****1/2 - a delightful concept album

The Eagles' second album is very different from the 1976 smash "Hotel California", but it is only slightly less phenomenal.

Mixing bluegrass with folk, country and hard rock, it is one of the most eclectic records in my collection, but it never feels disjointed. Well, almost never.



Don Henley and Glenn Frey emerge as the group's two main songwriters on this album...Don Henley, who was somewhat underrepresented on the Eagles' debut LP, sings the lead on the title track and two more songs, and shares the wonderful western ballad "Doolin-Dalton" with Glenn Frey, who also sings David Blue's "Outlaw Man", the piledriving hard rocker "Out Of Control", and the classic acoustic shuffle "Tequila Sunrise".

The oddest number here is undoubtedly Bernie Leadon's "Twenty-One", a genuine bluegrass number, with Leadon's other contribution, the s-l-o-w "Bitter Creek", a distant second. Randy Meisner takes a single lead vocal (and a very high-pitched one at that) on "Certain Kind Of Fool".



There is absolutely nothing here which needs programming out, but if you have to point out a number of particular highlights I would go for the title track, the lazy, melodic single "Tequila Sunrise", and the two "bookends": "Doolin-Dalton" with its lonesome-prarie-styled harmonica intro, and the beautiful "Doolin-Dalton/Desperado" reprise...wonderful music, perfect vocal harmonies. It's a shame that the Eagles don't play that one in concert anymore.

But lesser-known songs like "Certain Kind Of Fool", "Out Of Control" (one of the hardest rockers the Eagles ever cut), and the mandolin-driven "Saturday Night" are almost as good, and there is barely a weak moment to be found at all on this delightful album.

The Eagles really showed the diversity of their collective talents on "Desperado".

A western-ish Eagles release...

Actually 3 1/2 stars, rounded. This 1973 release is kind of odd to me, but is still good. Here's the rundown:



1. Doolin-Dalton - Kind of odd, as the song kind of goes back and forth. Still good.

2. Twenty-One - A cool southern rocker, but kind of repetive.

3. Out of Control - A good hard rocker.

4. Tequila Sunrise - A truly brilliant song by Glenn Frey. "Take another shot of courage....."

5. Desperado - The title track, you really feel the loss here. Sad. Great song by Henley.

6. Certain Kind of Fool - Randy Meisner takes the lead here, and his high voice couldn't fit this song any better.

7. Doolin-Dalton [Instrumental] - Ummm.....not really needed. I don't know why this is here, but whatever.

8. Outlaw Man - A catchy western rocker. Pretty cool tune.

9. Saturday Night - A slow love song. Still good, though.

10. Bitter Creek - Slow song by Bernie Leadon. Ummm, weird. Not needed.

11. Doolin-Dalton/Desperado (Reprise) - A bit different, but a good way to end this album.



Bottom Line: A good album by the Eagles, but isn't one of my favorites. Grab it as a fan, otherwise, you could burn the better tracks, or buy it anyway.

Eagles concept album works a treat with me!!

The follow up to their first album, was an unusual choice. The songs however are so good. Like all their albums, contains some less well know gems.

I really loved " Out of control", "Certain kind of fool" " Outlaw man " and of course the classic " Desperado"

A good mix of tracks, nothing really bad, never skip anything when I play it.. always a good sign in an album.

A must for Eagles fans.

Worth a listen for country/ rock fans too.