Eagles - Desperado

If ever a group of musicians had a clear vision of where they wanted to go and how to get there, it was these southern California boys who built a steady rolling FM hit factory on basic tenets of Gram Parsons's invention of country-rock. For their second album, the group decided concept was most important and set out to portray themselves as keepers of the old West--their outlaw image a natural for those born unto rock and roll soil. The hits are lazy, decadent, and unrepentant; "Tequila Sunrise" and the title track, feature the flawless harmonies and strong vocals of Glenn Frey and Don Henley. --Rob O'Connor Amazon.com

Desperado Is A Metaphor .

I have not read every review on this album, however the ones I have missed the fact that the Eagles are using the outlaw/western theme as a metaphor for being a rock musician. Go back and listen to "Certain Kind Of Fool" -

"He saw it in a window
The mark of a new kind of man
He kinda liked the feeling, so shiny and smooth in his hand
He took it to the country and practiced for days without rest
And then one day he felt if,
He knew he could stand with the best..."

It not a gun-it's a guitar. Six shooter = six string guitar.

Every song on this album works on both levels and that (along with the great musicainship) is what makes it exceptional!
March 7, 2008

The Eagles' classic outlaw-themed concept album

The Eagles' second album Desperado, released in April of 1973, is the band's best album from their early four-piece lineup.
The album was a concept album about the Wild West being used as a metaphor for modern day rock and rollers being seen as outlaws.
The album begins with "Doolin-Dalton", a nice slow ballad which has drummer Don Henley and guitarist/keyboard player Glenn Frey singing their hearts out. Next is guitarist Bernie Leadon's "Twenty One" which is the band's most country-tinged song ever. Next is "Out of Control" which had the heaviest guitars I've ever heard from the Eagles and is a stellar rocker. "Tequila Sunrise" is a great ballad to relax to after the heavy rock of the previous track and was the album's biggest hit. The title cut follows and is a superb ballad which is now the band's closing song.
Bass player Randy Meisner starts the second half with the rocker "Certain Kind of Fool" and is a great song. The "Doolin Dalton Instrumental" follows and segues into the rocker "Outlaw Man" which is a great song despite the fact none of the band wrote the track. "Saturday Night" is next and the harmonies are haunting but superb. "Bitter Creek" follows and is the second best song Leadon contributed to the band, behind My Man (from the follow-up On the Border). The album closes with the reprise to "Doolin Dalton" and "Desperado" and is a perfect way to close this fantastic album.
I first got this album on cassette as a 9 year old from my father and today it is still a classic, especially with its remastering (on the remastered CD) courtesy of Ted Jensen.
Highly recommended! November 7, 2007

No sophomore slump here

Desperado has always been my favorite Eagles album. Hotel California is probably a better batch of songs, but they don't fit together as well as the ones found here do. That, along with the relatively uncommercial Old West motif, is probably why this was their only album with no hit singles. All the songs just sound more convincing if listened to in one sitting.

Admittedly, the opener, "Doolin' Dalton," isn't much like anything else they ever did, but the edgy harmonies are great and it does set the stage for the loosely bound tale that follows. "Out of Control" is the most savage rocker of their career and the very epitome of the wild-guys'-night-out motif that appears throughout their catalog, although the bland guitar solo shows why it's a good thing they hired Don Felder on their next album. Other heavy moments include "Certain Kind of Fool" and "Outlaw Man," which could be about the same small town misfit running amok in the desert. Although the Eagles reportedly wanted to prove they were a rock and roll band with Desperado, it also features two of their best ballads. You probably know the title track even if you don't own this album, but "Saturday Night" is a lovely buried treasure that deserves to be just as well known. Also featured here is the mid-tempo "Tequila Sunrise," which should have been the album's hit single.

The country motif all but disappeared from the Eagles sound after this - but at least they really made it count once. August 10, 2007

whatever happened to Saturday night?

This is one of the Eagles best albums. All the songs are strong and for me, the problem with some of the Eagles songs is that they sound too much like all the other soft rock songs of the 70's(check out some of the songs on their first and The Long Run). This album though dosesn't have that problem with every tune being a classic. This is one of those albums that you put in and before you know it, it's over. the version I would recommend is the version in the box set where all of their albums are made to look like the original lps from when I first owned them. April 1, 2007

One of the seventies' landmark albums.....

"Desperado" was one of the most important albums of the seventies in that it firmly established the Eagles as something more than Linda Rondstadt's backup band. From the title track to "Saturday Night" (a live version of which is done very well on 1980's "Eagles Live"....) there isn't a stinker amongst the mix. In fact, one of my favorite lines from the album is from "Certain Kind of Fool: "....and it's a certain kind of fool that likes to hear the sound of his own name....." (How many politicians and celebrities can we apply THAT to...)

All in all, it's a very enjoyable album in the Poco/Pure Prarie League vein..... March 27, 2007

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