It took 14 long years and much acrimony to get to this moment. The Eagles seemed like they were split for good in the ‘80s, and then the American rock institution shocked everyone by reforming for this legendary concert on MTV. The boys weren’t so fresh-faced any more, but one thing that never changed was how incredible those five voices sounded singing in harmony together.
After the band uploaded it in recent years, the historic performance is now available in remastered HD. Can you imagine being there in that intimate room for this? Beyond the gorgeous vocals, seeing that Hotel California-era lead guitar duo back together again was truly epic. The Music Man has to say that whatever players came and went over the years, absolutely no one could quite match that lightning in a bottle chemistry that Joe Walsh and Don Felder had when they played together.
Eagles uploaded the MTV 1994 cut of “Take It Easy” to YouTube, where it hit 57 million views.
Luckily the incredible ‘70s Eagles lineup was also captured in high quality on film back in the day for us to enjoy. One of the live highlights from this era came when the band played “Take It to the Limit” in 1977. This slower number is such a moving showcase for the band’s sublime vocal quintet. On this number bassist Randy Meisner is the star. There’s nothing better than Randy singing his signature falsetto vocal hooks.
The Eagles released their 1994 reunion album on November 8, 1994. The album featured four new studio songs and 11 live cuts from their April 1994 MTV special. The album’s title was inspired by Don Henley’s old joke that the band would never reunite after its 1980 split.
The lineup for this release was Glenn Frey (lead vocals, guitar), Don Henley (vocals, drums), Joe Walsh (guitar, vocals), Don Felder (guitar, vocals) and Timothy B. Schmit (bass, vocals). This was a reformation of the lineup from their 1979 studio album The Long Run, which was their most recent studio effort at the time of the reunion.
The Music Man readers probably won’t be surprised to hear that the 1994 reunion album not only hit number one in the US, but also went nine-times Platinum.