Eagles - Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. 2

This second collection of hits features a hardening of sorts for these laid back southern California rockers. The emphasis shifts away from the lazy, rolling rhythms of the first collection to the tighter and harder-edged material contained herein. Part of the blame may be the inclusion of James Gang veteran Joe Walsh who adds noticeable lead guitar work and galvanizes Don Henley and Glenn Frey into taking greater chances. "Hotel California" is the obvious potboiler, but "Heartache Tonight," "Life in the Fast Lane," and "The Long Run" are close runners-up. Timothy B. Schmit's vocals on "I Can't Tell You Why" return the band full circle to their mellow, country-rock roots. --Rob O'Connor Amazon.com

More "fun" from one of the most atrocious bands ever

Previously the Eagles' success baffled me, but I think I've got it figured out now: they brought the right stuff (dull pointless pedestrian soft-rock) to the right place (California) at the right time (the '70s). Their continued popularity today is probably more out of nostalgia and/or peer pressure ("How can you NOT like them?" say the fans. "Greatest Hits 1 is the biggest-selling album ever! If you don't like the biggest selling album ever, you don't have good taste!") than anything else.
But what's the music like? Well, I've heard the band themselves hated this album. I hate it too. For one, there's the '"legendary" "Hotel California". A #1 hit like anything else they put out at a certain point. But it's embarrassing. Every element that gets praised even today is an element of it I dislike - I see the syncopated reggae rhythms as this forced, "Look at us, we can do REGGAE! We're DIVERSE!" thing; the lyrics as either pretentious ("We stabbed the beast with steely knives") or unintentionally hilarious ("You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave" - what is this, the roach motel?), and the famed guitar duel near the end puts me out like no anesthetic ever could. And if Don Henley is ever picked as the voice of rock 'n' roll over Mick Jagger, Roger Daltry or John Fogerty, that will be the day I stop listening to rock 'n' roll. At least it isn't bad as their other attempt at reggae, "New Kid on the Block", another #1 hit (god, did these guys have a payola deal going? And while I'm conspiracy theorizing, they probably locked up all the executives of the Billboard charts in their basement and played them their music until they agreed to move their records up to #1).
But wait - there's more! The addition of Joe Walsh somehow convinced the Eagles that they were a sleazy boogie-rock band, like ZZ Top! Only they saw themselves as too smart to right about tube snakes and pearl necklaces and girls with legs who knew how to use them. No, instead they gave us their takes on either the frailty ("Heartache Tonight"; "Victim of Love") or longevity ("The Long Run") of love; cliched damming of rock-star life ("Life in the Fast Lane"). Problem is, they can't play boogie-rock; the vocals are painfully oversung, and the band sounds stiff and awkward. "Heartache Tonight" (or "Headache Tonight", take your pick) is especially painful, though all four of 'em are disgraces.
And can they write a memorable lyric that has not, in fact, been beaten into the ground? Glad you asked. No is the answer to that question. Let's count the songs that pretty much do the same thing as "The Sad Cafe"; "I Can't Tell You Why" and "After the Thrill is Gone". Let's see.... one, two, three, four... 9.5x10^28, 9.6x10^28, 9.7x10^28...
This right here is a fine example of why sometimes you can't trust the masses. The fact that George W. Bush was elected for two terms in office was another example. This might've sounded great in the '70s - I wasn't around back then, I wouldn't have a clue - but the music of the Eagles has aged like cream cheese. Oh yeah, they've got a new album out. You know what that means, right? That means I will never turn on the radio again as long as Don Henley, Glen Frey, Timothy B. Schmidt, Don Felder, Joe Walsh, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon live. At least Felder, Meisner and Leadon had the good sense to jump ship. Wait, wait, their music wasn't any better with them on board. Never mind. November 11, 2007

good album

"Seven Bridges Road" is my favorite Eagles song, yet I never had a copy of it. I had a few copies of the early Eagles albums on vinyl and later on cassette, but this was the first Eagles CD I added to my collection. I purchased this CD mainly because I couldn't find any other way to get a copy of "Seven Bridges Road". I listen to the whole album often. Turns out, I like the later day Eagles hits even more now than when they were on the radio all the time. July 5, 2007

Not so great !

I am not a fan of the band, I have listen to this cd a couple of time and I am not very pleased with it. There is just a couple of good tracks, not enough for me to keep this cd. I will use it as a gift for somebody who will listen to it, because I won't if I keep it. April 18, 2007

The title says it all!

As I said in my review for the first compilation,this album can afford to be out of print now that there's the surpassing THE VERY BEST OF THE EAGLES. There are ten chart-risers on this set(on hit parade between 1976 and '80) like the first set has. SEVEN BRIDGES ROAD is a live track derived from a 1980 concert(the band was still promoting THE LONG RUN). It could have used PLEASE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS which many radio stations played every Christmas season since 1978. HOTEL CALIFORNIA tracks include the title track,NEW KID IN TOWN,LIFE IN THE FAST LANE and VICTIM OF LOVE. Tracks from TLR are the title track,I CAN'T TELL YOU WHY and HEARTACHE TONIGHT(co-written by Bob Seger,a longtime friend of the band's lead guitarist/vocalist Glenn Frey's and drummer/vocalist Don Henley's). This set was released in 1982 when Frey and Henley were just experiencing success as solo artists(the Eagles disbanded the previous year). Frey put out NO FUN ALOUD on the MCA label and Henley remained with Asylum putting out I CAN'T STAND STILL. Henley signed with Geffen thereafter and still records on that label today. December 18, 2006

Greatest Hits not as great as they could be...

First off, I love the Eagles. If you're just getting into the Eagles, I think this and the first Greatest Hits are a good way to start. However, for people like myself, who know the band in and out, this isn't so 'great'. "After the Thrill is Gone" shouldn't be on here. The addition of "Those Shoes" would have been much better. I am also not fond of the inclusion of "Seven Bridges Road". I know they play the song at a lot of their shows, but it's not their song. I think "Wasted Time" would have been a great choice. Sadly though, the two Greatest Hits CDs have been rendered almost-useless by the 2003 The Very Best Of. This is still worth the money. October 14, 2006

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