Poll--The Weakest Link: Eagles ON THE BORDER, Round 5

"James Dean" thought we had no cause to eject it.

Four remain, one must go.

Discussion question: How many copies of OTB have you owned?

5 James Dean
6 Midnight Flyer
T7 My Man
T7 Good Day In Hell
T9 Is It True
T9 You Never Cry Like A Lover

 

Ol 55 for me. Love The Best of my love but Already gone for the win

 

Ol '55 for me as well.

I've owned only two copies. One vinyl I bought new in the early 80s and a CD I got as a promo from Elektra in the early 90s

Pretty happy with both of those.

 

Best out.
DQ: quad lp, stereo cassette, quad 8 track, cd.

 

1 cd, 4 lps, 2 songbooks

"On the Border." I'm glad they rerecorded this because the original lacked the Temptations-style breakdown

 

"Best of My Love," I guess. I like these four songs pretty much equally, so it's hard to single one out.

DQ: None

 

Best of My Love, again.

Just one original LP, which I bought secondhand in 1989 or 1990.

 

Ol '55 for me as well.

 

"Ol' 55" -- a great song ... as done by its creator, Tom Waits. Didn't he say the Eagles' version was like watching paint dry or something.

 

I posted from the last round, from Wikipedia about Old55';

Tom Waits actively hates it, admitting that he was "not that particularly crazy about (their) rendition of it ... I thought their version was a little antiseptic."

Already Gone... To Go.

DQ; One LP, One DC.

The full quotes goes like this;
“I frankly was not that particularly crazy about their rendition of it. The song is about 5 years old, it’s one of the first songs I wrote so I felt like it was kind of flattering that somebody wanted to do your song but at the same time I thought their version was a little antiseptic.”

What you remembered was what he said about the band (Eagles)
“Naw – I don’t like the Eagles. They’re about as exciting as watching paint dry. Their albums are good for keeping the dust off your turntable and that’s about all.”

I guess... Not a big fan.

 

Couldn't decide between Ol 55 and On The Border. Went with Ol 55 to try to save Best Of My Love.

DQ: I have a used copy I got from a friend who was getting rid of his albums.

 

Ol' 55. I'm rooting for the title track to win.

I owned a CD copy of it, but got rid of it in my last purge. Right now I own 0 copies of it. My mom is a big Eagles fan and she has most of their albums on vinyl but not this one for some reason. I think it's the only one of the '70s albums she is missing.

 

'Ol 55

DQ: 2 copies.

 

Ol' 55.

DQ: The CD that I bought in 1994.

 

I have a so-so vinyl copy, and either a Japan or West German CD pressing ( I can't remember which) that sounds very good.

I voted Ol' 55 as well.

 

One cd copy

 

Wow. Ol' 55 is one of my favourites on the album!

 

I think I'm on my 6th copy of On The Border- cd, hi res download and 4 lps.

 

As always, it is interesting watching another weakest link contest play out. I am a big Eagles fan, and probably consider this the band's best album after Hotel California. The rankings are falling into place as one would objectively expect based on the popularity and reputation of various tracks, but having listened to this album extensively over the years (and even recently), I tend to have a different perspective as to where some of these songs fall on my personal list. For example, Ol' 55 is a great Tom Waits song, perhaps one of his very best performances, but I just don't think The Eagles' cover is a compelling interpretation of Waits' raw, authentic reading. I get why people like The Eagles' version, but I think the rest of the On The Border album contains better performances, even if some of the tracks are lesser songs.

This album had an almost perfect blend of what ultimately made The Eagles so great; country/rock fused tracks, ballads, some rockers, melody, great vocals, and a lot of quality lyrical content. In some ways, this album is disjointed as the band tries to evolve its musical identity, but somehow, it blends well and really comes together. I would love to hear more of the aborted, unreleased songs recorded with Glyn Johns; maybe one day there will be an archival Eagles box set.

1) Best of My Love
2) Midnight Flyer
3) Already Gone
4) James Dean
5) Is It True?
6) You Never Cry Like A Lover
7) On The Border
8) Good Day In Hell
9) My Man
10) Ol' 55

 

Already Gone should be gone already!

I've just had the Asylum CD that I got in 1992.

 

Damn, I like Ol'55. I voted Already Gone.

DQ: Zero

 

If they would have put out that album, there's a decent chance it would have ended their career

 

Ol' 55. The Eagles' version doesn't do much for me.

DQ: 1 CD purchased in last couple years.

 

DQ: I have a vinyl copy I bought in the mid 80's and a CD my wife bought in the early 90's.

JcS

 

Have you heard the songs?