Top 10 Most Underrated Eagles Songs per Ultimate Classic Rock.com

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I absolutely love New Kid In Town too, FP. It is all around incredible, and the line that you mentioned "They will never forget you 'til somebody new comes along' is probably some of my favorite lyrics ever. And I hear what you are saying about it being underrated, and I agree that it is somewhat overshadowed by Hotel California. But I guess I have to take issue the with you to the extent that, in my mind at least, it's a little hard to argue that a song that hit #1 and won a Grammy is too underrated. It was a huge hit in the states both with the critics and the public. If anyone downplays it, it's probably Glenn himself. Even in the "Very Best of the Eagles" liner notes, he doesn't elaborate on the song - he simply says "We won a Grammy® for Best Vocal Arrangement for "New Kid In Town." I'm quite proud of that." I can't remember if he has ever commented more about it or not. I'd love to know how he really feels about the song.

[GlennLover]

I will sound horribly biased & partisan but from one viewpoint it seems that when people talk about all the best known Eagles songs, this song is rarely mentioned. The fact that it was a Number One single & won a Grammy has been forgotten (not least by Don Felder, who entirely ignores the song's existence). It has been overshadowed by both Hotel Califorina & Life In The Fast Lane for so long that it was even dropped from their setlist for a while (when I saw them in 2010 they didn't play it). So even they don't seem to rate it that highly. Glenn's performance of it in Dublin is a virtual throwaway.

The song is a progression from Certain Kind Of Fool (another underrated song) in the way it charts the career trajectory & romantic entaglements of the protagonist. To me he embodies the whole success vs. failure thingthey're talking about in the HC album and does so in a much more sympathetic but still realistic way than the caustic & cynical Life In The Fast Lane or the grandiose Wasted Time. It's summed up in the line 'they will never forget you 'til somebody new comes along' and the way the chorus moves from the new kid, Johnny come lately, to the kid who is on the way out; 'where you been lately'. I could go into more depth about the lyrics. My only criticism perhaps is that the romantic element becomes a bit too prominent (in the bridge section).

Musically it has the Spanish feel which continues on from the title track. It has a lovely (overlooked) performance by Joe on electric piano, a fine guitar solo by Felder & perhaps the best harmonies they ever did. It also has, for what it's worth, the finest lead vocal of Glenn Frey's career. He never sang with this much passion or convction & he rarely has again so for me it's very special in that regard.

I realise that most of what I have written here is about why the song is great rather than why it's underrated but I think I addressed that in the first paragraph.

I know the song doesn't mean as much to others as it does to me so I hope you forgive me for indulging in this.

You make some very valid points, FP. It certainly doesn't get anywhere near the recognition of LITFL. As for being "perhaps the best harmonies they ever did", it did win the 1977 Grammy for best arrangement for voices (and the arrangement was done by the "Lone Arranger". Absolutely beautiful.

[sodascouts]

Here's my list:

Most of Us Are Sad
Doolin-Dalton Reprise
Out of Control
My Man
Ol' 55
Too Many Hands
Pretty Maids All in a Row
Victim of Love
Those Shoes
Somebody

Runners-up:
Outlaw Man
Bitter Creek
Saturday Night
James Dean
I Wish You Peace
Hole in the World
What Do I Do with My Heart
Do Something
You Are Not Alone
I Dreamed There Was No War

[chaim]

It's interesting that the line "They will never forget you 'til..." has just been mentioned in two posts, because it's a line that always caught my attention. I used to hear it as "Hey, we'll never forget you...", but the idea is the same.

For me this song has always been very special - more special than HC. Musically it's perfect - every chord movement is brilliant. To this day I haven't heard a modulation as wonderful as the one from "tears on your shoulder" to the last verse. It's also brilliant how it returns to the original key. I don't just hear the modulations, I feel them as part of the story. However, if most people don't feel the song as strongly as I do, I can't blame them.

If Glenn doesn't think much of the song today, is it possible that he feels it's more of a J.D. song and he doesn't feel as close to it as to songs that were originated within the band?

I think Freypower means that the song is underrated today - not back then.

[thelastresort]

New Kid in Town is probably my favourite mainstream Eagles song and I can't argue with a word anyone has said about it so far. I adore the final 90~ seconds or so from 'they will never forget you...': the little guitar piece after that is brilliant, the harmonies delicious and Glenn going for the 'but you're still arooooooooooooooound' might just be my favoruite Eagles vocal ever. My only complaint with it these days (aside them dropping it) is that it's a lot less keyboard driven than it should be: I love the way Joe drives the song on the recording.

[UndertheWire]

My list in chronological order:

Eagles

• Get You in the Mood - so underrated that I didn't know of its existence for more than forty years. It's quite different to the tracks that made the album and it shows a direction they could have taken. Also, I can't resist "I get so wasted in the city. Last girl I hit on wasn't very pretty."
• Take the Devil - I think of it as Witch Woman Part II. The guitars, the backing vocals, the way Randy's voice goes higher and higher and the echo.
• Tryin' - one of their best early rockers. I love the bit where Randy sings "I'm tryin'" over the chorus.

Desperado - I'd be temped to put the whole album forward

• Outlaw Man - love that fuzzy guitar and the energy
• Bitter Creek -the spareness of it, Bernie's guitar playing, those harmonies, the lyrics, Bernie's voice

On the Border

• On the Border
• Ol' 55

One of These Nights - nothing


Hotel California

• Pretty Maids All in a Row

The Long Run

• King of Hollywood - those guitars

Last Road out of Eden

• Somebody

I almost included Teenage Jail because I don't think it deserves the treatment it's given. I like Felder's guitar solo.

[Jonny Come Lately]

I will sound horribly biased & partisan but from one viewpoint it seems that when people talk about all the best known Eagles songs, this song is rarely mentioned. The fact that it was a Number One single & won a Grammy has been forgotten (not least by Don Felder, who entirely ignores the song's existence). It has been overshadowed by both Hotel Califorina & Life In The Fast Lane for so long that it was even dropped from their setlist for a while (when I saw them in 2010 they didn't play it). So even they don't seem to rate it that highly. Glenn's performance of it in Dublin is a virtual throwaway.

The song is a progression from Certain Kind Of Fool (another underrated song) in the way it charts the career trajectory & romantic entaglements of the protagonist. To me he embodies the whole success vs. failure thingthey're talking about in the HC album and does so in a much more sympathetic but still realistic way than the caustic & cynical Life In The Fast Lane or the grandiose Wasted Time. It's summed up in the line 'they will never forget you 'til somebody new comes along' and the way the chorus moves from the new kid, Johnny come lately, to the kid who is on the way out; 'where you been lately'. I could go into more depth about the lyrics. My only criticism perhaps is that the romantic element becomes a bit too prominent (in the bridge section).

Musically it has the Spanish feel which continues on from the title track. It has a lovely (overlooked) performance by Joe on electric piano, a fine guitar solo by Felder & perhaps the best harmonies they ever did. It also has, for what it's worth, the finest lead vocal of Glenn Frey's career. He never sang with this much passion or convction & he rarely has again so for me it's very special in that regard.

I realise that most of what I have written here is about why the song is great rather than why it's underrated but I think I addressed that in the first paragraph.

I know the song doesn't mean as much to others as it does to me so I hope you forgive me for indulging in this.

I agree with all the comments praising New Kid In Town in this thread, it is a terrific song and one of the very best of its kind. I think it has a strong case for being the greatest mellow rock song of all time. (I am reluctant to use the phrase 'soft rock', a term which carries a lot of baggage, and in any case with a few songs standing out as exceptions I don't think the Eagles fit the typical soft rock mould. I digress though am happy to explain this if anyone is interested.)

Joe's keyboard playing on the track is very good but I think Don Felder brings a lot to it, the guitar solo is excellent, I love the lick he plays after 'they're walking away, and they're talking behind you' and the sudden change to a darker more ominous tone towards the end is brilliant, an example of the music helping to tell the story.

Lyrically the song has always struck me as being metaphorical, of course it does work as a love song too but the words hold true in the music business and beyond (whenever I see One Direction and their ilk I always think of this song but I can also think of examples from sport. At risk of running off-topic, look at the goalkeepers at Chelsea FC (soccer) this season, with the young Thibaut Courtois displacing Petr Cech who in his youth displaced Carlo Cudicini, matching the developments in the song). Vocally it's definitely one of the band's finest performances, with Glenn's superb lead vocal being supported by great harmonies, which are the best on the HC album IMO (which otherwise vocally is defined for me by Don Henley's vocals rather than the band singing together).

I've always thought that the musical theme of New Kid In Town is something of a continuation from Hotel California - I'm glad that I'm not alone in thinking this. I've always thought of it as sounding Mexican rather than Spanish although this is probably due to Don Henley's description of the HC demo as a 'Mexican reggae' and the use of a guitarron on NKIT.

FP, in my experience in the UK if a person only knows one Eagles song then that song will be Hotel California, with Life In The Fast Lane also being very popular and widely recognised, receiving quite a lot of airplay (I've heard it on the radio several times). By contrast I've never heard NKIT on radio and it is less culturally significant than the other two so in that respect it is rather underrated on these shores.

[DivineDon]

Here's my list:

Most of Us Are Sad
Doolin-Dalton Reprise
Out of Control
My Man
Ol' 55
Too Many Hands
Pretty Maids All in a Row
Victim of Love
Those Shoes
Somebody

Runners-up:
Outlaw Man
Bitter Creek
Saturday Night
James Dean
I Wish You Peace
Hole in the World
What Do I Do with My Heart
Do Something
You Are Not Alone
I Dreamed There Was No War

I completely agree with several of your choices, Soda. I love Doolin' Dalton Reprise, Those Shoes, Pretty Maids All in A Row, Do Something and Somebody is terrific. I also love It's Your World Now, Midnight Flyer and The Sad Cafe.

I think my favourite 'most underrated Eagles' song however, is Train Leaves Here This Morning...just love it

[L101]

I agree with most of the choices here but my two most underrated songs are King of Hollywood (Guitars and drums) and Waiting in the weeds (Just love it).

[Freypower]

It's interesting that the line "They will never forget you 'til..." has just been mentioned in two posts, because it's a line that always caught my attention. I used to hear it as "Hey, we'll never forget you...", but the idea is the same.

For me this song has always been very special - more special than HC. Musically it's perfect - every chord movement is brilliant. To this day I haven't heard a modulation as wonderful as the one from "tears on your shoulder" to the last verse. It's also brilliant how it returns to the original key. I don't just hear the modulations, I feel them as part of the story. However, if most people don't feel the song as strongly as I do, I can't blame them.

If Glenn doesn't think much of the song today, is it possible that he feels it's more of a J.D. song and he doesn't feel as close to it as to songs that were originated within the band?

I think Freypower means that the song is underrated today - not back then.

Thank you chaim. I indeed meant that it's underrated now. As I said, yes, it went to Number One & won a Grammy, and that has been forgotten, maybe not by Borderers but by many others. So much attention is given to Henley's domination of the HC album that not only NKIT but PMIAR & TALA sometimes get swept aside. All three of these songs rank near the top for me.

The J.D. co-authorship part has always worried me. I have never known how much of it J.D.wrote. I would tend to agree that Glenn seems to shrug it off for this reason. I am so looking forward to watching & hearing him sing it again for the first time since 2004. Can you believe that. I understand why he doesn't do it in solo shows because his band couldn't match the Eagles harmonies.

The line 'they will never forget you etc' is almost Shakespearean and is my favourite lyric in any Eagles song.