Eagles - Hotel California

Hotel California is the fifth studio album by the American rock group the Eagles, originally released in December 1976 via Asylum Records.

Hotel California is a concept album recorded and released in 1976, the bicentennial year of the United States. The first song written for the album was Hotel California and it set the theme for the album. Don Henley is quoted as saying that “…it's our bicentennial year, you know, the country is 200 years old, so we figured since we are the Eagles and the Eagle is our national symbol, that we were obliged to make some kind of a little bicentennial statement using California as a microcosm of the whole United States, or the whole world, if you will, and to try to wake people up and say 'We've been okay so far, for 200 years, but we're gonna have to change if we're gonna continue to be around.’”

The Last Resort is a song written about concern for the environment and whether it would survive another 200 years of human development and activity.

The album was produced by Bill Szymczyk and recorded at studios in Miami, Florida and Los Angeles, California. When the Eagles were recording in LA, Black Sabbath were recording Technical Ecstasy in an adjoining studio, and recording was disrupted due to the noise level emanating from the Sabbath sessions.

The album cover artwork is a photograph of the Beverly Hills Hotel by David Alexander with design and art direction by British art director, Kosh. The rear cover photograph was shot in the lobby of the Lido Hotel in Hollywood.

The members of the Eagles that recorded the album were:

• Don Felder – vocals, guitars
• Glenn Frey – vocals, guitars, keyboards
• Don Henley – vocals, drums
• Randy Meisner – vocals, bass
• Joe Walsh – vocals, guitars, keyboards

This would be the last album recorded with Randy Meisner who would leave the band in 1977 during the promotional tour for the album. He would be replaced by Timothy B. Schmit.

This was also the first album recorded with Joe Walsh who had replaced founding member Bernie Leadon who had left the band in 1975.

Three singles were released from the album – “New Kid In Town”, “Hotel California” and “Life In The Fast Lane”. The first two singles reached #1 on the US Billboard Singles charts. “Hotel California” (the song) has gone onto become one of the most enduring songs of all time and was ranked #49 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The guitar duet at the end of the song was performed by Don Felder and Joe Walsh.

Hotel California (the album) has become one of the most successful albums of all time with over 16 million copies sold in the US and 32 million worldwide. The album reached #1 on the US Billboard 200, #2 on the UK and #1 on the Australian Albums charts. The album was ranked #37 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

This album is a 2017 reissue on 180 gram black vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve with a printed inner sleeve and poster, pressed in Europe via Asylum Records.