The Eagles - 1970s

(Credits: Alamy)

Sat 20 September 2025 18:15, UK

No one in Eagles was going to be satisfied with making merely passable rock and roll. 

Although their songs are a lot more laid-back than nearly every hard rock band that was out at the time, it was impossible not to sing along to their tunes whenever they came on the radio, whether if that was in their prime in the 1970s or whenever ‘Take it Easy’ blares out of a car stereo. The band weren’t going to settle for anything less than perfection, but there’s almost a scientific middle ground where all their greatest hits can be found.

Granted, it’s not like science is going to be judging the preciseness of their harmonies or anything. If that were the case, bands like The Beach Boys and Queen may have them beat by a few miles. The metric that’s being judged here is how well they hold up next to the singles of the time, and even by that logic, the California rockers already had a wealth of great tracks to choose from.

‘Take It Easy’ was only the tip of the iceberg, and when looking at everything from their ballads to their rock and roll classics, there was always going to be a little something for everybody when picking up one of their records. Then again, the most perfect Eagles song was never going to be an obscure deep cut or a bootleg of a fantastic show that they had circa 1975 or anything.

The true peak of their powers came when all of them were working together, but even by that logic, a song like ‘Hotel California’ is a beautiful contradiction. They had written epic tunes before, but the fact that they managed to get a song that’s over six minutes to the top of the charts is unheard of in the pop market. And it helps that the song actually earned that spot with no problem at all.

When looking at the charts more objectively, the album Hotel California is already revered in the band’s catalogue, but the song itself has transcended what any traditional hit is meant to be. Compared to their massive smashes like ‘Tequila Sunrise’ or even ‘Desperado’, ‘Hotel California’ is far beyond anything that they have ever done, being ranked at #2 most popular song of the year it was released and #72 in the greatest singles ever released.

But what about ‘Hotel California’ makes it so memorable? Sure, there are the harmonies that everyone dwells on, but there’s more to it than Don Henley’s soulful voice soaring above everything. All the pieces are there for a classic Eagles song, but the true power it has is the fact that every single member of the group has a chance to shine in some respect.

While Glenn Frey and Henley should get a lion’s share of the credit for creating this Twilight Zone scenario of an imaginary hotel that steals your artistic soul, the rest of the backing track is damn near flawless by their standards. Randy Meisner anchors everything to the ground with his basslines, and while Don Felder and Joe Walsh already have beautiful guitar fills throughout the piece, their dueling solos at the very end is the most perfect ear candy that ever turned up on an Eagles project.

All of them were only focused on making the best record that they could, but ‘Hotel California’ has transformed into a song that defies categorisation. Most of Eagles’ greatest songs could be enjoyed with a margarita in your hand on a beach, but over six minutes of music, they created a tune that could take its place next to ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘American Pie’ as one of the greatest epic pieces in rock history.  

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