Eagles

Greatest Hits '71-75

Early Country-Rock, mellow and easy on the ears

Review Score:

(10/10)
The Eagles have a reputation that would seem to put them into the same class as the greats of rock. This reputation comes in spite of the fact that The Eagles released but seven albums in their two incarnations, six of which were released between 1972 and 1979. The last album was "Hell Freezes Over", an orphan released in 1994.

The first four Eagles albums provided enough material for the first of six collections, titled "Their Greatest Hits". This album covers The Eagles from 1972 to 1975, the pre-Joe Walsh years. In general, their music during these years had a country flavor, but was well balanced with rock influences. I consider The Eagles of these first four albums to be one of the first true country-rock bands. I also think that Don Henley and Glen Frey brought to this genre a style and talent that reminds me of The Beatles in their middle years.

This album captures quite a range. "Desperado" is probably the most overtly country in styling. "Witchy Woman" has a rhythm that can only be described as based on Native American music, and thus is not true country, but has enough country elements to be considered either country or pop/rock. Other songs move further away from country, but still show their country influences, such as "Already Gone" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling".

While the country influence is there, you can also detect elements of The Eagles that would be more strongly manifested in "Hotel California" and "The Long Run". "Witchy Woman" has a strong electric guitar lead. "Already Gone" also has a dominant lead guitar, which at that time was more associated with rock. The latter song could have gone on "The Long Run", an album that moved The Eagles away from a country flavor.

I think The Eagles are highly regarded because of the quality of the songs created by the group, and perhaps because of the influence they had on other country-rock groups. They showed others that country and rock could be successfully married and people would buy such music when it was performed well. They also showed others that the same group could create a song that would be considered rock, and on the same record have a song with strong country influences. Along with a number of other groups in the 60s and 70s, The Eagles were groundbreaking in their own way.

It's easy to look back on this music and put it down because 30 years later it is no longer fresh, new, or original. There have been hundreds of imitators of The Eagles. However, The Eagles were one of the first, and in many ways, were the first. Those who came later imitated The Eagles and performed similar music so many times that after a while the impact of The Eagles appears to have been diluted. In truth, that impact occurred when these songs were released, and are part of the continuing evolution of music. Try to put yourself back in the early 70s when this music was released. It was great then, new, fresh, innovative, and young. The jungle beat of disco, techno-pop, the discordant chords of Nine Inch Nails were all yet to be, and The Beatles had only broken up recently. I will always remember this music for how unique it was when released.

If you like what you hear on the radio of The Eagles, then you will enjoy this CD. I prefer the albums to this collection, because I think the albums have music equal to the music on this CD, but this collection is a good introduction to the early Eagles. Enjoy!

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