Sloppy Sunshine: 10 songs the Eagles should have never released
If there is a sunny side of paradise, chances are the Eagles will have a prime spot on the soundtrack. Throughout their time together, every tune that Glenn Frey and Don Henley penned for the California rockers was a beautiful picture of the sunny side of America, whether that was the excessive partying of the 1970s or the country-adjacent life most Americans know all too well. Half of their music feels like it should be etched in gold, but there are more than a few thuds that the wayside should leave.
That said, just because a song shouldn’t be released doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s terrible from back to front. There are many songs to come across on an Eagles record that seem close to done, but when put next to the power of ‘Take It Easy’ or ‘Heartache Tonight’, they either feel like they should be on a completely different project or could have been salvaged for when all of them eventually went solo.
Then again, not even they were safe from a few outright duds in their catalogue. From experiments gone wrong to them trying to play it safe and letting the music suffer for it, a handful of them makes the listener feel like a fly on the wall in the studio for all the wrong reasons as if you’re watching them wait for the tune to be over.
For a group that has had that many great moments on their albums, though, the fact that half of the entries here aren’t considered objectively bad is a testament to their track record. Sure, they could have phoned it in when they wanted to, but if they were looking to become legends, there was no real room for filler.
10 Eagles songs that should have never been released:
10. ‘Frail Grasp on the Big Picture’ – Long Road Out of Eden
The entire premise of Long Road Out of Eden felt like it might have been too much too soon. As much as fans were awaiting a collection of new Eagles material ever since Hell Freezes Over, it was going to be a bit of a mess if they went with the double album concept. While the group did deliver a worthy postscript for their career, something like ‘Frail Grasp on the Big Picture’ arrived with a little bit of a thud.
But it’s not like there isn’t some merit behind the track. Henley is still up to his usual tricks by talking about the facelessness of world leaders and how they don’t seem to care about the humble blue-collar workers. ‘Golden Throat’ is definitely in his element throughout the track, and it works really well. In fact, maybe a little too well.
Because as much as the Eagles sing their heart out, ‘Frail Grasp’ reads less like an Eagles classic but rather a solo song that happened to end up on the project. Even the guitar parts sound like they could have been removed from the rockier cuts on The End of the Innocence than any of Joe Walsh’s trademark exercises. There’s a lot of merit here to be found, but given that Henley’s last album, Inside Job was also on the long side, maybe this was the only way he could think of to get it all down on paper.
9. ‘Chug All Night’ – Eagles
The Eagles always held onto their credibility as a rock act at every turn. They may have looked the part as country stars, but Glenn Frey made no bones about being from Detroit and having more than enough to back up his rock and roll chops. But for someone from the same stomping grounds as Iggy and the Stooges, hearing him take a swing at hard rock on ‘Chug All Night’ is far from Zeppelin or anything.
After ‘Take It Easy’ welcomed the group to the world, ‘Chug All Night’ is a bit too by the numbers to take seriously for more than a minute. Sure, there’s a passable rock cut in here somewhere, but given how heavenly they sound on the country-leaning cuts, hearing them try to become a heavier version of Cream is the exact opposite of their strengths, especially without someone like Don Felder anchoring everything with a solo.
‘Witchy Woman’ was a good proof of concept that they could do a menacing track, but there’s a difference between a menacing brand of heaviness and just sounding goofy. They would correct themselves on rockers like ‘Get Over It’ later, but for a group still wet behind the ears, this is a Chuck Berry chord progression with a boatload of distortion and nowhere near enough swagger to make it work.
8. ‘Journey of the Sorcerer – One of These Nights
Even when he joined, Bernie Leadon felt like an odd man out in the Eagles. He was already one of the greatest country players in the California scene, yet here he was being expected to play like Eric Clapton if his group needed a guitar solo. Anyone in that position needs to stretch themselves a little bit, but ‘Journey of the Sorcerer’ is what happens when you end up giving Leadon a little too much power.
From a technical perspective, though, this might be his opus, complete with banjos and orchestral arrangements brought in to tell this lavish story with song. Then again, giving a large chunk of the record over to just an instrumental will rub some people the wrong way, no matter how good the guitar licks are.
More than anything, making such a prominent instrumental midway through the record leaves them sounding lifeless without the harmonies, especially towards the quieter sections, where it sounds like unintentional background music in a bloated 1970s cop show. They might not have all been seeing eye-to-eye at this point, but someone should have had the common sense to stay with tunes like ‘Take it To the Limit’ and ‘Lyin’ Eyes’.
7. ‘In the City’ – The Long Run
Joe Walsh was never a musician that really needed the Eagles. He probably got a lot more paychecks that were beyond his expectations, but even without the golden touch of Frey and Henley, Walsh was already becoming one of the most in-demand guitar stars of the modern age alongside Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend. So, how the hell did he end up recycling one of his own songs for The Long Run?
Going by the Eagles’ logic, the follow-up to Hotel California had to come out swinging, but ‘In the City’ had already been used in the movie The Warriors months before the track landed here. While it works perfectly fine as an Eagles tune, it was always destined to be a re-run of But Seriously Folks, especially given its massive open chords that call to mind the lick to ‘Life’s Been Good’.
While there’s no rule that says Walsh had to deliver on any Eagles project, something tells me that he might have been hoarding some of his best material for himself. Because if you can get some extra mileage out of one hook as your band is imploding, it might be a good idea not to exhaust your ideas if you end up going solo.
6. ‘The Girl From Yesterday’ – Hell Freezes Over
Given the Eagles’ history, Hell Freezes Over couldn’t have been more perfect for their reunion album. Their infighting towards the end of their career was the stuff of legend, and once it finally settled down, it felt like the impossible had happened when they stepped out onto that stage again. Of course, no new release would be complete without new material, but ‘The Girl From Yesterday’ is an all-too-unpleasant reminder of the dozy side of Frey’s solo years.
As much as Frey liked to talk himself up as the hip member of the Eagles in their prime, a lot of his solo career ended up producing fairly pedestrian tunes like ‘You Belong to the City’. Though there were some gems to be found, ‘The Girl From Yesterday’ has the inverse problem that ‘Frail Grasp on the Big Picture’. Rather than being not fleshed-out enough, Frey is clinical in the production here, as if he’s making sure that every single syllable sounds exactly like it should before he sings.
There are even a few moments where that sheen turns up on other tracks, with Timothy B Schmitt’s ‘Love Will Keep Us Alive’ treading dangerously close to adult contemporary territory. Schmitt can make that work, though, but when Frey strikes out, the lesser-rans feel like they should be forgotten on some aborted 1990s country record.
5. ‘Take the Devil’ – Eagles
Every band of the Eagles’ calibre needs someone laid-back enough to deal with everything. Although Frey and Henley had a firm grip on every hit they made it on the air, Randy Meisner singing the odd ditty brought a sense of peace and variety to their usual schtick. But even Meisner wouldn’t have told you he was a songwriter on their level, and ‘Take the Devil’ stinks of wasted potential.
That said, it’s understandable why it’s here. The group were still tearing through any material that Glyn Johns gave the approval on, and to get Meisner a decent vocal, there’s at least a brooding atmosphere on the record bubbling underneath the surface. Right when everyone’s expecting some kind of payoff, though, all they’re greeted with is a half-hearted chorus that feels like they just ran out of ideas.
So, while there are the makings of Meisner’s true writing debut here, it definitely needed a few more days stewing around in the studio to crack the code on what they wanted to do. Certainly not the worst that they would ever create, but it’s still disappointing, and as anyone who’s fessed up to their mother knows, disappointment is usually a lot worse than just outright bad.
4. ‘Ol’ 55’ – On the Border
The Eagles never really prided themselves on being an insular group by any stretch. If it was a good song, it was worthy enough to go on their record, and their collaborations with everyone from Jackson Browne to JD Souther to Jack Tempchin is half the reason why their hits are still omnipresent on classic rock radio. It’s usually polite to check with the songwriter first, though, and their attempt to match Tom Waits was the endorsement that the guttural icon never really wanted.
At the same time, I’m sure that Waits didn’t mind the exposure that he got. He was still a burgeoning talent on the scene writing the typical barfly tunes about heartache, and a song about the lights going down on the city while cruising around in a classic car was bound to appeal to Frey, whose father had worked in the automotive industry and had a taste for the classics.
However, we definitely hear the ‘variety hour’ version of the tune, especially with the heavenly harmonies spread out, which make Waits look like some crooning balladeer. Waits would eventually rank the Eagles among his most hated acts, but if all he had heard for them was their wild configuration of his musical baby, chances are you would be feeling the exact same way.
3. ‘Wasted Time (reprise)’ – Hotel California
By the time the group got to Hotel California, Frey had made no room for filler anymore. They had just come off of a massive album with three blockbuster singles, and the rest of the world was waiting for them and wondering where they were taking things next. Everything had to be perfect down to the letter, so who thought ‘Wasted Time’ was a good enough song to warrant a reprise to kick off the next side?
That’s not even intended as a slam on ‘Wasted Time’. As a ballad, it’s among Henley’s finest vocals and is superbly produced, with the group’s harmonies in full force and the piano sounding heavenly as they fade everything down. And once people flip the record over, all they get is an orchestral version of the tune that feels like it’s better suited to being played in the background of a dentist’s office.
Considering Frey’s crack about not wanting filler, the one Eagle that should be even more pissed off about this is Don Felder. He had already been cheated out of singing ‘Victim of Love’, but it’s the ultimate slap in the face to say that the guitarist’s voice wasn’t strong enough, but borderline elevator music could get a pass.
2. ‘The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks’ – The Long Run
If the Eagles had been striving for perfection on The Long Run like they were on Hotel California, the album probably still wouldn’t have been released yet. Despite becoming one of the most successful groups of all time, everyone was burnt out the minute they got back into the studio, which wasn’t a good sign when they announced they hadn’t written anything yet. That meant starting from scratch, and ‘The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks’ was at least interesting, if not completely alien to the group.
Since the punk movement had started coming into the picture while they were on the road, this may have been their attempt at doing something akin to the new kids in town. Whereas they might have been going for something closer to Elvis Costello, it doesn’t really work with their garage-rock production style, instead sounding like a bunch of guys in leisure suits going to a keg party rather than anything remotely dangerous.
Even Henley didn’t bother defending it, thinking that it was a lot more funny in execution than what it ultimately became. It’s nice to hear that there were at least some lighthearted moments during downtime in the studio, but the true fate for a track like this should have been given to a songwriter with some delivery or have remained a jam session in the vaults. Still not a dealbreaker, but there should only be one filler cut on an album like this, and while ‘Teenage Jail’ isn’t a masterpiece, it’s a lot more interesting than this.
1. ‘I Wish You Peace’ – One of These Nights
So, what would constitute something that could top a list like this? Surely, it should be something clearly abhorrent that no one with functional hearing should be subjected to, right? As it turns out, the Eagles don’t actually have anything that awful in their back catalogue, but the most inexcusable moment probably came from the song that indirectly resulted in Bernie Leadon leaving the group.
Granted, Leadon had wanted to retire from the Eagles back on On the Border, but his choice to stick around for One of These Nights led to him not writing with any of his bandmates anymore. Now that he didn’t even bother sticking around for some sessions, ‘I Wish You Peace’ was a tune that he penned with his wife that he insisted on putting on the record, or else he would have ended up breaking Frey’s arm in the studio.
If nothing else, that last sentence alone could be an illustration of the fatal flaw that came with the Eagles. They made the most uplifting music that anyone had ever heard when they first arrived, but no one could have predicted all of the hostility that went into making something sound so immaculate.
