So how long does it take for hell to freeze over? According to The Eagles about fourteen years. The animosity was so great within the group in 1980 that Don Henley stated, “Hell would have to freeze over before The Eagles would play together again.” The individual members of the group had gone on to modest solo careers and so in 1994 they re-grouped. It proved that in this case the streets of hell were paved with gold.
The re-formed Eagles would be as popular as ever with their concerts consistently selling out despite charging exorbitant prices. Hell Freezes Over would top the American charts and sell millions of copies.
This new album would consist of eleven live versions of their older material plus four new studio tracks. There is also a DVD version of this album which presents all the songs live plus contains some bonus tracks as well. In some ways it is superior to the CD as it allows you to see the purity of group’s vocal perfection without any studio wizardry.
The eleven live tracks have all been heard before and in several forms but after nearly a decade and a half it was nice to hear the vocal harmonies soar once more. No track is more flawless than “I Can't Tell You Why” which just shimmers. On the other side of the musical equation “Hotel California,” with a new intro, and “Life In The Fast Lane” give Joe Walsh and Don Felder one last chance to unite their guitars into the sound that was so unique.
One of my favorite tracks was the new studio song, “Get Over It.” It could almost be a biographical statement as tensions would remain despite their new career. They would never really take their own advice as expressed here. The other new song of note was “Love Will Keep Us Alive” where Timothy B. Schmidt shows off his unique vocal style.
Hell Freezes Over may not have been the best or most creative album that The Eagles ever released but it did not matter as their fan base had been waiting fourteen years for a new release.
All in all it was a credible effort and while it has been superseded by other releases it nevertheless established the fact that the re-formed Eagles of 1994 had not missed a beat.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
"In some ways [the DVD] is superior to the CD as it allows you to see the purity of group’s vocal perfection without any studio wizardry."
Please explain how exactly you see "vocal perfection"?