Hotel California
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| Hotel California | ||
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| Studio album by Eagles | ||
| Released | December 8, 1976 | |
| Recorded | March-October 1976 at Criteria Studios, Miami, FL and Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 43:30 | |
| Label | Asylum Records | |
| Producer(s) | Bill Szymczyk | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Eagles chronology | ||
| Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) (1976) |
Hotel California (1976) |
The Long Run (1979) |
- This article is about the album. For its title track, see Hotel California (song).
Hotel California is an album released by American rock band Eagles in late 1976 (see 1976 in music). It is the first Eagles album without founding member Bernie Leadon, and the first album with Joe Walsh.
Contents |
[edit] History
Hotel California was the Eagles' fifth album of original material and became a major commercial hit; since its release in late 1976, it has sold over 16 million copies in the U.S. alone, and is their best-selling album of original material. The album was at #1 for eight weeks between late 1976 and early 1977 (non-consecutively), and included two tracks which became #1 hits as singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "New Kid in Town", on February 26, 1977, and "Hotel California" on May 7, 1977.
In 2001 the TV network VH1 named Hotel California the 38th greatest album of all time. Hotel California was ranked 95th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 37 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
[edit] Themes
Hotel California touched on many themes, including innocence (and the loss thereof), addiction to drugs, death, the dangers, temptations, and transient nature of fame, shallow relationships, divorce and loss of love, the end results of manifest destiny, and the "American Dream".
Members of Eagles have described the album as a metaphor for the perceived decline of America into materialism and decadence. In an interview with Dutch magazine ZigZag shortly before the album's release, Don Henley said:
| This is a concept album, there's no way to hide it, but it's not set in the old West, the cowboy thing, you know. It's more urban this time (. . . ) It's our bicentennial year, you know, the country is 200 years old, so we figured since we are the Eagles and the Eagle is our national symbol, that we were obliged to make some kind of a little bicentennial statement using California as a microcosm of the whole United States, or the whole world, if you will, and to try to wake people up and say 'We've been okay so far, for 200 years, but we're gonna have to change if we're gonna continue to be around.' |
The album's final track, the epic "The Last Resort", was about the demise of society. Glenn Frey on the Hotel California episode of In the Studio with Redbeard explained about the track:
| It was the first time that Don took it upon himself to write an epic story and we were already starting to worry about the environment...we're constantly screwing up paradise and that was the point of the song and that at somepoint there is going to be no more new frontiers. I mean we're putting junk, er, garbage into space now. |
[edit] Album cover
The cover image is of the Beverly Hills Hotel. However, claims have been made by various hotels around the world to be the actual inspiration for the song, most notably the Hotel California in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico. However Don Henley has refuted this claim.
A multitude of rumors of a Satanic aspect to the album appeared during the height of paranoia about rock and heavy metal music being a tool of evil. The hotel of the title was linked to either a mental hospital, or the headquarters of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan. A shadowy figure on a balcony in an inner cover photograph was identified as LaVey or Satan (it was actually a woman), another figure in the same photograph was supposedly a propped up corpse, and the "Beast" mentioned in the lyrics of the title song was identified with Satan or Aleister Crowley. None of these rumors had any substance [1].
[edit] Track listing
- "Hotel California" (Felder, Henley, Frey) – 6:30
- Lead vocal by Don Henley
- "New Kid in Town" (J.D. Souther, Henley, Frey) – 5:04
- Lead vocal by Glenn Frey
- "Life in the Fast Lane" (Walsh, Henley, Frey) – 4:46
- Lead vocal by Don Henley
- "Wasted Time" (Henley, Frey) – 4:55
- Lead vocal by Don Henley
- "Wasted Time (Reprise)" (instrumental) (Henley, Frey, Jim Ed Norman) – 1:22
- "Victim of Love" (Felder, Souther, Henley, Frey) – 4:11
- Lead vocal by Don Henley
- "Pretty Maids All in a Row" (Walsh, Joe Vitale) – 4:05
- Lead vocal by Joe Walsh
- "Try and Love Again" (Meisner) – 5:10
- Lead vocal by Randy Meisner
- "The Last Resort" (Henley, Frey) – 7:25
- Lead vocal by Don Henley
[edit] Album pressing
The vinyl record pressings had custom picture labels of a blue Hotel California logo with a yellow background. They also had text engraved in the carry-out groove on each side:
- "Is It 6 OClock Yet?"
- "V.O.L. Is Five-Piece Live" (i.e. "Victim of Love" was recorded live in the studio without overdubs)
[edit] Personnel
- Don Felder: Acoustic guitar, Slide & Electric Guitars, pedal steel, steel guitar, vocals.
- Glenn Frey: Guitars, synthesizer, piano, keyboards, clavinet, vocals.
- Don Henley: Drums, percussion, synthesizer, vocals.
- Randy Meisner: Bass guitar, acoustic guitar, guitarron, vocals.
- Joe Walsh: Electric, Slide & Acoustic Guitars, Lap steel guitar, keyboards, piano, organ, synthesizer, vocals.
Additional personnel
- Jim Ed Norman - conductor
- Sid Sharp - concert master
[edit] Production
- Producer: Bill Szymczyk
- Engineers: Allan Blazek, Bruce Hensal, Ed Marshall, Bill Szymczyk
- Mixing: Bill Szymczyk
- String arrangements: Jim Ed Norman
- Art direction: Don Henley, John Kosh
- Design: John Kosh
- Photography: David Alexander
- Artwork: Kosh
- Poster design: Norman Seeff
- CD preparation: Kevin Gray
- Mastering and Remastering: Ted Jensen
[edit] Singles
- "New Kid in Town"/"Victim Of Love" - Asylum 45373; released December 7, 1976
- "Hotel California"/"Pretty Maids All In A Row" - Asylum 45286; released February 22, 1977
- "Life in the Fast Lane"/"The Last Resort" - Asylum 45403; released May 3, 1977
[edit] Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Country Albums | 10 |
| 1977 | Pop Albums | 1 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | "New Kid in Town" | Adult Contemporary | 2 |
| 1977 | "New Kid In Town" | Country Singles | 43 |
| 1977 | "New Kid In Town" | Pop Singles | 1 |
| 1977 | "Hotel California" | Pop Singles | 1 |
| 1977 | "Life In The Fast Lane" | Pop Singles | 11 |
[edit] Awards
| Year | Winner | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | "Hotel California" | Record Of The Year |
| 1977 | "New Kid in Town" | Best Arrangement For Voices |
Grammy Award nominations
| Year | Nominee | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | "Hotel California" | Song of the Year |
| 1977 | Hotel California | Album of the Year |
| 1977 | Bill Szymczyk | Producer of the Year |
| Eagles |
| Glenn Frey | Don Henley | Joe Walsh | Timothy B. Schmit |
| Randy Meisner | Bernie Leadon | Don Felder |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio albums: Eagles | Desperado | On the Border | One of These Nights | Hotel California | The Long Run | The Long Road To Eden |
| Live: Eagles Live | Hell Freezes Over | Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne |
| Compilations: Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) | Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | The Very Best of the Eagles |
