Board 8 > Rank the Tracks Week 61: Eagles' Hotel California (+ Black Marble results)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Previous results can be seen here:
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks

The rules:
1. Listen to the album in full
2. Rank every track on the album
3. For the results, there will be a curve at the top of each list; two additional points between #1 and #2, and one additional point for the next two ranks. This way, the songs that really stick out to someone get an edge that is not immediately negated by someone else putting it lower. In the case of Demon Days, someone's 15th track will get 1 point, 14th 2 points, 4th 12 points, 3rd 14 points, 2nd 16 points, and 1st 19 points. For albums with greater than 15 tracks, everything ranked below #15 will be given 0 points and the scale for the top 15 will be the same as a 15-track album. For albums with more than 20 tracks, you only have to list your top 15 (with 16-20, I still like having the average rank listed)
4. If you want to include comments for individual songs, I will compile them in the results
5. The results will be posted at the beginning of the next topic
6. The deadline to vote is Sunday, May 8 at 8:00 AM EST - though if you are for whatever reason listening to the album around that time, just say so in the topic and I can delay a bit
7. You can sign up to be added to the user cycle - the next person on the list will choose 3 albums which the other users will vote on for the next topic.
7a. To ensure people are being given an actual choice, the three nominated albums must be by different artists. You can otherwise stick to a similar sound or era.
7b. The tiebreaker for these polls will be whichever is listed first in the poll options - make sure to deliver the results in order of your own preference (which will hopefully have the added benefit of influencing people toward your first choice if they can't decide).

The Eagles - Hotel California:
1. Hotel California
2. New Kid in Town
3. Life in the Fast Lane
4. Wasted Time
5. Wasted Time (Reprise)
6. Victim of Love
7. Pretty Maids All in a Row
8. Try and Love Again
9. The Last Resort

User Cycle:
5/8: ZaziGuado (Taylor Swift - Folklore)
5/15: firefdr (Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory)
5/22: Johnbobb
5/29: VeryInsane
6/5: CasanovaZelos
6/12: Seanchan
6/19: Giggsalot
6/26: RyoCaliente
7/3: darkx
7/10: neonreaper
7/17: Great_Paul
7/24: jcgamer107
7/31: ChichiriMuyo
8/7: BlueCrystalTear
8/14: MetalmindStats
8/21: HBJDubs
8/28: Raetsel_Lapin
9/4: TheArkOfTurus
9/11: Steiner
9/18: Snake5555555555
9/25: Jesse_Custer

Black Marble - It's Immaterial results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
VeryInsane (14)
CasanovaZelos (16)
Seanchan (20)
MetalmindStats (22)
Raetsel_Lapin (24)
HBJDubs (26)
Snake5555555555 (32)
Johnbobb (32)

General Album Comments

Snake5555555555: First of all I need to talk about the AMAZING cover art - it's the first thing that drew me to this album initially after all. It really sets up the listening experience perfectly - this dark-haired, mysterious woman with black suit to match, hair blowing in the breeze, meditative pose, she's at once ominous and yet strangely inviting. She's set against this typical suburban backdrop, with a very Colonial style building behind her. Basically, this is a house and a setting anyone could've seen before - and that's part of the album's allure for sure. This sense of nostalgia and relatability gives the album such a universal appeal I think, while the woman serves as this transitory figure urging you to move on and have these memories melt and fade away into the background as life moves on - equal parts melancholic and uplifting, and you're trapped somewhere in the middle.

And that's what the music of It's Immaterial does best. It starts off very cold and chaotic - harsh screeching, electronic noise - the name "Interdiction" tells you everything you need to know - the track is the sound of change and our mind's rejected reaction to it. It's a sort of gatekeeper - like the woman on the front cover - keeping the listener away from the purgatorial feel of the rest of the album's core 9 tracks. When I put this album on, I don't think of it as a normal experience to jam out too and pay close attention to the lyrics and everything else - to me it's a vibe, a mood, a feeling, and I think that's an intentional choice on Chris Stewart's part. Often times it melts smoothly into the background, like a distant but fond memory, the cold synths and minimal production carrying the deep recesses of my brain to a better place even if I'm unaware of it. It brings to mind futures to come, experiences long since past, and the comforting fact that I'm here and aware in the present. This album does everything it set out to do and it's a perfect listening experience. So glad I discovered it.

Seanchan: Did a first listen to this today. I was a bit conflicted. After the first track, I was kind of enjoying its general chillness and kind of 80s-ish vibes. But I also found myself irrationally annoyed/angry at not being able to understand the lyrics. There was a certain...mumbling/ethereal/dreamy quality to them that I found hard to grasp onto. My mind was trying so hard to hear the words and usually falling short. My reaction was so clearly at odds with the vibe the album is going for. Eventually I calmed down and just went with it but definitely going to need some more listens to process. I do like that it's a short album though!
(...)
2nd listen done. There's something entirely video game soundtrack about this, if you take away the lyrics. Like I could imagine hearing some of these as part of some indie game like Fez.

But also, I've got practically no separation of the songs in my mind. This one is going to be a pain to rank.

Raetsel_Lapin: I planned on posting my ranking earlier, but decided I liked the album enough that I wanted to give it a few more listens than normal. Unfortunately, I find this album virtually impossible to rank properly--I like every song on it, so there isn't a clear last place; I'm not in love with any of the tracks, so there isn't a clear winner either. My current first place song was actually ranked last after my first two listens! So, I enjoyed every second of this album, but don't have any strong feelings towards where any of it should be ranked... this is just how the list turned out after five listens and I'm going to say it's how I feel "right now", but don't expect any positions to remain constant ever.

BlueCrystalTear: I hated the first track since it sounded like static noise, nothing more (would have easily been in last). Things got better after that, but these songs are... interchangeable. Like I've heard the same tune ten times and couldn't tell you which song was which since they're so musically identical. I don't understand this album and I'm not in the right headspace to. I don't think I'm gonna bother ranking this week.

I'll give this another spin in a day or two but... IDK.

Steiner: basically this i think it's just a genre thing for me because my brain just doesn't process any of this

Raetsel_Lapin: I know I have Interdiction in last place and I fully expect it to be last in most people's rankings, but I'd like to reitirate that I liked everything on the album including Interdiction. I'm not as into chaos and atonal things as I once was, but I would have been perfectly content had the album kept the crazed experimentation going for the entire runtime. Like, "there is no chance anyone managed to get an entire album of THIS type of music into the series, but I personally wish we did" was my first thought on Interdiction.

But then I wound up liking the other, less experimental songs more. To paraphrase Snake, the rest of the album is a "vibe"/"mood" and it is a vibe I liked getting to experience for its fairly brief runtime. So while there are a number of albums where I'd easily take Interdiction over their best tracks, here I'd rather spend more time in the VIBE than be weird.

...still, good to get confirmation that I shouldn't push for anything too... "unique" with my nominations. Not that I planned on nominating a bunbleman album or anything, but if this is the reaction to Interdiction, something like bun would just kill the series entirely. (Which I already knew, but still, nice to have a more official confirmation on how people would react than mere speculation/common sense).

BlueCrystalTear: I'm in a very dark place so if we're looking for a "mood" album like this, it works. But even after listen #2, it's nothing but basslines and drum machines on repeat. It's good to set my dark moods today, but nothing sticks with me. The second listen did help me distinguish things a little more, but... I just don't think I can rank this, aside from Interdiction being last.

CasanovaZelos: I found this to be a somewhat engaging throwback to an era I really love, but a lot of these tracks meander too much for me to care. It picks up by the end, but it just leaves me wanting to check out a more consistent post-punk/synthpop record from the 80s instead.

Seanchan: I enjoyed this album as a whole more than I enjoyed ranking it, meaning it was more fun to have it on in the background rather than doing active listening. This is probably a little bit more arbitrary a ranking than a lot of albums we've covered, but at the same time I feel pretty good about the top 3 being the top 3 in some way.

General Comments Continued:

ZaziGuado: Gave the album a couple of listens and I echo many of the comments here. The sound is good for what it is and I can see the appeal, but it sits in the background much too easily to be rankable, so I'm not going to. Iron Lung is the standout for me, though.The album does feel soaked a bit in nostalgia and provides almost a certain kind of warmth despite it's distant sound and vocals. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts and the album doesn't overstay its welcome which I appreciate.

It actually reminds me of Blaqk Audio, a band fronted by AFI lead singer Davey Havok heavy with dark and brooding synth and bass lines but the vocals are more at the forefront because Davey Havok has a pretty unique voice. Just a suggestion if Snake5s hasn't heard of them before. I've only heard the first album from back in 2007 and have very little remembrance of it outside of one song, but it still feels similar.

MetalmindStats: I found the individual tracks mostly rather difficult to distinguish and rank, but as an album, it impressed me.

VeryInsane: I can barely understand the vocals, but the beats are nice, has a bit of a new wave esque feel to it

It's Immaterial track ranking

11. Missing Sibling (Track #6)
Score: 20 (Average Rank: 9.5/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): Snake5555555555, Johnbobb, VeryInsane (#11)

10. Interdiction (Track #1)
Score: 27 (Average Rank: 9.13/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, CasanovaZelos, Seanchan, HBJDubs (#11)

Johnbobb: I swear I'm not joking when I say this was my favorite song on the album. Maybe because it was an instrumental, but it just sets such a dark and gruesome atmosphere, I was expecting a much darker album to follow. I just want a longer song in this exact style.

9. Golden Heart (Track #8)
Score: 37 (Average Rank: 7.38/11)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): Snake5555555555, CasanovaZelos, Johnbobb (#9)

8. Portland U (Track #10)
Score: 45 (Average Rank: 6.5/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Snake5555555555 (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#10)

7. Woods (Track #4)
Score: 46 (Average Rank: 6.38/11)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#9)

6. Frisk (Track #7)
Score: 64 (Average Rank: 4.88/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Snake5555555555 (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): MetalmindStats (#11)

5. Collene (Track #11)
Score: 64 (Average Rank: 4.63/11)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): MetalmindStats (#9)

4. Iron Lung (Track #2)
Score: 65 (Average Rank: 4.38/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Snake5555555555, Johnbobb (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#10)

3. It's Conditional (Track #3)
Score: 67 (Average Rank: 4.63/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin, CasanovaZelos, Seanchan, MetalmindStats (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): VeryInsane (#9)

2. A Million Billion Stars (Track #5)
Score: 69 (Average Rank: 4.5/11)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs, MetalmindStats (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#9)

1. Self Guided Tours (Track #9)
Score: 80 (Average Rank: 4.13/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin, CasanovaZelos, Seanchan, VeryInsane (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Snake5555555555, HBJDubs (#10)

Rusted Root*

Already did a first listen to Hotel California. Obviously I've heard the title track before; it's a absolute classic. The rest of the album kinda failed to grab me though, which I wasn't expecting.

Johnbobb posted...

Rusted Root*

Sorry about that

Hotel California is one of my prime examples of a classic album I keep trying and failing to appreciate. The title track is a certified classic, and I don't think there's anything weak here, but there's little that really grabs me otherwise. It's a pretty good album that is always treated as one of the all-time greats and I have probably listened to it at least a dozen times and I just don't see it.

My ranking:
Hotel California
Life in the Fast Lane
The Last Resort
New Kid in Town
Victim of Love
Pretty Maids All in a Row
Try and Love Again
Wasted Time
Wasted Time (Reprise)

Hotel California
The Last Resort
Wasted Time
Life in the Fast Lane
Wasted Time (Reprise)
New Kid in Town
Victim of Love
Try and Love Again
Pretty Maids All in a Row

Hotel California
Try and Love Again
Life in the Fast Lane
New Kid in Town
Victim of Love
Wasted Time
The Last Resort
Pretty Maids All in a Row
Wasted Time (Reprise)

Eagles might be my favorite band in which I don't have any attachment to at least one particular album; Hotel California comes the closest to fully capturing what the Eagles are all about however - they're funky, they're country, and when they need to - they rock and they rock hard. Whether you like or resonate with this sound or not, you have to admit just how tight and precisely written all the tracks here are. I've always liked how the Eagles trade off vocal duties - it gives the album such a lively and varied feel and makes each song memorable and distinct in their own ways, from the soft rock ballads like Wasted Time to the epic surrealist journey of Hotel California - like going on a road trip with your best buddies and getting each person's unique perspective on a different facet of the experience. It's an album soaked in night time chilly desert sands, rock-and-roll romance, and ultimately facing up to ones' mortality and effect on the world. If the Eagles were trying to capture a moment of place and time - I think they succeeded in spades and I think it's why it resonates with millions of people worldwide to this day.

1: Wasted Time
2: Wasted Time (Reprise)
3: Hotel California
4: New Kid in Town
5: Pretty Maids All in a Row
6: Life in the Fast Lane
7: Victim of Love
8: Try and Love Again
9: The Last Resort

At least this one is an album I've heard dozens of times! Just gonna listen once to verify... will have to do that tomorrow.

Btw this popped in my comics feed today (Free Range by Bill Whitehead):
<img src="https://assets.amuniversal.com/4fd00910a600013aa64a005056a9545d">

if i listen to this it will be the first time i've heard the eagles that is not hotel california

Steiner posted...

if i listen to this it will be the first time i've heard the eagles that is not hotel california

I thought it was the same boat for me but, you've probably heard Life in the Fast Lane before. They also have a few other songs, not on this album, that I was familiar with but didn't know they were Eagles songs.

He had a rough night and he hates the fuckin Eagles, man

Ive always thought of this album as Don Henleys masterpiece, even though it was his "brother" - the late great Glenn Frey - who was getting into shouting matches and altercations with the other band members during the tumultuous time of turnover. I would think that the conflicts actually fueled Henley and Frey's musical creativity and helped contribute such a fantastic direction, since they didn't listen to Bernie Leadon (who left because they weren't going to do another Desperado). I think the fighting fueled the passion, which always contributes to success. The whole album is fun and does the good moods and the not-so-good moods well. At least at this point, the guys were able to work harmoniously together to produce something awesome.

1. Hotel California Like those guitars. The theme. All the good stuff.
2. Wasted Time Underrated Don Henley ballad. The instrumental outro (originally separated due to LP restrictions) punctuates it, too.
3. Life in the Fast Lane - A song that somehow manages to mix the thrills of drug dealing with the eventual placation one feels. Probably because of the drugs themselves.
4. New Kid in Town Its surprising that this is the only Glenn Frey vocal on here, and that alone makes it a standout since its among his best.
5. Try and Love Again - The only Randy Meisner vocal here. It's not Take It to the Limit but it's almost there.
6. The Last Resort While it goes on a little too long, its still epic, and I honestly feel bad putting it this low.
7. Wasted Time (Reprise) - If we're really separating them; AFAIK the band no longer does.
8. Pretty Maids All in a Row The silence is unnecessary and the shortness of this one gets drowned out by those around it. It's still good though!
9. Victim of Love This one is forgettable because of just how great the rest is. That and this was primarily Don Felder's song, so Henley didn't have the same passion for it that he does his own compositions.

Wish I could've gone to the tour for this album (still a small handful of shows left) but I have no money. (I'm also learning that Deacon Frey just left the band - news to me!).

(P.S. If you guys can't access the comic above, I can repost it in a different way.)

bump

Up

Hotel California
New Kid in Town
Wasted Time
Life in the Fast Lane
Victim of Love
The Last Resort
Try and Love Again
Pretty Maids All in a Row
Wasted Time (Reprise)

I am having a hard time giving this album a write up. To me I guess it captures a 20something vibe, girls and booze and responsibilities and trying to come to grips with big thoughts about the big world. It's like going on an adventure while recapping the adventure and realizing that the adventures are coming to an end, or, something. I've never really looked up what any of these songs mean so you could tell me they're all about Vietnam, I wouldn't know.

bump

up

Bump. Gotta do my last listen tomorrow.

Last day to vote

1. Hotel California
2. Life in the Fast Lane
3. Try and Love Again
4. Wasted Time
5. Wasted Time (Reprise)
6. New Kid in Town
7. The Last Resort
8. Victim of Love
9. Pretty Maids All in a Row

This one grew on me a bit from repeated listens. It never really lives up to the title track, and I certainly wouldn't call it a favorite by any means, but there's a certain pretty, listenability to it.

Hotel California
New Kid in Town
Wasted Time
Life in the Fast Lane
Try and Love Again
The Last Resort
Victim of Love
Pretty Maids All in a Row
Wasted Time (Reprise)

(The Reprise isn't bad, and should honestly be a part of Wasted Time)

Hotel California
Life In The Fast Lane
Victim Of Love
Wasted Time
Pretty Maids All In A Row
The Last Resort
Try and Love Again
New Kid In Town
Wasted Time (Reprise)