This is the important debut album by the band that helped pioneer Country Rock music throughout the 1970s. The Eagles consisted of Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner at this point. Throughout the years and future personnel changes, the Eagles remained a well-loved and popular band in the history of modern music. Produced by famous Rock producer Glyn Johns, who had worked with fellow contemporaries such as Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, this was the beginning of a long and successful career for the Eagles. Let’s hear this debut album and see how it sounds.

Take It Easy begins with strummed acoustic guitars and sweet, chiming electric guitars. Drums quickly enter and this song gets nicely underway. The vocals here by Glenn Frey that eventually emerge are really excellent, and this is a catchy tune that was a successful single from the album. The chorus in particular is outstanding and infectious listening. A joyous listening experience, this is a great example of the music that would eventually evolve into Country Rock. The whole thing is awesome. A great guitar solo emerges, with some rapid-fire banjo playing throughout. This sounds amazing and outstanding throughout and points to a newer form of music at the time that is unforgettable, consistent and a great amalgamation of Country, Rock, Pop and other guitar-based forms of music. Towards the end, there is a false ending, followed by soothing harmonies and a ton of banjo. Fantastic for a three and a half minute piece of music.

Witchy Woman begins with some loud electric guitar riffs, melodic phrasing and some pounding drums. It eventually launches into a splendid and awesome tune with some rather raspy, but great, singing by Don Henley. All in all, this is a great listen about pursuing a woman with evil intentions. Another killer and awesome listening experience that has a great deal of promise and consistency about it. Super cool music. Towards the middle of the tune are some dual-tracked guitar melodic leads that sound really fantastic, leading into a raunchy and powerful Rock guitar solo. Nonetheless, this is a fantastic listening experience. It breaks down into a wonderful section of harmonies that are just amazing, and they sound extremely fresh. Don Henley returns with some fine vocals and lyrics before this reaches a gradual and interesting conclusion. Nice and an interesting sounding tune.

Chug All Night launches straight into it with crunchy guitars and sounds a bit weird. This is a weird tune that makes little sense to be here on this album. It doesn’t sound as consistent or as necessary as other songs recorded by the Eagles. Regardless, the tune is okay, despite the fact that it sounds a bit like an oddity on this album. It’s more music about sex/love based interests. The vocals by Glenn Frey are fantastic, however. The breakdown in the second half is rather cool, before returning to the chorus at hand. If the Eagles deserve any talent-based awards, their singing would be the obvious choice for that. A pleasant guitar solo follows, and this tune gets electric and alive. Weird, yet wonderful. A good song to listen to but not a great one.

Most Of Us Are Sad begins with some multitracked rhythm and lead acoustic guitars, followed quickly by a drum lead-in. This eventually kicks in with a pleasant vocal from Randy Meisner and this song sounds very sweet and pleasant. It’s not melancholy in terms of emotion, strictly speaking. It is, instead, a good song about fighting off the burdens and struggles within one’s life. An enjoyable and excellent listen with some great harmonies, singing and playing by the Eagles. For all its supposed misery, this is an underrated and perfectly listenable tune. There is a weird solo section but isn’t bad weird, just a little unusual. The singing resumes shortly thereafter, and this tune sounds like the most optimistic listen about being down. It ends with more pleasant harmonies and excellent guitar playing, and the song eventually finishes sweetly. Great job.

Nightingale begins with a snare drum hit and leads into a great and pleasant Country-styled song. Don Henley sings this one, and the whole tune sounds really excellent, upbeat and fantastic. The chorus is reassuring in its delivery and beauty. This still sounds absolutely fantastic and joyous to hear to this very day, and the lyrics, playing and singing are all top-notch. A really awesome and fantastic tune, the singing, harmonies, guitars and drums all make this a great and groundbreaking piece of music, especially for the time. This song doesn’t really have a chorus per se, but it is still really fantastic and enjoyable listening from start to finish. All in all, the Eagles deliver a great and original set of songs. There is a brief breakdown with guitar harmonics, before returning to harmonies and gorgeous singing and playing galore. It quickly fades out. Great song.

Train Leaves Here This Morning begins with acoustic guitar in the right channel, and Bernie Leadon begins singing about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soon enough, this song gradually progresses into a gorgeously sung and very pleasant Rock music ballad. With a good groove and excellent singing and playing, the Eagles do not disappoint with their unique and wonderfully original music. The chorus is the climax of the song, and this is followed by a sweet and muted guitar solo, not too far away from the likes of what Johnny Cash would play on his own records. This is also followed by a great slide acoustic guitar solo in the left channel and harmonies and other instrumentation in the right channel. The singing eventually resumes, and this song is a pleasant and awesome listen about the worst of circumstances that one has to evade. A great, great listening experience. The harmonies at the end are fantastic and unforgettable. Another solid and consistent listening experience.

Take The Devil begins with some acoustic guitar strumming, irregular kick drum beats and a touch of slide guitar. Randy Meisner sings a gloriously great vocal on this tune, and this tells the tale of dealing with the devil. It’s an interesting tune lyrically. Musically, it is matched with loud, raunchy electric guitars, acoustic drumming, deep basslines and punchy drumming. The singing is just as good, obviously all involved knew that the Eagles were onto something musically. Nonetheless, this is another brilliant and perfectly enjoyable song that maintains its interest all the way through. There is a great solo section in the second half, and this tune continues in a very enjoyable and musically consistent fashion. The electric guitar playing here is nothing but sensational, and this jam to conclude this song is really fantastic. It eventually fades out with some expertly played drums. Brilliant.

Earlybird has a quirky intro with unusual sounds that sound out there. This tune quickly launches into an awesome listen with a prominent banjo. Bernie Leadon sings this one, and this tune is another wonderful, upbeat and joyous listen about the nature of a so-called early bird. This is another song that articulates the troubles of modern life. Some great soloing with synchronised guitars and harmonica occurs. Nonetheless, this is a short, sweet and excellent listening experience that needs to be heard more often. The second half has a breakdown with “early bird” sounds, and more banjo galore and is followed by a cool slide guitar solo. This is an energetic and wonderful listen that fades out at the end and has chanted vocals. Great tune.

Peaceful Easy Feeling has some excellent acoustic guitars that are nicely strummed, along with some gorgeous slide guitar. Glenn Frey sings this one, and delivers a really awesome and fantastic tune. This is a gorgeous and romantic love song for a lover. It sounds brilliant, pretty and fantastic throughout, and this is an awesome and stunning listen. The Eagles fine mixture of many different types of Pop/Rock music into something fantastic and notably very 1970s prove that they were the future of the music at the time. A great slide guitar solo and a melodic electric guitar solo are both here to impress the listener. The slide guitar gets very prominent in the second half of the tune before some gorgeous and joyous harmony-based singing emerges. A lovely listen, even if this is about a relationship that won’t necessarily last. A great listen and something that is mind-blowingly awesome. The Eagles knew how to make great music, no doubt or question about it. It ends nicely after just over four minutes in length.

Tryin’ is the last song on this album and has Randy Meisner singing this time. It begins with some punchy electric guitar chords, and quickly launches into an excellent song about travelling on the road as a musician and being in a band with some great friends. A really cool tune, this perfectly encapsulates the spirit and energy of Rock music at the time. There is a great “woman tone” (Eric Clapton style) solo here, and it just sounds powerful and fantastic. The Eagles had a great musical future ahead of themselves, and this song proves that, yes they were trying their best to make it happen, very successfully. An enjoyable, pleasant and upbeat tune, this is a motivation for any new musicians out there. It ends with more guitar soloing and harmonies galore. The album ends with some crunchy, sustained guitar parts. Sweet.

This is a really great debut album that is fairly consistent all the way through listening to it. The Eagles perfected a blueprint of Rock, Pop, Country and The Beach Boys styled harmonies into an interesting and enjoyable approach to music. Shortly after this album was released, their career began to take off. It’s very easy to hear why. Should you listen to this album? Yes, especially if you want to hear how Country Rock evolved over time.

Purely enjoyable and loveable.

9/10