Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)

It’s another day of Old Lady CDs. I swear I’m still listening to a lot of contemporary music, I’m just forcing myself to work through these CDs. I’ve been really digging the new Ogbert, the new Freddie Gibbs, and the new Johnny Foreigner. But I don’t have those on CD, so I’m not talking about those on that blog until I do. In fact, it’s gonna be almost all Old Lady stuff until the new year because of the goddamn Christmas albums. Buckle up.

Yep, it’s a greatest hits compilation. Old ladies tend to buy these. In the era of “This Is…” playlists and instant access to entire discographies, greatest hits albums feel unnecessary. The casual listeners don’t need it. The hardcore fans don’t want it. And yet this greatest hits album is the best selling album of all time in the United States.

This album was famously put out by Asylum Records with little to no input from Eagles themselves (and yes, it’s Eagles, not the Eagles). From that perspective, it’s still well sequenced, and there’s little that’s offensively bad. However, since it’s just the radio hits, a lot of my favorite Eagles songs from this era are missing. I mean, I’m not surprised that “Journey of the Sorceror” and “Bitter Creek” didn’t make it, but no “After the Thrill is Gone”, no “Doolin-Dalton”, no “Ol’ 55”?. And of course, “Hotel California” didn’t come out until the year after Their Greatest Hits.

Side one opens with their first single, “Take it Easy”, which is basically just a The Band song with a banjo instead of a piano (and a very good The Band song at that). “Witchy Woman” is more of a swayer than a rocker, and draws more from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s sound. This is also where the super high vocals that would become their signature show up. “Lyin’ Eyes” is much more straightforward country with some 12 string shimmer and a country-picking love story. “Already Gone” is an excellent uptempo country rocker with lyrics that land more solidly on the rock side of the country rock divide. It’s almost as if country rock requires being able to do both country and rock, somehow. I know Don Henley was upset about how “Desperado” was decontextualized on Their Greatest Hits from how he intended it on its namesake album, but it stands alone as a good tragic ballad as the side closer.

Side two starts and ends with Eagles’ two number one hit singles and sags in the middle. “One of These Nights” was recorded in the same studio as the Bee Gees, and their influence is all over it. This is about as disco as they get. “Tequila Sunrise” isn’t my favorite song off of Desperado, and its moseying Neil Young melody and arrangement is merely pleasant. “Take It to the Limit” is the only song genuinely dislike on this record. The strings are corny and the pathos pathetic, and I don’t like Randy Meisner’s voice as much as I like Don Henley’s. “Peaceful Easy Feeling” is less than what it says on the tin, a sedate country strummer. “The Best of My Love” is much better at creating that kind of feeling in me.

Based on the speckles on the disc and the crack in the corner, but the otherwise good quality of the rest of the packaging, I’d wager that this was a well-loved and often-played CD. The cover is simple. The motorcycle pinstripe typography and the painted eagle skull on the light blue dappled background evokes the Eagles’ sound on this record perfectly - aesthetically western, but soft and un-folksy. The back cover is economical and text-heavy like other albums of this era, but it’s all legible and unobtrusive. The disc itself is a mostly-unpainted number with a very attractive mustard-yellow highlight. The interior of the booklet is baffling. No lyrics, no preface, the barest minimum credits, huge text and margins, and two whole pages devoted to explaining what a CD is and how to clean it.

Can I see how a country or a rock purist might dislike the discoification of both towards the end of the record? Yeah, but my 21st century self doesn’t mind it. Can I see early foreshadowings of Don Henley’s goopy adult contemporary career in the ‘80s? Less than I thought I would, but yes. Am I primed to hate this as an underground musician, constantly rooting for the underdog against the commercial titans of yesteryear? Absolutely. As a kid, I had access to my dad’s CD collection on my mp3 player and later iPod. He had three Eagles records - the eponymous Eagles, Hotel California, and Desperado, which was my favorite. I think that if you want to get to know Eagles, you should listen to the albums. This compilation wasn’t created to show you Eagles’ soul, it was created to make you sway in your chair, to rock softly. Frankly, I don’t want to rock softly. I like most of the songs on here, but as soon as I get my own proper Eagles albums, this compilation is never going to see any use.

Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 by Eagles is a good compilation, and I don’t like it.