Live albums tend to arrive at significant moments for the Eagles.
They released Eagles Live mere months after their first era ended. They released Hell Freezes Over to herald the beginning of their second. Joe Walsh issued a live project that capped the period just before he joined the group and another just after their initial split. The Eagles also confirmed their modern-era lineup with Live from the Forum MMXVIII after Glenn Frey‘s sudden death.
Frey and fellow co-founding members Randy Meisner and Don Henley have produced concert recordings that likewise included key songs from their time with the band. Taken together, they provide an opportunity to see how the Eagles – and their studio material – evolved out on the road.
These projects also give fans multiple opportunities to dig into celebrated individual moments: “Desperado” appears on every Eagles live album, as well as Glenn Frey Live and Henley’s Inside Job Live. “Hotel California,” “Take It Easy” and “Take It to the Limit” are on those Eagles LPs as well as concert recordings by Frey, Henley and Meisner, respectively.
The differences can be notable, as when Henley brings out a brass section. Voices become a bit more oaken, lineups change. There’s a sense of wisdom, too, as the decades go past. That’s all part of what makes a live album so endlessly intriguing: They continue to document these triumphs well after the original studio recordings, each in their own place and time.
Here’s our countdown of Eagles live albums, ranked worst to best:
Six Little-Known Eagles ‘Hotel California’ Facts
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