374 - Eagles - (eponymous)

The review on AllMusic for the Eagles' debut album talks about how "balanced" the album is - songwriting and singing are fairly evenly spread amongst the band members. Each song, in turn, is also balanced with elements of rock, folk, and country. I don't disagree with that assessment.

However, for me, the album comes across less as a release by a singular band as opposed to a collection of songs from a group of people with a similar musical output. Recently, I was jolted by the varied sound on The Beach Boys' Sunflower album. This debut bounced me around, too, with the shifts in how each song differed in both musical emphasis and vocalists. I would call it a great compilation of the Southern California sound, but if I listened to this album in the early 70's I would have likely have told you the band was on the verge of breaking up. Based solely on what I heard on this album, the "band" sounds like a sizable collection of talented musicians and songwriters that seem to work well together (and harmonize so, so, so beautifully!). There is just a lack of cohesiveness that annoyed me during the repeat playings today.

Songs I knew I liked: "Take It Easy," "Witchy Woman," and "Peaceful Easy Feeling"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Nightingale," "Earlybird," and "Tryin'"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Chug All Night" became a song I wanted to skip after the 2nd listen.