The Eagles' fourth album represents the apex of post-Byrds Southern California rock. Their music reflects the Hollywood ethos of glamorous, narcissistic ennui, exhibiting the contradiction between the city's atmosphere of "laid-back" machismo and its desperate rootlessness of spirit. Even the Eagles' more plaintive songs have a surface sweetness that belies the jaded pessimism of so many of their lyrics. This sweetness, combined with superb arrangements, brilliant playing and the seamless vocal harmonies of Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Randy Meisner, accounts for the band's popularity, for it evokes everything gratifying that people would like to fantasize about L.A.

Unlike their previous three albums, One of These Nights is not self-consciously structured around contemporary myths. Though I found the semioperatic Desperado, which likened rock stars to outlaws, an intelligent concept, it also struck me as glibly self-satisfied. Likewise, On the Border's tributes to James Dean and Gram Parsons, while they conveyed vigor and pathos, showed no strong feeling of either violence or grief. A major reason I like One of These Nights more than its forerunners is its relative lack of conceptual pretension. The best songs portray L.A. culture fairly straightforwardly, using occult eroticism ("One of These Nights," "Too Many Hands" and "Visions") and sexual duplicity and malaise ("Hollywood Waltz," "Lyin' Eyes," "After the Thrill Is Gone") as metaphors for the city's transient, hedonistic ambience.

Original album advertising art. Click image for larger view.

The excellent title cut introduces a new element into the Eagles' music -- R&B falsetto singing by Randy Meisner and Don Henley. An exciting statement of obsessive sexual pursuit, the cut shows the Eagles' finest attributes: aggressive but precise vocal harmonizing and richly textured instrumentation linked by Don Felder's muscular guitar fills. "Hollywood Waltz" is an appealing ballad that likens L.A. to a nagging, promiscuous woman. "Lyin' Eyes" uses a woman's restless adultery to symbolize the city's gross materialism. "Take It To The Limit," an orchestral ballad whose lead vocal by Meisner is almost stately in its execution, contains some pithy phrasemaking: "You can spend all your time makin' money/You can spend all your love makin' time." The song also answers the fear of growing old with apprehensive defiance: "Take it to the limit one more time." A similar anxiety is expressed more directly in the album's best ballad, "After the Thrill Is Gone": "What can you do when your dreams come true, and it's not quite like you'd planned?" Here, there is no answer but to continue doing "The same old dances in the same old shoes/You don't care about winning but you don't want to lose."

One of These Nights is far from flawless. Bernie Leadon's "Journey of the Sorcerers," a bombastic instrumental, should have been omitted and his closing ballad, "I Wish You Peace" (cowritten with Patti Davis), comes as a trite afterthought, poorly sung. Despite its many strengths, One of These Nights is not a great album. True, the Eagles ensemble playing is unprecedentedly excellent. But they lack an outstanding singer. While many of their tunes are pretty, none are eloquent. And for all their worldly perceptiveness, the Eagles' lyrics never transcend Hollywood slickness. Their hard rock has always seemed a bit forced, constructed more from commercial considerations than from any urgent impulse to boogie. And when the Eagles attempt to communicate wild sexuality, they sound only boyishly enthused. These limitations, however, seem built-in to the latter-day concept of Southern California rock, of which the Eagles remain the unrivaled exponents.

- Stephen Holden, Rolling Stone, 8/14/74.

Bonus Reviews!

An absolutely stunning album and the ultimate distillation of the Eagles style, satin-smooth vocal harmonies blending effortlessly into tight and exciting guitar jams. There's a relaxed, flowing beauty throughout the cuts that the Eagles have never quite achieved at this level before. Best cuts: "One Of These Nights," "Too Many Hands," "Lyin' Eyes," "Take It To The Limit."

- Billboard, 1974.

The Eagles' breakthrough album, a convincing mix of heady rockers and lush ballads, featuring the Top Ten hits "One Of These Nights," "Lyin' Eyes," and "Take It to the Limit." * * *

- William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

One of These Nights is the apex of the Eagles' twang time with some truly gorgeous moments in "Lyin' Eyes" and "Take it to the Limit." * * *

- Gary Graff, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

With its pin-sharp production sound and slickly crafted songs, the Eagles' fourth album, One Of These Nights, was the band's first US Number One album and thanks to the title track gave the band their second Number One single in the US, in July 1975, after the previous year's "Best Of My Love," plus two more hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic. At the year's end, Bernie Leadon left the band and was replaced by Joe Walsh.

The band's wonderful harmonies are once again in evidence, particularly on the title song, while their story-telling talents are given the full treatment on the achingly bittersweet "Lyin' Eyes" (a Grammy Award winner) -- a Number 23 in the UK, as well as a Grammy winner in 1976 -- and "After The Thrill Is Gone." "Take It To The Limit" reached Number Four on the singles' chart in the US and Number 12 in the UK.

"Too Many Hands" and "Visions" are a couple of rousing rockers, while "Hollywood Waltz" is a classic Eagles' ballad. Fans of the UK TV show Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy will meanwhile recognize the album's one instrumental, "Journey Of The Sorceror," as the source for the programme's musical theme.

The album topped the US Hot 100 and reached Number Eight on the UK album chart.

As of 2004, One Of These Nights was the #58 best-selling album of the 70s.

- Hamish Champ, The 100 Best-Selling Albums of the 70s, 2004.

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