Don Henley: Why The Eagles Peaked With ‘Hotel California’
The Eagles’ Hotel California remains their most famous album and many classic rock fans will tell you it’s their best. Don Henley explained why that was the band’s greatest record. Henley also revealed how he felt when he was recording Hotel California compared to how he felt when he was recording the group’s next LP.
Don Henley on the whirlwind that created The Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’
During a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Henley discussed his feelings on The Eagles’ Hotel California. “I think that we were at the height of our powers,” he said. “Every band has a peak, and that was ours.
“And because of various factors — pressure to perform at peak level, pressure to deliver more of the same, the changing nature of the band dynamic, the constantly changing public tastes, etc. — it was impossible for us to take the time off that we needed in order to get our heads together, to regain a sense of perspective that we had lost,” he added. The Eagles put out two studio albums after Hotel California: The Long Run and Long Road Out of Eden. Nobody likes those albums as much as Hotel California.
Henley discussed the reasons why The Eagles named their post-Hotel California album The Long Run. “Irony,” he said. “The group was breaking apart, imploding under the pressure of trying to deliver a worthy follow-up to Hotel California, and yet we were writing about longevity, posterity. Turns out we were right. Irony upon irony.”
How critics reacted to The Eagles’ best album
Henley revealed what he thought of the recordings of The Eagles’ albums. “The recording of every one of our albums had moments of ecstasy and agony,” the “Boys of Summer” singer said. “That’s just the way the process works. But if I had to choose an overall favorite studio experience, it would be the Hotel California album. My least favorite time was the recording of The Long Run, for reasons already explained.”
Some great albums have been ignored by critics. Hotel California is not one of them. Rolling Stone placed it at No. 118 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Music and critical tastes have changed so much since the album came out in 1976. The fact that critics are still giving the album the time of day all these years later is a testament to its quality.
Will younger generations enjoy Hotel California? We can only hope. It’d be great if younger artists took inspiration from its masterful production and lyrics of the song “Hotel California.”
How ‘Hotel California’ sold
Hotel California was a huge hit for The Eagles. It topped the Billboard 200 for eight weeks, lasting on the chart for 158 weeks in total. It was the band’s longest-charting studio album.
The Eagles’ later two albums didn’t perform nearly as well. The Long Run topped the Billboard 200 for an impressive nine weeks, but it only spent 57 weeks on the chart. Meanwhile, Long Road Out of Eden was No. 1 on the chart for a week and charted for 75 weeks altogether. While both records were hits, neither were as popular as Hotel California.
The world checked into Hotel California in 1976 and, since then, we have never left.
