Which was your first Eagles album?

[Jonny Come Lately]

I wanted to see if there was a poll about this and I've not seen a thread along these lines before, so I'll start one. I thought this would be interesting as given how the Eagles have evolved as a band throughout their career those of us who have started with different albums are likely to have a different perspective on their music, as well as giving an idea of which albums fans are most likely to be introduced to the band by.

I personally started with Hotel California, then heard One Of These Nights. I realised that they were clearly a band with more than one really good album, so I heard the songs from Greatest Hits 1971-75 and then listened to the remaining tracks from the three early albums in reverse order. I listened to most of The Long Run around the same time but only came back to it once I was fully. LROOE I only started listening to more recently, although I heard Waiting In The Weeds some time before I heard any of the others (as I was aware the song was very highly rated).

Given that there is a maximum of 10 albums, and clearly the six 1972-79 studio albums have to be on the list, I've given three of the other slots to LROOE, a live album (Live or HFO, even though the latter strictly isn't entirely live) and the most popular compilation, Greatest Hits 1971-75, with the final spot being given other to other compilations.

[Freypower]

Mine was Hotel California followed by Their Greatest Hits & The Long Run when it was released. I then went back & bought the previous albums.

[UndertheWire]

Eagles - it was 1972.

[thelastresort]

Answered this one without thinking and have just realised my first albums were the non-US released 1994 The Very Best of the Eagles compilation, then the 2003 Very Best of, which really got me into them, not Desperado like I've indicated above. However, Desperado was the first Eagles studio album I purposefully listened to, and remains my favourite.



I personally started with Hotel California, then heard One Of These Nights. I realised that they were clearly a band with more than one really good album...

How on earth could you tell that by listening to One of These Nights?

*Takes cover*

[MaryCalifornia]

My parents had Their Greatest Hits when I was about 7 or 8. They also had Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. I remember a summer that was all my dad played on his little cassette player, those two albums.

[L101]

My first albums were the 'The Very Best of the Eagles' compilation from 1985, then the 'Very Best of' from 2003....

[sodascouts]

For me, it was Hell Freezes Over.

I had seen the special on MTV and liked it enough to buy the cassette tape when I saw it on sale at the music store. I was born in the 70s and had no idea of how big the Eagles had been - only that I knew a few of their songs thanks to the radio (KZZB - the best of the 70s, 80s, and 90s!). It was the last cassette I would ever buy. Shortly thereafter, I bought the two Greatest Hits compilations... and this time, I shelled out for CDs. Not being a hardcore at the time, that was enough for me.

I didn't hear a non-compilation, non-live Eagles album in full until 2005, ten years later, when I rocketed from being "They're a good band" to "THEY'RE FANTASTIC! I ADORE THEM!! I MUST LISTEN TO EVERYTHING THEY'VE EVER DONE!!!" at an alarming speed. ;)

[Houston Baby]

Mine was EAGLES. Yes I am that old. :)
I liked it so much that when DESPERADO was released I immediately went out and bought it. My first impression of this album was what good looking guys but I remember also thinking good grief it's a country western album. I kept listening to it and started liking it. It is now one of my favorites!

[Brooke]

My first was Eagles. Yes, I'm that old too! Hubby and I were hooked from the very beginning and bought each one as it was released! Fans forever!

[Funk 50]

As a kid, I bought all the 70s Joe Walsh's albums plus a James Gang GH album between 1977 and 1980. I then bought The Eagles Live album as a Christmas present for my dad (The Eagles were parents music) so I could hear the two Joe Walsh cuts.

The Eagles were a lot better than I thought they'd be, the Walsh tracks were the weakest tracks on the double album, so I nicked it back.

Hotel California, The Long Run and then the none-Joe, Greatest Hits albums followed.

[Jonny Come Lately]

How on earth could you tell that by listening to One of These Nights?

*Takes cover*

It's easy when you have mystical powers which are activated once you have listened to two albums by a band and enable you to determine whether their other albums are good or not without actually having to listen to them first. :nahnah: :hilarious:

In all seriousness, I do like One Of These Nights quite a lot myself. It isn't perfect and it definitely wouldn't rank higher than fourth in my list now but I really enjoyed it when I first uploaded the CD into my iTunes library. If I had to pick one favourite it would be the title track - to my mind it's a great fusion of softer and harder rock elements (these being the harmonies and the guitar respectively), I do love the other two singles and ATTIG as well though. I like Too Many Hands a lot and I am also, somewhat unusually, a fan of Journey of the Sorcerer - I find it to be an interesting and worthy experiment, and it has a great, unique cosmic bluegrass feel to it. Hollywood Waltz is decent too, but admittedly the other two songs are not great and far off the quality of the best tracks on the album.

MaryCalifornia, your experience is vaguely similar to mine in that you were first exposed to the Eagles on cassette at that sort of age. My parents started playing 'grown up' music in the car with us (me and my sister) when I was about 7-8 too and Rumours was one of the first albums I ever heard. The difference is that my first Eagles-related album was actually Don's End Of The Innocence (for what it's worth, the other main albums I remember them playing regularly were James Taylor's Greatest Hits and Jackson Browne's I'm Alive). It wasn't until a decade or so after this that I got into the Eagles and for many years I had no idea that Henley had been in the Eagles prior to his solo career.

[NightMistBlue]

I have older siblings, so One of These Nights and Hotel California were communal property around the house. The first Eagles album I bought for myself was Greatest Hits.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Well I'm another 'oldie' so my first album was also 'Eagles'. I bought all of the albums back in the day shortly after they were released. When I began replacing my collection, 'The Very Best of the Eagles' was the first CD I bought. Not too much later, I bought the box set of CDs that included all the albums. I now have their entire catalog on CD and/or DVD.

[zeldabjr]

I only had 45s of Eagles songs up until The Long Run...when I heard I Can't Tell You Why...I had to get the album!...:)

[tjh532]

Growing up with an older sister and brother who were both Eagles fans, I heard a lot of their music, but mostly what I heard on the radio. Probably the first album I heard in it's entirety would be Hotel California. The first one I bought for myself was The Long Run (Columbia Record House - 12 albums for a penny - LOL!) Then the Greatest Hits, and since then I went back and bought the others over time to complete the collection. I also love Common Thread - not the Eagles per se, but full of their songs with some of my favorite singers. And it lead to them reuniting, due to the Travis Tritt video.

[DivineDon]

My first albums were the 'The Very Best of the Eagles' compilation from 1985, then the 'Very Best of' from 2003....


lol. I'm the exact same. I nearly wore out the cassette tape of their 1985 Very Best album and then later bought the 2003 CD.

BTW love your 'fluffy Don' avatar, Lacken :)

[Glennsallnighter]

I must admit I was later to actually buying Eagles albums (although I would have taped many songs directly off radio through the 80's). I had a cassette called 'The Heat is On' - no prizes for guessing the first track on that, and TITTL was on it as well. My first was the 2003 'Very Best Of' double Cd and it was followed very quickly by HFO. The other Cds followed suit so that by the time LROOE was released I had a complete collection

[DJ]

Eagles was the first album I bought 1972.
I've raised my children so they know all the music I listened to. Be it the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac or Hank Williams. I did this mainly because that is real music to me. :soda:

[Delilah]

Old thread but I'll weigh in here. I joined the Columbia Record Club I guess around 1981-82 and I distinctly remember trying to decide between Greatest Hits Vol. 1 and Vol. 2--"Life in the Fast Lane" and "I Can't Tell You Why" gave Vol. 2 a slight edge so I got that one. Those songs were more recent at the time so that probably influenced my decision. I still have the cassette.

[mimi g]

Their first album "Eagles" in '72. It's true what the doc said that when you opened it their picture was upside down. I also remember the sleeve the record came in which was a huge picture of a very red cactus-like flower. I've been in love with them since.

[buffyfan145]

They weren't really mine but my parents, but it was both greatest hits albums on CD and "Hotel California" on cassette. They also had Don's first two solo albums on vinyl, cassette, and CD; Glenn's first album on cassette, a few of Joe's solo albums on cassette and CD, a 45 of Felder's single "Heavy Metal", as well as the "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" soundtrack on cassette.

[LuvTim]

The first album I ever bought- and I loved, loved, loved it!- was Eagles Greatest Hits 1. I was still in school and I bought it with my allowance money. I guess I had saved up. Lol...:-D

I used to play it almost every night as I was falling to sleep. My little turntable would raise the needle and replace the arm onto the little stand, effectively turning itself off after completing Side One. I knew I wasn't going to be awake much longer if I made it to Desperado. :heart:

[LovinGlennGirl]

First album I bought was Greatest Hits, they were always on the radio so I had some cassettes I had recorded from the radio, so was always playing Eagles and listening.

Second one I bought and wore out was the Hell Freezes over cassette, my car kept eating it. Finally got a new car with a cd player, so Hell was my first CD.

Next was Hotel California.

I have since gotten all of them, on CD and vinyl. Some I have multiple copies because friends find them for me, those go in the car. Have an MP3 player that is all Eagles/Solo work.

[MaryCalifornia]

I think I already voted, but I'll chime in with my dad bought Their Greatest Hits, Fleetwood Mac Rumours and Linda Ronstadt when they came out - I was 8 or 9. So Their Greatest Hits was my first!!! I loved it! Reminds me of my dad!

[WalshFan88]

Hotel California. And it's still my favorite.

[AlreadyGone95]

Very best of (2003). My mom bought it for me when I was 13 or 14 (around 2009). I mostly played disc 1 because I thought the hits were all on it,apart apart from LITFL, Heartache Tonight, and SBR. I didn't give any "non-hit" a listen until last year. I still have the album, though it has seen its better days.

The first studio album I heard was Desperado, which was around 2013.

[maryc2130]

I'm an oldie, too. My first album was Greatest Hits I back in the 70's, and I think I've had a copy of it on vinyl, cassette and possibly 8-track, as well as many copies on CD (as soon as it gets scratchy, I replace it). I think I had the 45 of Best of My Love before that. I would play it over and over back then, although it's not really a favorite these days. Hotel California came out shortly after, so I think I've always owned a copy of that since high school, too. It wasn't until much later that I went back and bought the other albums and The Long Run.

Great question, JCL!

[NoNottheFootballTeam]

Ha!! Agree this is a great question (and smiled at all the "oldies" references....I are one too).

Eagles was my first. In my personal introductory comments from a couple months ago, I explained how I felt like I'd "introduced" the Eagles to Armed Forces Radio listeners back in '72 (a visit home on leave had the album in my hands before it hit AFR playlists).

Desperado was second and I laughed out loud, during the doc, when the record guy says "they made a f***in' cowboy record." I said practically the same thing at the time. AT THE TIME, I only found redemption in Tequila Sunrise and Desperado (they're doing a Linda Rondstadt song?) and I sorta liked Saturday Night...my tastes improved vastly over time as I love the whole thing now.

Next was On the Border....assessment similar to Desperado as (at the time) I only "liked" BOML and Already Gone. Next was OOTNs and oh man, I was stationed in Enid OK at the time, and I turned out that city with the 8-track (obviously MaryC remembers those) and driving around with my windows down. I wore that 8-track out. Now I had only 3-4 favorites, but I "put up" with the rest to hear the faves.

Out of the service, with two little ones now, I skipped Hotel CA album (I know, can you believe it?) but jumped back in with LR, both Best Of's and much later LROOE. In between I got HFO and Farewell 1 DVDs as soon as available (later got HFO and LROOE via iTunes).

Sorry to ramble, but thought this was a fun post.

[WS82Classics]

"Greatest Hits: 1971-1975." My father owned that album on 8-track with Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" and Lynyrd Skynyrds "Street Survivors"(with the original flame cover) way back when he was a kid, and he particularly drove the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac CD's into the ground with me when I was little.

As for studio albums, the first one I ever bought with my own money was "Desperado." First one I ever made a point of listening to from cover to cover was "On the Border" in February, 2012, and that is when I became a true Eagles fan(though I knew I liked them well enough the first time I heard "New Kid in Town").

[FWIW]

I also bought "Greatest Hits: 1971-1974" with my allowance money. I'm not sure how much I paid, but I have the price of $3.99 stuck in my head. Back in the day, it was a lot of money for me!

[UndertheWire]

I have a feeling I paid £2.14 for Desperado back in 1973. According to an online inflation calculator, that's equivalent to £25.47 today. 43 years later, I could buy a CD box set with the first 6 studio albums for £14.68 ie £2.44 each.

Suddenly, it makes sense how rock stars became rich in the 70s and why it's so much harder now.

[DJ]

I'm old I had the very first Eagles album. Ha!

[Jonny Come Lately]

So glad to hear everyone's enjoying this thread! :smile: I love hearing about which albums people started out with.

Interestingly, at the time of writing this, three albums are standing out by far as the most frequent 'starting points':
Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (1971-75) - 13 votes
Eagles - 12 votes
Hotel California - 11 votes

All of these have at least double the number of votes that the other options have received.

I have to say I'm a little surprised that no one who has voted so far started with One Of These Nights. I wasn't shocked that few of the voters first heard the less successful Desperado and On The Border albums, whereas OOTN was a number one album and had three hit songs. There is nothing wrong with that at all of course, it's just slightly different to what I had expected (if you'd asked me before doing this which 1970s album would have been the least common starting point, it would have been one of the two I mentioned). This view was probably heavily influenced by my own experiences - my parents own two Eagles CDs, these being OOTN and HC, so those were the first two I heard.