When the Eagles recorded "Hotel California" they were not an up-coming band but rather a group of musicians with a number one album under their belts as well as two number one singles. These were men who were already eating the fruits of fame and wealth and who were inevitably ready to write with authority about the high life of Los Angeles. The Eagles' interpretation of the Californian dream however is never idealized- "Hotel California" is rather an attack on the phoney, superficial, and hypocritical life of the rich and famous, the kind of people who find themselves in Los Angeles as can be seen in the lyrics of "Last Resort", 'where the pretty people play, hungry for power'.
It is because of this that the album "Hotel California" as a whole has quite a dark underbelly that emerges through certain guitar riffs, the most famous of course the song of the title track, as well as lyrics that give one a sense of mysticism, claustrophobia, and the unknown through their mention of confined spaces (And she said "we are all just prisoners here, of our own device"), ghosts of film stars on the streets, and the world that fame and money can buy you.
Some standout tracks:
"Hotel California" - Its clear why this track gave the album its name- it not only dominates the album itself (all the other songs having lasting remnants from the strong themes, images, and guitar riffs presented in the first song) but the whole Eagle's discography as well. The guitar riff itself is influenced by a reggae guitar riff that was created by Don Felder and it can only be described as invitingly creepy. It is a ghost tale that has turned itself into a pop song- the guitar solos having an almost epic like feel of good overcoming evil. It is clear that the song does not glorify California but rather runs it down- a place which masquerades its cultural prisons in the form of five star hotels.
"Life in the Fast Lane" - like the title of the track hints at, the song is the background music to someone speeding down the highway to Los Angeles in a convertible. The guitar is fast and angry (as angry as the Eagles can get) and mixed with the clavinet gives it the high tempo to catch up to the lyrics of dangerous living where women are "terminally pretty" and men are "brutally handsome". The song is almost suicidal describing the life of parties, drug, and sex as auto-destructive and unable to ever fulfil a person.
The fact that the band has always stayed mute about the real meaning of the title song "Hotel California" and the album as a whole means the album itself will be able to be interpreted for generations to come.
