For over 40 years, hating the Eagles has become a universally accepted stance. People love to hate the band for the same reason they love to hate Nickelback or Justin Bieber. To such haters, the most egregious crime an artist can commit is to be far more popular and financially successful than the overall quality of their work should realistically warrant. In the Eagles’ case, how dare Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) even think of rivaling Michael Jackson’s Thriller atop the list of best-selling albums?!
Guitarist/singer Glenn Frey alluded to this principle in an interview with Cameron Crowe in 1975: “Mass appeal is definitely suspect . . . sometimes all that mass appeal means is that you simplified your equation down to the lowest common denominator.” The band doesn’t do much to help their cause when they say things like this, either: “We set out to become a band for our time. But sometimes if you do a good enough job, you become a band for all time.” That painfully self-important quote comes once again from the mouth of Frey in the recent History of the Eagles
. The documentary, which first aired on Showtime in February and is now available on DVD and Blu-ray, provided the necessary impetus for the band to initiate their current tour.
For all the negativity that gets blasted in their direction though, the fact of the matter is that Frey is correct, the Eagles have become a band for all time. Certainly, the band did as much as any group to reach the highest levels of mass appeal, yet they did so without reducing their music to the lowest common denominator; take, for instance, their monumental album Hotel California, which at the time was a radical departure from their previously bankable countrified pop sound toward a harder rock flavor. It was a risk to be sure, one that inevitably paid off as history has shown, and it was absolutely necessary for the survival of the group not only to challenge themselves, but their audience as well–something not typically done in a race to the bottom.
The band’s oeuvre of chart-topping songs like “Hotel California,” “Best of My Love,” and “One of These Nights” will far outlive any sort of bashing that’s been thrown their way over the years. For all intents and purposes, the group’s show tonight will prove to be just another stop on a career-capping victory lap. KeyArena, Seattle Center, 684-7200, keyarena.com. 8 p.m. SOLD OUT.
CORBIN REIFF
