF retro music of the early 1970s through mid-1980s and the first band that comes to your mind is the "Eagles" — one of the pioneers of rock music. Soft initially and harder as the years went by, the band has gone through an interesting transformation, with regard to its members and its music. Last week, "The Very Best of The Eagles" album was released. So, let's seize the opportunity to fly down memory lane — of the "Eagles".
The history of the "Eagles" dates back to 1971, when Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Glenn Frey, while touring with Linda Ronstadt, stumbled upon the idea of forming a rock band. Having roped in Bernie Leadon, the band released its first self-titled album, a year later. "Take It Easy" became a huge hit and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" followed suit. "Take It Easy" has a very hummable rhythm combined with feel-good lyrics, signifying hope, which ensured sell-outs of the album.
Cashing in on its initial stardom, a sequel to the debut album was released by the group in 1973 called "Desperado". "Tequila Sunrise" and "Doolin-Dalton" were well received, but it was the former, that took the cake. For the next album, Don Felder joined the foursome. "On The Border" was the album, which featured the very romantic, "Best Of My Love" side-by-side with "James Dean", featuring some energetic vocals and guitar works. A year later, the band released "One Of Those Nights", which compared to the likes of "James Dean", "Tequila Sunrise" and the rest, was quite mediocre.
The year 1975 was all-important for the band. "Hotel California", by far the "Eagles" best song, was released. Some tremendous guitar-work by Glenn Frey and impressive drumming, courtesy Don Henley, who was also famous by then for his anti-pollution campaigns, saw the popularity of the song soar to unbelievable heights. Even today, "Hotel California" is featured every other day on almost all the request shows on radio and television.
"Life In The Fast Lane" and "New Kid In Town" too impressed listeners and ensured that "Hotel California" became the biggest album by the "Eagles". The band went into hibernation for a couple of years before bouncing back in 1979 with "The Long Run". It was by now a mature rock band in its true sense. In fact, with every album, one sees some maturity in the vocals and orchestration — the music tends to get harder, and the lyrics seem to have more feeling in them.
"The Very Best Of The Eagles" (Tips Music; cassette: Rs. 125), is the ultimate album for any "Eagles" fan, featuring each of the tracks mentioned in this write-up and a couple more to complete a 17-track compilation. Every music fan, at some stage or the other, is sure to have heard at least a couple of numbers by the group. Here is a chance to get one's hands on some retro-rock music.
A. VISHNU
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