"Hotel California: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition" by EAGLES (November 2017 Elektra/Asylum 2CD Reissue - CD1 1999 Remaster - CD2 2017 Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Passage Back To The Place I Was Before..."

There's something about THE EAGLES that occasionally gets my goat. Don't get me wrong - as a Seventies kid - I lived and breathed the band and this music like so many of my pals. But on CD reissue - this quintessential Americana Country-Rock band have always seemed greedy to me - just two shades short of rip-off city. And I'm afraid this '40th Anniversary Expanded Edition' 2CD Reissue of "Hotel California" does feel like yet another cash-in on a monster album. Having said all of that, infuriatingly, there is much to love here...

First up - they can't even get the date right. December 2016 would have been the '40th Anniversary' and not November 2017 - a whole year late. Second – although the 'Original Album' is a superb Bernie Grundman Remaster – it was done over 17 years ago in 1999 - so there's no upgrade or anything new studio-wise. There's no outtakes, no lyrics, no original poster repro, no inner repro, not even a dedication to Glenn Frey whose horrible passing in January 2016 took everyone by surprise and saddened so many. And although the expanded booklet looks pretty enough in places (see photos supplied) it's over in seconds and hasn't bothered with piddly little things like liner notes or even a posted history of the copy-shifting beast of an album so newbees can get an inkling of its place in Rock's History.

Over on the PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED CD2 things are at least new - the HC band line-up with Joe Walsh on fire - but again we learn it's a truncated disc! You get a well-recorded and exciting live gig from October 1976 taped across three days at the LA Forum which debuted tracks like "Hotel California" and "New Kid In Town" as well as containing other concert killers like Walsh's "Funk 49" from his James Gang days. But we now know that there's more to the concert - yet it's only available on the lavish and ludicrously expensive 'Super Deluxe' Edition. So all tongue-lashing and finger-wagging aside - is this 2CD worth having at all - I'd still argue yes! The album is a gem of course, but that second disc has fantastic-sounding Eagles live material - Joe Walsh with the band - their playing and singing is immaculate. So here are the not-so-new details from the not-so-new kid on the block...

UK and Europe released Friday, 24 November 2017 - "Hotel California: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition" by THE EAGLES on Elektra/Asylum 081227933234 (Barcode 081227933234) is a 2CD Reissue and Remaster. BERNIE GRUNDMAN remastered the Original 1976 Album in 1999: a team of Engineers in 2017 (see list below) have handled the unreleased Live Concert from October 1976 on CD2.

Disc 1 – "Hotel California" - The Original Album (43:27 minutes):

1. Hotel California [Lead Vocals, Don Henley] – Side 1

2. New Kid In Town [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

3. Life In The Fast Lane [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

4. Wasted Time [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

5. Wasted Time (Reprise) [Instrumental] – Side 2

6. Victim Of Love [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

7. Pretty Maids All In A Row [Lead Vocals, Joe Walsh]

8. Try And Love Again [Lead Vocals, Randy Meisner]

9. The Last Resort [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

Tracks 1 to 9 are their fifth and biggest selling album "Hotel California" – released December 1976 in the USA on Asylum 7E 1084 and in the UK on Asylum K 53051 - Produced by BILL SZYMCZYK. It went to Number 1 in both countries and has subsequently sold over 30 million copies. "New Kid In Town", "Hotel California" and "Life In The Fast Lane" were all US 45s in December 1976, March and May 1977 – with both "New Kid In Town" and "Hotel California" hitting the coveted No. 1 spot.

Disc 2 – "Live At The Los Angeles Forum, October 20-22, 1976" (48:38 minutes)

1. Take It Easy [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

2. Take It To The Limit [Lead Vocals, Randy Meisner]

3. New Kid In Town [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

4. James Dean [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

5. Good Day In Hell [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

6. Witchy Woman [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

7. Funk No. 49 [Lead Vocals, Joe Walsh]

8. One Of These Nights [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

9. Hotel California [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

10. Already Gone [Lead Vocals, Glenn Fry]

Original Production by Bill Szymczyk - Reissue Produced by Don Henley and Richard F.W. Davis - Mixed by Jeff Balding at Sonic Boom Room, Assistant Engineers Matt Coles and Zack Johnson with Additional Engineering by Kell Katero, Alan Black and Tom Scott.

The three-way foldout card digipak has blurry repro photos of the original artwork and both CDs reflect the iconic label artwork. The 16-page booklet has ‘Rare Photos and Memorabilia’ pictured – concert posters, ticket stubs, the ’77 Tour Program cover, a Trade Advert from the summer of 1978 as they toured July and August as well as period live photos of the famous line-up. The BERNIE GRUNDMAN Remaster has always been great – only amplifying an already beautifully recorded album. And you forget how good tracks like Joe Walsh’s "Pretty Maids All In A Row", Randy Meisner’s "Try And Love Again" and the magnificent Don Henley/Glenn Frey compositions of "Wasted Time" and "The Last Resort". Band fave and almost sixth Eagle J.D. Souther gets two credits – one for the impossibly catchy "New Kid In Town" and a co-write with Felder, Henley and Frey on the hard-hitting guitar-chug of "Victim Of Love". The big surprise comes with how good Disc 2 is...

The Audio for instance on the live "New Kid In Town" is fantastic - almost a good as the album version - plus of course it has a 'newness' to it - the band debuting it for an ecstatic hometown crowd two months the album hit the shops. The guitar solos are almost note-for-note perfect and the group harmonies are superlative. I suspect "James Dean" was the opening song - Walsh ripping into that trademark guitar sound of his - Meisner harmonising with Frey while Felder licks away on his axe - Walsh following in that stunning two-guitar combo they had. Huge slide guitar kicks "Good Day In Hell" into Boogie Mode while stretching back to the 1972 debut album "Witchy Woman" slinks into the set with the first lead vocal from Don Henley. It has meaty guitar solos coursing in its veins as they run alongside that tom-tom beat. What you also notice is that although Timothy B. Schmit had a gorgeous lead and harmony voice with the later line-up - unsung hero here is Randy Meisner's high falsetto that adds so much to a lot of the tracks as he harmonises with either Frey or Henley.

Joe Walsh breaks up the Folk-Rock and Americana repertoire with his stunning "Funk No. 49" - a guitar chomping Funk-Rocker that livens up proceedings before they give the crowd the number-one hit they crave - "One Of These Nights" - Henley oohing and aahing and coming up behind you - searching for an angel in white. Felder and Walsh give it some fab guitar pings as the song romps home - Henley sounding uncomfortable with those impossibly high notes. Even without introduction "Hotel California" elicits cheers from a crowd who are clearly digging the multiple guitars and brilliant words. This could be Heaven or this could be Hell, Henley sings - luckily this is an audio in-between. The duet guitars are wildly impressive - Henley finally getting his amazing voice around lyrics he actually likes and believes in – but there are moments when the in-and-out audio mix just seems to lose it a tad. The band then brings the whole thing to a rip-roaring guitar-wailing finish with the bopping rocker "Already Gone" – feeling strong and singing a victory song.

I suppose you could argue that "The Studio Collection" 6CD Mini Box Set (1972 to 1979) is a far better way to spend your money - all those great hits and the one in-between that you've forgotten. But if you must own a snazzy variant of "Hotel California" - then this belated 40th Anniversary twofer will make your diddly-daddy happy...his expanded waistline digging this expanded edition...