1002. Eagles / Desperado. 1973. 3/5

Following up their debut album, the eagles had originally come up with the idea of doing a more ‘serious’ album, a concept album, one where they would write songs about anti-heroes. While it never really eventuated the way they may have first envisioned, it does focus on the old west and the life as it was in those days. More importantly, they again put together an album of songs that showcased their amazing talents, both musically and vocally.

“Doolin-Dalton” starts the album off strongly, led by Don’s easy vocal and a non-threatening musical background which was initially to be the set up for the whole concept of the album. This is followed by “Twenty-One” which is very much a Bernie Leadon track, solidly written around his favourite banjo and with Glenn’s slide guitar thrown in, it is an upbeat bouncy song that lifts the mood of the album immediately. This segues straight into “Out of Control”, and the harder guitar riff and vocal quality making it much closer to a rock song with Glenn’s guitar and vocals dominating. The album has built up, with each of the three opening songs acting like waking up from sleep, with the quieter slower opening track into the bouncing second track and the much louder and rockier third track. It works well.
That style changes up once again for the classic “Tequila Sunrise”, a song that has become a stand out in its own right. Its gentle tones and wonderful vocal line from Glenn just seem to flow along in an unhindered way, simple tones and range that make it sound so easy but is so difficult to reproduce if you don’t have the talent to do so. This, like all of their early classic songs, stands apart from everything else on the album. The other song of this category on the album is the title track. “Desperado” is the slow piano based ballad sung by Don. It has become one of the Eagles best known songs, but was never released as a single by the band. In fact, it wasn’t until Linda Ronstadt released her version of the song that it became so huge, and was then sought after by fans everywhere. I don’t mind the song, but I don’t list it as one of my favourites.
“Certain Kind of Fool” with Randy singing lead vocals flows along nicely with his unique vocal range dominating and giving this a completely different mood from the other tracks on the album. Following the “Doolin-Dalton” instrumental segue of Bernie Leadon’s banjo playing, the album flows into “Outlaw Man” which was the second song released from the album. It has a rockier feel that the overall genre of the album, a faster energy throughout that makes it pleasant enough to listen to.
“Saturday Night” returns to the gentler side of the band, with the four way harmonies of the vocals and the acoustic guitar underneath the main focus of the song. This again segues into “Bitter Creek” another gentle country and western based song revolving around those amazing voices and the guitar and piano. It’s the crooning background harmonies that get you every time, even if it seems to stretch out for the last two minutes of the song on repeat. The album is then completed by the reprise of “Doolin-Dalton” and “Desperado”, completing the loop of the songs that bookended the first side of the album.

While Desperado is still very listenable, especially if you are in a quiet mood and you are just looking for something inoffensive to be playing in the background, this is still the Eagles in their original form. It’s the country and western side of their career, before the guitars and drums began to take a more firm outlook on the band. I still like the album, and anyone who loves the sound of those harmony vocals will like it as well. Even so, when I go looking for an Eagles album to put on and sing along with, I will go to one of the later albums rather than this.

Rating:  "It's another tequila sunrise, staring slowly 'cross the sky, said goodbye".  3/5

840. Eagles / Eagles. 1972. 4/5

I enjoyed music from a young age, and remember it quite often from at home and especially in the car on long trips. My mother would often make mixed tapes from songs recorded off the radio onto cassettes, that would then be played over and over. I reckon I could still name a lot of those songs that she had on those tapes. There was also the tapes done by bands, and in particular greatest hits compilations, that also came into the mix. Despite my own musical tastes branching out into a different stratosphere from all of these early influences since then, most of that music stayed with me, to the point where some of those bands still became favourites for me. The Eagles is one of those bands. I eventually came around to owning all of their albums myself, and this was their debut release.

What becomes glaringly obvious on this first album is that this was when the band was truly a combination of musicians where everyone contributed to all parts of the recording. All four members contributed to writing the songs on the album, along with others from outside of the band such as Jackson Browne, Gene Clark and Jack Tempchin. All four members not only contribute harmony vocals in back up, they all take a turn as lead vocalist on separate songs. It is a true collective effort, and while sometimes that can be to the detriment of the end result, here it works really well. Certainly there is little doubt about where the strongest elements are, but as a whole this album works well within these confines.
The lesser known songs here, the ones that were not released as singles, all hold their own strength in the framework of the album. Glenn Frey's "Chug All Night" does just what the title indicates, and chugs along much like the opening track, with the country guitar taking prominence. "Most of Us Are Sad" was written by Glenn but sung by Randy Meisner. Like many of the songs Randy sings, the tempo is slowed down and he has the harmony vocal behind him, which always helps emphasise the emotion behind the tune. this then segues straight into "Nightingale", which was the song contributed by Jackson Browne, and was sung by Don Henley. The tempo picks up noticeably, and while the previous song was sweet and gentle due to Randy's vocals, here the song is immediately more in your face with Don's harder edged (for country rock) yet brilliant vocals.
"Train Leaves Here This Morning" was sung by Bernie Leadon, and co-written with Gene Clark, and also settles on the easy listening side of the Eagles catalogue, concentrating on the softly sung vocals and harmonising backing. "Take the Devil" was performed by Randy, whose vocals really come to the fore here over Glenn's country rock guitar. There's nothing gentle in the vocals here like in "Most of Us Are Sad", and while the song itself flows from calm to loud, Randy's vocals are the dominating influence. Te mood changes again, with bird tweeting and Bernie's banjo leading us into "Earlybird" which is a co-production from Bernie and Randy with Bernie taking on the lead vocal as well. There's a nice switching between the banjo and Glenn's guitar on this song, with the banjo giving the song an uplifting feel. "Tryin'" was the second song Randy wrote and sang, and is the closing song on the album. This is the rockiest song that Randy sings on this album. In fact, his three songs seem to span the entire range of the Eagles album. Don has a more rock beat to his drums, and the guitars are allowed to indulge themselves a little more than they have on other songs. A great way to finish the album.
The three singles are the best known songs off the album, and are dominant figures of the band's early recordings. "Take It Easy" is sung by Glenn and co-written with Jackson, and is still one of my favourite Eagles tracks. This is followed by "Witchy Woman", written by Don and Bernie, and sung by Don. Surprisingly it is the only song on the album that is credited to Don Henley. Those gravelly vocals still make this song a beauty. "Peaceful Easy Feeling" also flows on like it's title, sung by Glenn and written by frequent co-writer Jack Tempchin. The lyrics mirror the music here, as the whole song conjures up a peaceful easy feeling when you are listening to it. There is a real country twang both in the vocals and in the guitar, and Don's gentle drum beat.

This is still a terrific album, a much more country influenced album than they were to morph into as the albums progressed. It is very much an easy listening album, with few moments that really make you sit up and consider rocking out to. But that doesn't detract from the fact that the songs are strong and well written, and those vocal harmonies are still the star of the show.

Rating:  "Raven hair and ruby lips, sparks fly from her finger tips"  4/5