Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Hell Freezes Over

"For the record, we never broke up, we just took a 14 year vacation"

That's what Glen Frey says during the Eagles masterpiece 'Hell Freezes Over' (1994), recorded live during their reunion (following a breakup of the band in 1980). Ofcourse, the album is so named because of Don Henley's comment that they would only get together when 'Hell Freezes Over'. I have heard the album so many times, and I still can't get enough of it. So when I saw the DVD of the album at the local public library, I had to pick it up and check it out. It was just awesome, and I have just not had enough of it! I now like the album a lot more than before.



The sound quality is awesome, and watching the orchestration and music arrangements, I now have an even better appreciation of some of the intricacies of the sounds on the CD. The first 15 minutes or so includes interviews with the band. The arrangement of songs is different from that on the CD - but thats no problem ... it is a masterpiece this album. And Don Henley, Glen Frey, Don Felder, Joe Walsh and Timothy Schmit are simply great in their musical parts. Don Felder and Joe Walsh are superb on the guitars and mandolin. All 4 vocalists (Henley, Frey, Walsh and Schmit) have very distinctive voices, and my favorite of those is Frey. Its probably because of the tracks he sings - esp 'Tequila Sunrise', and 'Take it Easy'. Watching a bunch of middle aged musicians perform in a laidback casual atmosphere is a lot more suited to my music tastes than a bunch of hyperactive rockers jumping all over the place ... and ofcourse, it fits with the persona of the music that The Eagles bring forth.

The album is a timeless classic, and the 100 minute run time alongwith the awesome sound quality makes it even better. The song list is as follows:
"Hotel California"
"Tequila Sunrise"
"Help Me Through the Night"
"The Heart of the Matter"
"Love Will Keep Us Alive"
"Learn to be Still"
"Pretty Maids All on a Row"
"The Girl from Yesterday"
"Wasted Time"
"I Can't Tell You Why"
"New York Minute"
"The Last Resort"
"Take it Easy"
"Life in the Fast Lane"
"In the City"
"Get Over It"
"Desperado"

A must watch in my opinion ....

1 comment:

balai said...

I agree. The last time I watched this, I just wanted to watch it more and more. Not to mention the innumerable times, tequila sunrise playing on my computer.