On A Dark Desert Highway...

Some people consider "Hotel California" a pivotal album, an essential rock recording. Others consider it ponderous, heavy-handed and over-rated.

Truth be told, "Hotel California" is a flawed masterpiece, an immaculate collection of songs that has not entirely stood the test of time. The album's title cut is a victim of what could be called the "Stairway to Heaven" phenomenon: Unlike anything that had come before, yet lyrical and incredibly catchy, the song has been subject to airplay ad nauseum over the past twenty-five years. A blatant attack on the materalistic attitudes of the seventies, particularly in southern California, this song opens with the mysterious twelve-string guitar of Don Felder, and as Don Henley's vocals get more intense, Joe Walsh's guitar explodes with energy, giving the work its punch.

There are several other songs on the album that are also well known: "Life in the Fast Lane" is like a harder-rocking version of "Hotel California" with some witty and satirical lyrics; "New Kind in Town" is softer, a seemingly innocent country-rock song in which Glenn Frey's vocals contrast nicely the rasping tone of Henley. "Wasted Time" is an under-rated ballad with a bluesy, very spiritual feel to it and thought-provoking lyrics about second chances and perspective in life.

There are a number of weaker songs on the album as well. "Try and Love Again" and "Victim of Love" are forgettable, if polished, country-rock numbers. "The Last Resort" is interesting but too long and the string arrangement of "Wasted Time" is redundant after the song itself.

Is "Hotel California" a true classic or a ponderous monument to 70s excessiveness in rock? You decide, but based on the evidence above--and the fact that many songs on the album still saturate the airwaves--one can conclude that this Eagles work is probably closer to the former.