The Eagles album Glenn Frey thought was far better than ‘Hotel California’: “The quality shifted”
Like whether the Loch Ness Monster is real, the Eagles are among the world’s least mysterious mysteries.
They are the only act with two records that rank in the ten best-selling albums of all time list, and yet there has never been a firm consensus regarding whether their name is prefixed with ‘the’ or they’re simply Eagles.
They are giants of the soft rock genre, but by their own admission, in their prime, they could stroll around Los Angeles barely getting recognised. They seemed to deplore the typical trappings of rock ‘n’ roll, but bickered, broke up, and patched things back together in a manner reminiscent of Spinal Tap. And even they can’t agree on their best work. So, they might not be a mystery in the classic sense, but they are a deeply puzzling paradox.
This strange disposition left the firm buddies squabbling and eventually embarking on an onstage brawl that brought things to an end. But during their time together, they achieved great things beyond their commercial acclaim. Bob Dylan saying that ‘Pretty Maids All in a Row’ “could be one of the best songs ever” is an achievement enough.
However, the record on which that song belong, Hotel California, is not quite the strongest in their discography according to Glenn Frey. Speaking in Life in the Fast Lane, Frey championed a different Eagles classic track and album that seemed to personify their second chapter, as their confidence grew and country rock became an AM radio mainstay.
With greater backing, they seemed to relish in their sound. “The Eagles were very inspirational to both Lindsey and I because we loved their singing,” Stevie Nicks said, “And we loved their ability to bridge country and rock and roll so beautifully.” That bridging really came to the fore with One of the Nights.
The album saw them meld the classic, structured four chords and simplicity of country, with a decidedly stunning musicianship and a rock ‘n’ roll shimmer. They had been hunkering down in the studio, and as Frey explains, “Perfection is not an accident.” With one record and its title track, the strong-jawed singer thinks they got pretty close to it.
“We made a quantum leap with ‘One of These Nights’. It was a breakthrough song,” he said. “It is my favourite Eagles record. If I had to pick one, it wouldn’t be ‘Hotel California’; It would be ‘One of These Nights’”. While the two efforts would arrive hot on the heels of one another, by the time that the group approached the former, tensions had risen, and the dynamic sway of their styles had moved on from the magical moment of formulation.
According to Frey, the title track caught the band at their most fluid. Devoid of tension in the studio, it typified how well the masterful musicians gelled at their best, with Frey explaining, “One of These Nights was the most fluid and ‘painless’ album [we] ever made.”
As a result, he thought the quality shifted up a few gears – moving the sun-kissed band into the fast lane in every sordid sense.
