Hotel California

Given the extraordinary amount of airplay HOTEL CALIFORNIA garnered in the mid-70s and early 80s, it comes as quite a surprise to hear how fresh this recording sounds on DCC's 24k gold disc version. Familiar tracks benefit from the enhanced soundstage and control room-clarity of this exceptional digital remastering, revealing something of the actual recording studio room sound on many tracks.

Certified Multi-Platinum (16 times) by the RIAA. (3/01)

It's no accident that The Eagles Greatest Hits might one day pass Michael Jackson's Thriller as the best-selling album of all time-- the Eagles made great singles. By contrast, their albums could be spotty and strained by self-conscious artistry. Hotel California was arguably the band's best single album--it was certainly the Eagles' biggest original disc-- and it also underscored the band's need to make a big statement. The title tune reflected the album's theme of paradise lost in California, painting this picture with a musical arrangement that punctuated strumming guitars with dramatic drums, and perhaps the band's most famous lyric: "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." "New Kid in Town" was an equally fine albeit much more traditional Eagles ballad. "Life in the Fast Lane" aspired to hard rock but largely gunned its engine without taking off. The rest is okay, but nothing more than secondary Eagles songs that happened to be nestled into the album that came to define the `70s supergroup. --John Milward