YMMV / Eagles

• Americans Hate Tingle: Starting with Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) they became a big album-selling act internationally, but surprisingly they had trouble scoring hit singles outside North America. "Hotel California", which reached #8, was their only Top 10 hit in the UK. In Australia it was even worse, with no single going higher than #13 ("Heartache Tonight"). They managed some Germans Love David Hasselhoff Top 10s in New Zealand, Norway, and the Netherlands (where, oddly, their biggest hit was "Please Come Home for Christmas"), but never hit #1 in any of those countries.
• Anvilicious: When they have a point to make, they're not subtle about it. Notable examples include "The Last Resort," "In the City," "Get Over It," and at least a third of Long Road Out of Eden.
• Awesome Music: "Hotel California" is considered a rock & roll classic. They've got a lot of other good songs too that are classic rock radio staples.
  • Not to mention good songs that aren't classic rock radio staples, like "Too Many Hands" and "Teenage Jail".
  • At a bare minimum, the whole Hotel California album qualifies, as well as basically every song on their first greatest hits album, some of the singles from The Long Run, and scattered other album tracks.
• Broken Base: Particularly with Don Felder's 2008 book^note Suppressed for a long time by a lawsuit, which gives it a stamp of authenticity in some eyes and a 2013 television documentary, fans get divided over whether Henley and Frey are really Jerkasses who did or didn't have a point.
  • There's also the relatively minor (in comparison) matter of Bernie Leadon country rock Eagles vs Felder and Joe Walsh hard rock Eagles.
• Critical Dissonance: One of the most popular rock bands of all time, but unlike other commercially popular but critically reviled '70s rock bands who have been Vindicated by History many critics still consider the Eagles "corporate rock" at its worst. On the other hand, Hotel California is the one album that most critics acknowledge as a masterpiece. A number of critics will also endorse The Long Run as the "better" album, whether this is because they think the songs are better or just to be contrarian is unknown.
• Covered Up:
  • Through the tribute album Common Thread, Travis Tritt and Clint Black have made their covers of "Take It Easy" and "Desperado," respectively, almost as famous as the originals if not moreso.
  • "Take It Easy" is itself originally a Jackson Browne song, though Frey co-wrote it. Also subverted in that their version was released a year before Browne's.
  • "Please Come Home for Christmas" was first recorded by Charles Brown in 1960.
  • "How Long" is a cover of a J.D. Souther song.
  • "Ol' 55" was originally written and recorded by Tom Waits.
  • "Seven Bridges Road," the last single from the band in their prime, was originally written and performed by alt-country artist Steve Young in 1969. They borrowed their arrangement from the version Ian Matthews recorded four years later (which was produced by Michael Nesmith).
  • Couple of curious examples: "In The City" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive". The first was originally a Joe Walsh solo track (originally written and recorded for The Warriors), and the second was for a stillborn project involving Timothy B. Schmidt and Don Felder in the late 80's. Both were released later on Eagles albums, and are much more well known as Eagles songs. As far as Walsh, "Life's Been Good," "Rocky Mountain Way," and "Funk #49" have been heavily played in Eagles live sets; Henley has similarly inserted solo hits such as "The Boys of Summer", "All She Wants to Do Is Dance", and "Dirty Laundry". Plus, Glenn Frey's "You Belong To The City" has been played numerous times by The Eagles live.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Glenn Frey put the band together and was the de facto leader in the early years. Early concerts and singles had him as the lead singer more often than anyone else. Bernie Leadon, the other guitarist, was also an Alpha Male (actually, all seven past and present band members were/are, to some extent) and there was a lot of tension between those two because Leadon was, in a way, rivaling him in taking the reigns. Guess who would eventually become the most famous band member, the most frequent lead singer, and the most successful solo artist? Don Henley, the drummer! In the beginning he'd sing a couple of songs and write the odd lyric, but he gradually gained more and more prominence, and by the mid-70s he would be the one the audience and the media tended to focus on. He still let Glenn run the show, so it was more like a 'dual dictatorship' — which, by the way, resulted (one way or another) in the bitter retirement (voluntary or forced) of three band members and several people in the crew.
  • In that case, Henley's more of a Breakout Character, as he was eventually relocated to the front, and that's where he is now at least in terms of singing. Ensemble Dark Horse would suit Randy Meisner better: he was "just" a bassist and backing vocalist for most of their early hits, until they released "Take It to the Limit", which he sang and co-wrote, and it became their first big hit and one of their most popular numbers on stage, with a guaranteed standing ovation when he hit the high note near the end. His shyness and self-effacing attitude to it only made his whole persona much more appealing to the audience, and even his bandmates encouraged^note In the sense that Glenn Frey told him if he wasn't going to do it, he could just go ahead and quit. One day, he did. him to sing that song as it was such a highlight of their shows.
• Everyone Is Satan in Hell: "Hotel California" is the center of several rumors which claim it is actually about Anton LaVey, the Church of Satan, or devil worship in general.
• Harsher in Hindsight: "The Last Resort" mentions Lahaina, Hawaii, as a putative paradise. In 2023, the town was destroyed by a massive wildfire, making the lyrical theme of despoiled paradise even more poignant.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Their live act has been criticized for sounding exactly the same as on their albums. Owning one of their live albums is superfluous.
  • Don Felder explained the reason for it in a not-so-thinly-veiled Take That!: If the more spontaneous members of the band (himself and Joe Walsh, mainly) improvised anything, Henley and Frey would get insecure at being shown up. The latter two were also harsh critics of the other bandmembers' screwups while playing live.
• It Was His Sled: The "You can check-out anytime you like, but you can never leave" line from Hotel California used to be a nightmarish Wham Line. Now however, it’s pretty much known to people who haven’t even listened to the song.
• More Popular Spin Off: The Eagles weren't the first country-rock band. The Trope Codifier was The Flying Burrito Brothers, which Bernie Leadon was a member of.
  • Randy Meisner was also a member of Poco (so was his replacement Timothy B. Schmidt) before he was in The Eagles, and Don Henley and Glenn Frey (plus Meisner and Leadon) had played in Linda Ronstadt's backing band prior to forming the band.
• Nightmare Fuel: "Hotel California," with its Mind Screw of never being able to quite get a concrete idea of what's going on, and then that final line...
• Paranoia Fuel: On Greatest Hits: Volume II, "After the Thrill is Gone" is followed by a creepy hidden track that is 45 seconds of random piano notes with a swing rhythm. It really gives the listener the feeling that someone is stalking them. This can also be considered a Last Note Nightmare for the album.
• Second Verse Curse: A literal example; the second verse of "Lyin' Eyes" was cut from the radio edit (as well as a few verses later on) to make it short enough for radio.
• Signature Song: "Hotel California"; the band has several beloved hits under their belt, but nothing stands out more. "Take It Easy" is easily the main runner-up for its popularity and association with the band, and for being the song the band most often played live.
• Sophomore Slump: Desperado struggled hard compared to their first album, arguably saddled by the concept nature of it. Additionally, the two singles ("Tequila Sunrise" and "Outlaw Man") flopped. The title track, never released as a single, would go on to be Vindicated by History and became a future live staple and country standard. The album would only make gold and platinum due to "halo" sales after other more successful albums were released. The band would ultimately go in a new direction with On the Border, bringing in a new producer and guitarist.
• Tear Jerker: Many of their songs are quite sad. "Lyin' Eyes", "Desperado", "Pretty Maids All in a Row", and "The Last Resort" can have a particularly strong emotional effect on listeners, either musically, lyrically, or both.
• Tough Act to Follow:
  • While The Long Run spawned some of the band's biggest hits, it's not as fondly regarded as Hotel California.
  • While it has its fans and memorable tracks, Desperado could be this for their self-titled debut album.
  • Their newer post-1994 material as opposed to their classic era may count.

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