A Good Day In Hell - The Official ILM Track-By-Track EAGLES Listening Thread

i dare you to remember what it sounds like five minutes after you play it.

"They say that he was craaaazy,
The kind that no lady should meet
He ran out to the ciiiity
and wandered around in the street "

this is pretty dire. I guess it's sorta clever that the second verse could be about a guy buying/practicing a guitar as much as it's (apparently) him becoming a gunslinger, in keeping with the "rock stars are the new outlaws" crackpot theme of the LP. Otherwise, ugh. I thought Meisner was a better singer than this.

agree there's a Neil Young feel to the chorus, but like eighth-generation Neil Young.

I disagree, I think it's quite memorable because of the vocal. But still rubbish though. Crappy lyrics too - "he was a poor boy, raised in a small family" - not going for the telling detail at all there.

i like the chord progression. everything else could use some work. still better than at least half of the first lp.

haha the vocals sound weird...like in a different key?

some of the verse reminds me of if Styx was country rock

its really clunky. kind of ahead of its time though for 1973. by 1978 there would be a zillion AOR bands writing songs like this.

guys like this. they took inspiration from randy.

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20120622/290732554815.jpg

fyi: that EP by The Deal sells for a ton if you ever see it. 200 dollar record.

why?

Sounds really familiar. Like did Cher do a cover of this?

the intro sounds REALLY familiar. like its a song i should know. another song.

The vocals remind me a little of Chris Bell on "I Am The Cosmos": he's at the top of his range (but not really, as we'd see in "Take It To The Limit"), and straining just a little. It works with Bell, not as much with Meisner.

Verse reminds me of the Motels' "Only the Lonely" ("They say that he was craaaazyy"/"It's like I toooolllld you")

Sounds kinda unfinished, like Meisner was pushing the guys to do a drawn-out ending and Henley was like, "Nope, you're done."

"why?"

beats me. i sell a lot of stuff like that to italy for some reason. private press/tiny label AOR stuff in general always good to sell. 70's and early 80's.

huh...that's so weird...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9nq6Dml4PA

^this band later featured a super young Dave Ellefson from Megadeth

The Litterer Band were a big AOR band in nothern Iowa in the late 70s and early to mid 80s...though they sorta retooled as a hair metal band like a lot of those bands did

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bgDNtXNUXg

the intro sounds REALLY familiar. like its a song i should know. another song

Carey by Joni Mitchell?

amazing that afterwards one song stays here and the other goes there

it's a no embeds thred m@tt

oops if anyone is a mod they can take it out

oh before i forget we need a group vote. coming up is a 48 second instrumental on the Desperado album and i need to know whether i should pair it with the next actual song or do we just talk about a 48 second instrumental tomorrow. i'll leave it up to you guys.

48-second instrumental please

Listening to this and Joni back-to-back has sledgehammered home The Eagles' fundamental averageness, I need as much of a break as thread concept can give me.

Friday would be the perfect day for me to enjoy a 48-second Eagles song.

I'm on board with reprises getting their own days in the sun too.

another vote for the miniature instrumental (& the reprise)

I'm down with 48 seconds

Ditto

A Certain Kind of Fool is almost good. I like the plaintive, strained singing on the verses. But not quite. This is miles above Frey filler though.

okay got it. 48 seconds seems like a nice reward on a friday.

everything about this, from the big ringing acoustic gtr chords, to the "poor boy raised in a small family" conceit, to the "he wants to dance" bridge that introduces his dream while kicking the song into electric rock gear, sounds like the beginning of a heartland rock anthem circa bryan adams, journey, etc., with maybe a little bit of tom petty and johnny cougar tossed in. this could be the exact song that invented the 1980s. except that it abruptly ends at the very point where it should be exploding into the gigantic radio hook that they've been holding out on through that 3-minute buildup.

also, it's really not very good.

Given the context of the album "Desperado" the song has a double meaning. On one hand, it's about a wannabe gunslinger; in another sense, it's about a guitar player learning his chops, in hopes of becoming a rock star. - Tim in Denver

Gleeeeeennn Freeeyyyy, when will you come to your seeeenseeeees

YOU GOTTA LET SOMEBODY LOOOOOOVE YOU

On one hand, it's about a wannabe gunslinger; in another sense, it's about a guitar player learning his chops, in hopes of becoming a rock star.

which reminds me of the other '80s band that "certain kind of fool" seems to be a template for: bon jovi.

Funny you should say that since the next commenter on songfacts.com says

You both are right on! I like the way the songs meld into one another. Again Desparado is one of the best albums ever...along with Bon Jovi's soundtrack album for Young Guns. Yea, I like the reference of either or gunslinger or guitar player..so so so cool! - Valerie in Eureka, Calif.

yeah that young guns soundtrack is amaz--*shoots self*

... with a guitar

the gunslinger/rock star metaphor was thoroughly explored elsewhere in 1973 by billy joel on "the ballad of billy the kid," and a year later by bad company on "bad company." among others.

Gleeeeeennn Freeeyyyy, when will you come to your seeeenseeeees

YOU GOTTA LET SOMEBODY LOOOOOOVE YOU

You need to read the cameron crowe eagles article which is on the same site as the Irv Azoff profile that was linked upthread. You'll sing that even louder.

That site is chock full of Crowe laurel canyony archival stuff, so awesome

Good blurbs.

these guys are humanitarian:

Lujack cuts drummer Don Henley short. “Linda Ronstadt.” The name rolls off his lips with lecherous abandon. “She’s probably my favorite chick singer, heh-heh. Say, I remember reading somewhere that the Eagles do the best ‘ooo’s in the business. What do you say to that?”

” ‘ooo’s for bucks, Larry, that’s our motto.” Frey flashes a sly grin. “The only difference between boring and laid back is a million dollars.”

Lujack chortles mirthlessly. “You rock & rollers are all alike, aren’t you? Hey, is it true you guys want to sound like Al Green? What’s the matter, you tired of being cowboys?”

“That’s actually very true,” Henley deadpans. “We almost called this record Black in the Saddle….”

Yeah that's from the article I was talkin about. Later on there's some thoughtful Glenn gems.

Glemms.

If you had a machine that could pop out a generic 'meaningful' 70s Rock song after programming in a few ingredients (acoustic rhythm guitar, anthem-y chorus, working class pathos), "Certain Kind of Fool" is what would come out.

Don Henley sits alone at the table tonight. He looks like he could be a better-looking younger brother of Mac Davis.

better looking that mac davis? shut yo mouf

He gets better looking each day.

Take this job and chug it

Lujack chortles mirthlessly.

Haha, Larry Lujack was the DJ I probably listened to the most growing up. Despite (or maybe because of) being a top Top 40 DJ in Chicago, he was a huge Throbbing Gristle fan.

been listening to new dylan bootleg thing and byrds remasters on cd at the store all week and i can't say it makes eagles a highlight of my day. i can handle it though.

Hey Scott. Younger than Yesterday or 5D if you could only have one?

sheesh its a toss-up. 5D sounded really good the other day. if i had to pick one though i might have to go with notorious because i wouldn't want to live without "Goin' Back". carole king wrote that one. every time i hear it i just go ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...............that's the stuff.