Balance is the key element of
the Eagles' self-titled debut album, a collection that contains elements of rock & roll, folk, and country, overlaid by vocal harmonies alternately suggestive of doo wop,
the Beach Boys, and
the Everly Brothers. If the group kicks up its heels on rockers like "Chug All Night," "Nightingale," and "Tryin'," it is equally convincing on ballads like "Most of Us Are Sad" and "Train Leaves Here This Morning." The album is also balanced among its members, who trade off on lead vocal chores and divide the songwriting such that
Glenn Frey,
Bernie Leadon, and
Randy Meisner all get three writing or co-writing credits. (Fourth member
Don Henley, with only one co-writing credit and two lead vocals, falls a little behind, while
Jackson Browne,
Gene Clark, and
Jack Tempchin also figure in the writing credits.) The album's overall balance is worth keeping in mind because it produced three Top 40 hit singles (all of which turned up on the massively popular
Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975) that do not reflect that balance. "Take It Easy" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" are similar-sounding mid-tempo folk-rock tunes sung by
Frey that express the same sort of laid-back philosophy, as indicated by the word "easy" in both titles, while "Witchy Woman," a
Henley vocal and co-composition, initiates the band's career-long examination of supernaturally evil females. These are the songs one remembers from
Eagles, and they look forward to the eventual dominance of the band by
Frey and
Henley. But the complete album from which they come belongs as much to
Leadon's country-steeped playing and singing and to
Meisner's melodic rock & roll feel, which, on the release date, made it seem a more varied and consistent effort than it did later, when the singles had become overly familiar. [Elektra issued an exclusive edition in 2007.] ~ William Ruhlmann