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