I’m on my third album today, I started with a relaxing new age album that I accidentally fell asleep to, then I went for some experimental electronica that I liked but had to veto after I saw an article with allegations about them. I’m too tired to find anything new and interesting now, I just want to slap on something nice and familiar to listen to while I wash my hair, so it’s time to listen to a bit of the Eagles.
Album cover courtesy of Asylum Records
I’ve listened to Hotel California and their self-titled album earlier in the project, so I’ll just skip the introduction and go straight to the record. One of These Nights was released in 1975 as the group’s fourth studio album, and it became their breakthrough album, reaching number one on the Billboard 200 and earning them three Grammy nominations and their first Grammy win for their single "Lyin' Eyes". This was the last album featuring the classic Eagles line-up, as Bernie Leadon left the band due to creative differences and being tired from the touring and drug use that came with the rock star lifestyle.
It was primarily written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey when they were living together in Beverly Hills, and it represented a move away from the musical style that they’d been known for until then:
We like to call it our “satanic country-rock period” [laughs]. Because it was a dark time, both politically and musically, in America. There was turmoil in Washington and disco music was starting to take off. We thought, “Well, how can we write something with that flavor, with that kind of beat, and still have the dangerous guitars?” We wanted to capture the spirit of the times.
Thematically, One of These Nights is an album chronicling the effects of Southern California rock excess, which is a fun insight into the time and the lifestyle for a person like me whose lifelong dream has been to obtain a time machine to go hobnobbing (not like that) with rockstars in Los Angeles in the ‘70s. Truthfully, maybe a little bit like that, reading a lot of Pamela Des Barres in my youth really did a number on me, but mainly I’d like to be there for the vibes. It just seems like a lot of fun was had and a lot of great music was made, who wouldn’t want to go?
I said before that the Eagles is good-time fodder and music for manning a barbecue grill, and I stand by that. It’s the sort of band that you put on when you want to have a nicer day, and for that purpose it works bar none. Their more country-oriented stuff makes me want to relax on a porch with a beer, while this one makes me want to have a pleasant but sleazy evening in Southern California – two very different types of good times, but good times nonetheless. This album is more towards their polished big-time stadium rock sound, and while critics may call it overproduced and overly commercial, I just can’t help but love it. And I never really thought about the disco influence in some of the songs here, but once you hear it, it’s obvious.
One of These Nights isn’t my favourite Eagles album, but it’s fun to listen to as a time capsule into where they were at the time. And even when they aren’t at their best, they’re still great – I’ve never put them on and not had a significantly better day because of it. Every time I listen to them, I think I should listen to them more. I also think that this album is probably as close as I can get to that time machine, it might be time to give up on that dream. One of These Nights gets a very respectable 8.5/10.