u/PhCommunications

I pretty much bought the One of These Nights remaster for the Anaheim Stadium live show and I've already made my thoughts clear on how the remastered album trashed Take It to The Limit (quick recap, in a song known for Randy Meisner's soaring vocals, why move them back in the mix to the point you can barely hear them?). But I've been enjoying the hell out of the live show and I keep coming back to three things.

- It actually sounds like the band is having fun, which is something I don't always hear in some of the later live releases. Maybe it was the presence of Randy and Bernie. Maybe it was before the cocaine really kicked in. Maybe it was before Henley and Frey's iron fist mandate that they had to sound exactly like the album, which took some spontaneity out of their sound. Maybe it's just want I want to hear, but… 

- For my money, the live versions of Outlaw Man and Doolin' Dalton/Desperado Reprise are worth buying the album alone. Granted, I've always loved the Desperado album anyway, but mixing Felder into the live version of Outlaw Man is amazing.

- It has also rekindled my love of Ol' 55. Yes, I know it's Tom Waits cover, but Frey and Henley alternating in the lead, the harmonies with Bernie and Randy in the mix and Felder's live pedal steel just wreck me.

So, altogether an absolutely meaningless post. But if you're on the fence about buying the OOTN remaster, those are my reasons for why it's worth every penny. YMMV

Edit to add: Not related to the above, but …  I also managed to get I Wish You Peace stuck in my head while working on a bathroom sink drain last weekend. It did not bring me peace… 

This is a bit of a reach, but Glenn Frey has a very brief appearance in the new Martin Short documentary on Netflix titled Marty, Life Is Short.

As context, Martin Short and his wife annually held holiday parties that were very popular among the Hollywood crowd. Their only caveat was that, if you attended, you performed. The old home movie clip they used shows Glenn introducing himself as "the happy Eagle," (little dig at Henley's well-earned reputation for being generally pissed off?) then singing the first line or two of Please Come Home For Christmas at the piano.

It's a tiny bit of minutiae and if you blink, you'll miss it, but thought some folks might want to be aware of it or see it… (and if you like Martin Short, I thought the whole thing was very well done and very enjoyable)

As an Eagles fan, I absolutely love it (I'm streaming it as I type this). Granted, I could play my Eagles playlist on iTunes and essentially do the same thing, but that wouldn't get me the solo cuts and influences songs.

This is the third or fourth time that the band has worked with Sirius to run this channel, and maybe it's familiarity, but I have a few nits to pick this time around…

• The shows from Joe Walsh and Bob Seger are the same ones they run every time Sirius has run the station (not sure about Henley, Schmidt, Gill and Martine McBride. The Stan Lynch episode may be new). They've freshened up the playlist, but couldn't they have updated these as well?

• The David Fricke "influences" segments are also the same. That's bad enough in itself, but this time around, Fricke's voice (which sounds like he's holding himself while he listens to himself talk) and overdramatic manner of speaking with choppy, random pauses, is making me want to hit skip every time I hear it…

• It feels like they play some version of Seven Bridges Road once an hour. Fine song, but not worthy of that kind of frequency IMO

- Also find it odd they don't seem to be playing any of the live cuts from Hell Freezes Over (but lots from Live From The Forum)

Is this the greatest crisis in the world right now? No!

Will any of my complaints change a thing? Oh hell no!

Could I avoid all my issues above by simply changing the station? You betcha!

Ultimately, I'm just curious if anyone else has noticed the above or if anyone else has their own gripes…

Bought the digital download of the OOTN remaster (mostly to get the live set) and IMO, they butchered the hell out of Take It To The Limit. To my ears, the counter melodies are moved forward/amplified enough to almost overpower Randy's vocal. In the back third, the chorus is jacked up enough that Randy sounds like he's almost in another room in places. Overall, the balance between the vocals just seems off (and, in my mind, I've always thought remastering was supposed to fix issues like that, not enhance them)… 

Again, that's what my ears are hearing. But my ears aren't quite as sharp as they once were, so I'm curious if anyone else is hearing it that way too…