Editing Eagles (band) (section)

===1975–1978: Major success with ''Hotel California'' ===
[[File:Joe Walsh 4 - 1975.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|Guitarist [[Joe Walsh]] joined the band in 1975, replacing Leadon.]]
Leadon's replacement was guitarist and singer [[Joe Walsh]], who had been a friend of the band for some years. He had previously performed with [[James Gang]], [[Barnstorm (band)|Barnstorm]], and as a solo artist; he was also managed by Azoff and used Szymczyk as his record producer.{{sfn|Felder|Holden|2008|p=153}} There was some initial concern as to Walsh's ability to fit in with the band, as he was considered too "wild" for the Eagles, especially by Henley.{{sfn|Felder|Holden|2008|p=153}} After the departure of Leadon, the Eagles' early country sound almost completely disappeared, with the band employing a harder sound with the addition of Felder and Walsh; however, Felder also had to play [[banjo]], [[pedal steel]], and [[mandolin]] on future tours, something that had previously been Leadon's domain.<ref>{{cite web|first= Nick |last= Deriso |title= Don Felder on the Eagles' 'Hotel California', 'Heavy Metal', other solo songs: Gimme Five |date= November 16, 2012 |access-date= June 10, 2016 |url= http://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/11/16/one-track-mind-don-felder-on-the-eagles-hotel-california-those-shoes-and-solo-songs/}}</ref>

In early 1976, the band released their first compilation album, ''[[Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)]]''. The album became the highest-selling album of the 20th century in the United States,<ref>{{cite web |title= Eagles hits album named best-selling of century |publisher= CNN |date= December 8, 1999 |access-date= March 9, 2016 |url= http://edition.cnn.com/1999/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/08/eagles/ |archive-date= March 10, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160310091439/http://edition.cnn.com/1999/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/08/eagles/ |url-status= dead }}</ref> and has since sold 38{{nbsp}}million copies in the U.S. (excluding streams and tracks)<ref>{{cite web|title= Eagles' 'Greatest Hits' Overtakes Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' as Best-Selling Album of All Time in U.S. |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/eagles-greatest-hits-best-selling-album-michael-jackson-thriller-1135954/ |magazine= [[The Hollywood Reporter]] |agency= [[Associated Press]] |date= August 20, 2018 |access-date= 12 August 2021}}</ref> and 42{{nbsp}}million copies worldwide.<ref>{{cite magazine|first= Steve |last= Knopper |title= How the Eagles' 'Greatest Hits' Invented a New Kind of Blockbuster |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-the-eagles-greatest-hits-invented-a-new-kind-of-blockbuster-20160120 |magazine= Rolling Stone |date= January 20, 2016 |access-date= March 9, 2016}}</ref><ref name="MTV 2009"/> It stayed the biggest seller of all time until it was taken over by [[Michael Jackson]]'s ''[[Thriller (Michael Jackson album)|Thriller]]'' following the artist's death in 2009.<ref name="MTV 2009">{{cite news|first= Kyle |last= Anderson |title= Michael Jackson's Thriller Set to Become Top-Selling Album of All Time |publisher= MTV |date= July 20, 2009 |url= http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1616537/thriller-set-overtake-eagles-top-selling-lp.jhtml|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120510082507/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1616537/thriller-set-overtake-eagles-top-selling-lp.jhtml|url-status= dead|archive-date= May 10, 2012}}</ref> The album cemented the group's status as the most successful American band of the decade.

The following album, ''[[Hotel California (Eagles album)|Hotel California]]'', released on December 8, 1976, was the band's fifth studio album and the first to feature Walsh. The album took a year and a half to complete, a process that, along with touring, drained the band. The album's first single, "[[New Kid in Town]]", became the Eagles' third number-one single.

{{listen
 | filename    = Eagles - Hotel California.ogg
 | title       = "Hotel California"
 | pos         = right
 | description = After Bernie Leadon left, little country influence remained in the Eagles' next album which became more rock. Here Felder and Walsh play guitars on "[[Hotel California]]" with Henley on lead vocals.
}}
The second single was the [[Hotel California|title track]], which topped the charts in May 1977 and became the Eagles' signature song. It features Henley on lead vocals, with a guitar duet performed by Felder and Walsh. The song was co-written by Felder, Henley, and Frey.<ref>{{cite magazine|title= Don Felder Reveals the Roots of 'Hotel California' and Shows You How to Play It |magazine= [[Guitar World]] |date= December 27, 2016 |access-date= April 14, 2019 |url= https://www.guitarworld.com/lessons/don-felder-tells-story-behind-eagles-hotel-california-and-shows-you-how-play-it}}</ref> The mysterious lyrics have been interpreted in many ways, some of them controversial. Rumors even started in certain quarters that the song was about Satanism. The rumor was dismissed by the band and later by Henley in the documentary film ''[[History of the Eagles]]''. Henley told ''[[60 Minutes]]'' in 2007 that "it's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream and about excess in America, which was something we knew about."<ref>{{cite web|first= Steve |last= Kroft |url= http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3538308n |title= Eagles: Dark Days |date= November 25, 2007 |work= [[60 Minutes]] |publisher= [[CBS News]] |access-date= September 22, 2013}}</ref>

With its hard rock sound, "[[Life in the Fast Lane]]" was also a major success that established Walsh's position in the band. The third and final single from ''Hotel California'', it reached number 11 on the charts. The ballad "Wasted Time" closes the first side of the album, while an instrumental reprise of it opens the second side. The album concludes with "[[The Last Resort (Eagles song)|The Last Resort]]", a song that Frey once referred to as "Henley's opus", but which Henley described as "fairly pedestrian" and "never fully realized, musically speaking".<ref name="Crowe">{{cite web|first= Cameron |last= Crowe |url= http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/the-very-best-of-the-eagles/ |title= Eagles: Very Best Of – Conversations With Don Henley and Glenn Frey |date= August 2003 |work= Conversations with Glenn Frey and Don Henley |publisher= The Uncool |access-date= September 22, 2013}}</ref>

The [[Gramaphone record#Structure|run-out groove]] on side two has the words "V.O.L. Is Five-Piece Live" etched into the vinyl, which means that the instrumental track for the song "Victim of Love" was recorded live in the studio, with no overdubs. Henley confirms this in the liner notes of ''[[The Very Best Of (Eagles album)|The Very Best Of]].'' However, the song was a point of contention between [[Don Felder]] and the rest of the band. In the 2013 documentary, Felder claimed that he had been promised the lead vocal on "Victim of Love", for which he had written most of the music. After many unproductive attempts to record Felder's vocal, band manager [[Irving Azoff]] was delegated to take Felder out for a meal, removing him from the mix while Don Henley overdubbed his lead vocal. ''Hotel California'' appeared at number 37 on ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s list of the best albums of all time,<ref>{{cite magazine|title= Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time No. 37 – Hotel California |magazine= [[Rolling Stone]] |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/the-eagles-hotel-california-20120524 |access-date= August 14, 2014}}</ref> and is the band's best-selling studio album, with more than 26{{nbsp}}million copies sold in the U.S. alone<ref>{{cite news|first1= Elizabeth |last1= Wolfe |first2= AJ |last2= Willingham |title= The Eagles have announced a full-album 'Hotel California' tour |publisher= CNN |date= October 9, 2019 |access-date= August 22, 2021 |url= https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/09/us/eagles-hotel-california-tour-trnd/index.html}}</ref> and more than 32{{nbsp}}million copies worldwide.<ref>{{cite news|first= Mark |last= Savage |title= Glenn Frey: How Hotel California destroyed the Eagles |work= BBC News |date= January 19, 2016 |access-date= June 18, 2017 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35347075}}</ref>

The album won Grammys for "Record of the Year" ("Hotel California") and "Best Arrangement for Voices" ("New Kid in Town"). ''Hotel California'' topped the charts and was nominated for Album of the Year at the [[20th Annual Grammy Awards|1978 Grammy Awards]], but lost to [[Fleetwood Mac]]'s ''[[Rumours (album)|Rumours]].'' The huge worldwide tour in support of the album further drained the band members and strained their personal and creative relationships.
{{listen
 | filename    = Eagles - Take It to the Limit.ogg
 | title       = "Take It to the Limit"
 | pos         = right
 | description = The climax of "[[Take It to the Limit (Eagles song)|Take It to the Limit]]" at a concert in 1976 (from ''[[Eagles Live]]''). Meisner's reluctance to sing the song, in part due to concerns over not hitting the high notes, led to disputes and eventually his departure from the band.
}}
''Hotel California'' is the last album to feature founding member Randy Meisner, who abruptly left the band after the 1977 tour. The Eagles had been touring continuously for eleven months; the band was suffering from the strain of the tour, and Meisner's [[Peptic ulcer|stomach ulcers]] had flared up by the time they arrived in [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]] in June 1977.<ref name="Greene">{{cite magazine|first= Andy |last= Greene |title= Flashback: The Eagles Play 'Take It to the Limit' in 1977 |magazine= Rolling Stone |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-the-eagles-play-take-it-to-the-limit-in-1977-20150716 |date= July 16, 2015 |access-date= March 8, 2016}}</ref> Meisner had been struggling to hit the crucial high notes in his signature song, "Take It to the Limit", and decided to not sing the song as an encore at the Knoxville concert because he had been up late and caught the [[Influenza|flu]]. Frey and Meisner then became engaged in arguments about Meisner's reluctance to perform,<ref name="History">{{cite AV media|title= History of the Eagles |year= 2013 |time= 1:39:20–1:42:05 |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194326/}}</ref><ref name="Flashback">{{cite magazine|first= Andy |last= Greene |title= Flashback: All the Eagles Unite for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction |magazine= Rolling Stone |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-all-the-eagles-unite-for-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-induction-20130207 |date= February 7, 2013 |access-date= March 2, 2016}}</ref> which turned into an angry physical confrontation backstage. Meisner left the venue. After the incident, Meisner was frozen out from the band,<ref name="Greene"/> and he decided to leave the group at the end of the tour and return to Nebraska to be with his family. His last performance was in [[East Troy, Wisconsin]], on September 3, 1977.{{sfn|Felder|Holden|2008|p=188}} The band replaced Meisner with the same musician who had succeeded him in [[Poco (band)|Poco]], [[Timothy B. Schmit]], after agreeing that Schmit was the only candidate.<ref>{{cite AV media|title= History of the Eagles |year= 2013 |time= 1:42:05–1:43:00 |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194326/}}</ref>

In 1977, the group, minus Don Felder, performed instrumental work and backing vocals for [[Randy Newman]]'s album ''[[Little Criminals]]'', including "[[Short People]]", which has backup vocals by Frey and Schmit.