This is another one of the 'rock royalty' albums. An album so iconic it almost defies explanation. Let's start with Joe Walsh. For this album Bernie left and Joe joined. Even though Jow only cowrote 2 of the tunes, his influence is all over this album. When you think about Joe back then, he seemed like such a minor character. Sure he had great songs and successes from James Gang and solo hits like Rocky Mountain Way, but he was never a superstar and he never seemed to be anything other than a drugged out, stoned guy who plays some mean slide guitar. He could easily be your buddy that lives down the street that you have written off under the "He'll never amunt to anything" catagory. But, when he joined the Eagles, everything changed for them. Gone are the mellow country-folk-rock sounds and lush harmonies that were so presant on their earlier records. This is a rock record. Period. It is also overrun with the pretensiousness of Don Henely and the contempt of Glen Fry. Still it all works perfectly. Even the preachy 'The Last Resort,' works. Superb song craft, perfect production, the insane allegory all come together in a nearly perfect album.
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