The underrated band that Stevie Nicks said made “musical perfection”
There are hardly any artists that are able to make absolutely perfect records from back to front. The Beatles are generally accepted as being one of the finest bands to walk the Earth, but even for someone that made one of the most spellbinding albums of all time, Stevie Nicks knew when bands were working well above their peers.
Then again, Nicks always knew that the greatest art wasn’t about making music that would find its way onto the charts. Her best songs were about capturing a feeling within the span of a few minutes, and even if ‘Dreams’ was a major hit from the time, what made it work on the radio was how everyone could relate to the heartache she was talking about and how one day the rain will wash everything away.
But Nicks wasn’t exactly the only person making more thoughtful music. You have to remember that this was the age of the singer-songwriter, and despite having the internal drama of her relationship with Lindsey Buckingham, everyone from James Taylor to Carole King to Cat Stevens were making records with that same storytelling perspective. But in California, Don Henley had a vision for something bigger.
Everyone from Jackson Browne to JD Souther had been writing tunes around the same time, but when Henley put together Eagles with Glenn Frey, they had the perfect package. There were those fantastic harmonies from every member of the group, but as they went on, Henley wasn’t simply writing love songs. His tracks took a hard look at human relationships and how the human race is treating the planet as well.
In fact, Henley’s approach seemed like a compliment to what Fleetwood Mac had been doing around the same time. Henley was never going to write a vengeful song like ‘Go Your Own Way’ or even a tune like ‘Rhiannon’, but his Twilight Zone tale on ‘Hotel California’ or the judgemental ode to excess on ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ left everyone wondering if the rock and roll dream was everything it was cracked up to be.
And despite having some hits under her belt, Nicks felt that there was no way of improving on what Eagles had done, saying, “Don Henley will always be very special to me and I hope we’ll always work together. The Eagles were a landmark group when Fleetwood MAc was first out. The songs, the harmonies, the musical perfection. I don’t think they ever really got the credit they deserved.”
While it’s strange to consider one of the biggest-selling bands underrated in any respect, it’s easy to see what Nicks is getting at there. Henley was always treated as a pop frontman compared to every other hard rock act out at the time, but a song like ‘A Month of Sundays’ or ‘New York Minute’ in his solo career are good enough to stand beside some of the biggest songwriters in history like Leonard Cohen or Randy Newman.
So for anyone that thinks of throwing on one of the band’s albums while they’re on a road trip or making a soundtrack to their next barbecue, just know there is a lot more under the surface there. Eagles were in it for the long haul, but no one gets to that position without having something worthwhile to say.
