Ravinia 2025 Issue 3

American dream, idealism realized and idealism thwarted, illusion versus reality, the difficulties of balancing loving rela- tionships and work, trying to square the conflicting relationship between busi- ness and art; the corruption in politics, the fading away of the Sixties’ dream of peace, love and understanding.” The album’s stark cover photo of an ominously lit, Mediterranean-style hotel flanked by palm trees at sunset, taken by David Alexander, also suggested a tempting allure and hidden menace. The opening, unorthodox title track “Hotel California”—filled with varied passages, musical interludes, shadowy figures, potent lyrical word pictures, and a closing clash of guitars—signaled in sound, vibe, and performance that The Eagles were spreading their wings to soar into rock’s stratosphere. Felder offered a delicate, eerie guitar introduction as an instrumental piece that quickly became the catalyst and overture for the song’s dramatic, mythic, cryptic, storytelling lyrics, written most- ly by Henley. Filled with dark images (“You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave”), abundant alliteration (“Tiffany-twisted,” “Sweet summer sweat”), clever wordplay (“She got the Mercedes- bends ”), and, of course, the veiled, misunderstood marijuana reference “The warm smell of colitis rising up through the air,” it was obvious The Eagles were striving for something different. “Don and I were Steely Dan fans, and they were so brave lyrically. We wanted to write a song like an episode of The Twilight Zone . Cinematic but not always making sense, with one shot to the next, strange people, and following this guy. I think we achieved perfect ambiguity,” Frey told Bob Costas in 1992. Finally, it is the fierce, piercing, ex- tended, daring guitar duel highlighting Felder and Walsh as they trade licks and solos that dominates and directs the song to a powerful, passionate, climatic coda. The song “Hotel California” sets the tension and tone for the entire album, which practically plays from top to bot- tom like an Eagles greatest hits collection. It boasts three stellar hit singles—in- cluding two that became Billboard num- ber-ones and Grammy winners: “New Kid in Town,” a mournful, traditional Eagles slow burn strummer, pristine in its simplicity, and the aforemen- tioned “Hotel California”—and the Joe Walsh-wailing, coked-out classic rock standard “Life in the Fast Lane.” The album brims with often-over- looked but definitive deep cuts, including the sinister, caustic, and crashing “Victim of Love,” Walsh’s uncharacteristically tender ballad “Pretty Maids All in a Row,” Meisner’s memorable contribution “Try and Love Again (which showcases his high-oc- tave, emotive voice accented by the band’s trademark soaring harmonies), and two Henley career highlights—the lush, romantic, regretful dirge “Wasted Time,” featuring one of Henley’s best and despairing vocals ever, and the poetic, expansive, lamenting cautionary tale of environmental excess “The Last Resort.” The latter majestically ends the al- bum with pungent poignancy by declar- ing, “They call it paradise / I don’t know why / You call someplace paradise /Kiss it goodbye.” Ironically, the same loss of inno- cence, debauchery, skewed reality, strained relationships (Meisner departed in 1977 and was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit), and emotional conflict addressed on Hotel California ultimately led to the band’s acrimonious demise just one album (1979’s The Long Run ) and four years later in 1980. At the time, Henley famously pro- claimed The Eagles would reunite “when Hell freezes over.” The band remained estranged until 1994, when they reunited for an MTV concert special that eventually led to a full reunion that—with some necessary and the usual Eagles’ lineup changes— continues today. Henley reflected on the album’s significance to USA Today : “Every band has its creative peak. I think that was ours. We were willing to make some changes and take some risks and try to do something different from anything we’d done before.” James Turano is a freelance writer and a former entertainment editor, feature writer, and columnist for national and local magazines and newspapers. He has written official programs for eight Elton John tours since 2003 and is also a Chicago radio personality and host on WGN 720AM. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JUNE 30 – JULY 20, 2025 14

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTkwOA==