I know this is not the majority opinion, but in my view, "Desperado" is easily the Eagles' best album and their most enduring work. "Desperado" is the Eagles' only "concept" album, and one of the best concept albums ever.

Besides a lyrical cohesiveness that far exceeds most "concept" albums, the musicianship demonstrated in this album eclipses anything the Eagles did before or after. It shows how much was lost when Bernie Leadon left the band.

The album presents the story of an outlaw using a loose historical reference to a member of the Doolin-Dalton gang at the turn of the century. The main character begins as a relative innocent with a taste for the fast life. He follows that instinct and finds himself unable or unwilling to break away from it. He senses it will overwhelm him, and in the end, it does.

The songs on the album have a subtle appeal ... they take time to appreciate, but both the lyrics and the melodies are superb. "Twenty-One" and "Out of Control" are terrific depictions of the life. Musically and lyrically, "Out of Control" is just that ... out of control. "Tequila Sunrise" and "Desperado" reflect the reality of the choices he's made ... when the lights are off and everyone goes home he's still all alone. He knows he's headed for trouble:

"You better let somebody love you, before it's too late."

In "Certain Kind of Fool", he chooses the wild life, but why?

"It wasn't for the money, at least it didn't start that way It wasn't for the running, but now he's running every day."

The transformation is complete in "Outlaw Man," which reflects the lonely reality of the wild life:

"All my friends are strangers, they quickly come and go; and all my love's in danger, cause I steal hearts and souls."

In the end, the life destroys him, "all alone in the center ring" and "with no time left to borrow." Musically, the last song on the album reprises the first: "Doolin Dalton." Here, the epilogue of his life and the reasons for his untimely end are made clear:

"The Queen of Diamonds let you down, she was just an empty fable; the Queen of Hearts you say you never met. Your twisted fate has found you out, and it's finally turned the tables; stole your dreams and paid you with regret."

Great stuff.

Hey, I know. It's only an album. Maybe it's because I spent a similar period of my life like a "Desperado" -- in a room full of people, yet somehow still alone. But I think it's a great album. Nothing the Eagles did before or since can touch it.

The Eagles didn't invent country-rock, although all of them were involved with groups that dove into those deep, turbulent waters early on. What they did was evolve and perfect the form, taking it to new levels. Desperado is the quintessential country-rock album, a true masterpiece based loosely around the Doolin-Dalton gang. The songs lead one to the next in a seamless blend of musical styles. Folk, country, bluegrass and rock are all churned together to form something altogether different and wonderful.

Don Henley's plaintive Doolin-Dalton sets the tone for the album. Bernie Leadon's Twenty-One gives the sense of youthful exuberence and invincibility a real kickin' edge. Glen Frey's Out Of Control rocks your socks off with the boys comin' to town for a night of raucous amusement which then leads to the morning after, Tequila Sunrise. Desperado is a masterful ballad beautifully sung by Henley. Randy Meisner's Certain Kind Of Fool is the definitive song in drawing parallels between outlaws and musicians. The Doolin-Dalton instrumental shows off their accomplished pickin' skills and leads into Outlaw Man, another rocker sung by Frey. Saturday Night is some of the most beautiful close harmony ballad work ever heard. Leadon's Bitter Creek is a brilliant ballad, its stark acoustic pathos a warning to those that would venture the outlaw path. The Reprise ending the album just keeps going through my head even after fading completely.

If you are a fan of Country-Rock, this album is a must for your collection. It shows what can be done when a group of highly talented musicians write some great songs and capture the magic on tape. They blazed a trail for so many new artists to walk.

I have, oh, I dunno. Maybe 550 LP records, some 200 casettes, and probably a like number of CD's. Of all of them, this record has been played more than any of them. In the early 70's I listened to it constantly. The concept, "modern rock and rollers as old west outlaws", was easily segued, by me, into my own life as a military elite.

The story of Bill Doolin and Bill Dalton was familiar to me. Seems that 3 Dalton brothers, Grat, Bob, and Emmitt, along with two others, tried to rob two banks at once in Coffeyville, Kansas. The attempt went horribly wrong, and 4 townspeople and 4 outlaws were killed, including Bob and Grat. Emmitt survived about 20 some wounds to live well into the 20th Century. Bill Dalton, another brother, then joined up with a gang member that didn't make the trip, Bill Doolin. The resulting Doolin-Dalton gang ran through the territory in a manner the original gang never imagined. It included members named Dynamite Dick, Tulsa Jack, Arkansas Tom, and a fellow named Bitter Creek Newcombe.

The Eagles used all this as an allegory to describe the life of a modern rock and roll star. Loneliness, uncertainty, fear, the road, wild times and hangovers, sudden death, love that is all too short. The feeling of being outside the mainstream. I loved it.

From the opening strains of "Doolin-Dalton", to the quiet, desperate "Saturday Night", the raucous full speed ahead of "Out of Control" followed by the painful "Tequila Sunrise", the Album explores all that. But the best song is the classic, "Desperado". It asks, is it all worth it, all this fast living on the edge, without love?

Bernie Leadon, Don Henley, Glen Frey and Randy Meisner are all good players, singers, and songwriters. This band does not have the virtuoso feel of the Joe Walsh/Don Felder bands on guitar, just good, solid country picking. Great singing on every song. A quiet, heartfelt classic, that really really speaks to me today, after all these years.

That was the designation given to DESPERADOS by Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records when the Eagles first released it in 1973. But it's a concept album that happened to feature great songs stellarly done. Although the band repeatedly slagged producer Glyn Johns' strongarm efforts to put the emphasis on the "country" part of the "country rock" tag with which the Eagles were often saddled, you can see why. They nail the western-tinged pathos thing here every time out, something they were nowhere near as sucessful doing with the harder rock they veered towards from ON THE BORDER on, and it's largely because Johns holds their country boots to the fire. "Tequila Sunrise" is one of the best things the group ever did; Glenn Frey never sounded so believable afterwards. And Don Henley gives one of his best vocals on the title cut; you absolutely feel for that poor schmuck "out riding fences for so long now." All said, DESPERADOS is a high-water mark for the Eagles and their music, even if it didn't fell that way at the beginning.

The Eagles' multi-platinum records Hotel California and The Long Run are their biggest sellers. Indeed, being an Eagles fan, I think they're both great records. However, I think Desperado, which originally came out in '73, is the Eagles' true masterpiece. It's their one and only "concept" record; it's an allegory that compares the life of a rock-and-roller to that of an outlaw in the Old West, and the guys are featured on the cover in Western dress. Desperado was also the last record the Eagles did as a four-man band in the '70s; Don Felder would join the Eagles' original lineup of Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner in '74, the year after Desperado was released. Desperado may not be the Eagles' biggest selling record, but it's certainly their most consistent.

The opening track "Doolin-Dalton" recalls the bank robbery in Coffeyville, Kansas, that went awry when two members of the Doolin-Dalton gang were killed. In "Twenty-One", Bernie expresses the gunslinger's youthful confidence: "I'm twenty-one and strong as I can be/I know what freedom means to me/And I can't give a reason why/I should ever wanna die." The good-time rocker "Out of Control" is self-explanatory; as Glenn Frey sings, "We're gonna saddle a horse, we're gonna ride into town/We're gonna get a little out of control." "Tequila Sunrise" and this record's title track "Desperado" were the hits from this album, and "Desperado" has the distinction of being one of the most covered songs in history. Besides being an Eagles hit, "Desperado" was a pop hit for Linda Ronstadt and a country hit for Clint Black and Johnny Rodriguez. Pop duo The Carpenters and country music icons Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers have also recorded the song. "Desperado" shows the outlaw's dilemma, which the entertainer also faces: does he continue with his wild life or does he settle down? "You better let somebody love you before it's too late," Don Henley sings.

"Certain Kind Of Fool" is one of three great songs Randy Meisner came out with while he was an Eagle; the guitar-laced "Too Many Hands" and the Eagles' monster hit "Take It To The Limit" were the others. Randy likens a guitar to a pistol and the musician's nomadic lifestyle to the outlaw's life on the run. Both pursuits involve money, and both involve trying to escape, be it from the fans or the lawmen. As Randy sings, "It wasn't for the money, at least it didn't start that way/It wasn't for the running, but now he's running every day." An instrumental version of "Doolin-Dalton" serves as the intro to "Outlaw Man", which more than any other song captures the essence of the outlaw's and the singer's nomadic life: "All my friends are strangers, they quickly come and go/All my love's endangered/'Cause I steal hearts and souls." Of all the songs on here, "Saturday Night" is my favorite. The hero is looking back on his life and wonders what happened: "Whatever happened to Saturday night" when he was in love, things were looking up for him, and his town wasn't a ghost town. Bernie's song "Bitter Creek" is about the outlaw gang reuniting for one last stand, which could be compared to the singer getting his band together for one last tour. "We can walk right in and steal 'em blind/All that money/No more running." In the "Doolin-Dalton/Desperado" reprise, the protagonist is finally reaping the consequences of his choices: "Four men ride out and only three ride back" and "Your twisted fate has found you out and it's finally turned the table/Stolen your dreams and paid you with regret." The outlaw dies in a shootout, and the singer he represents dies from any number of causes(drug overdose, murder, and so on).

Desperado shows the Eagles at their most cohesive level. All the guys sang lead on at least one song and shared in the songwriting. The only song on here not written by an Eagle was "Outlaw Man", composed by David Blue. On "Doolin-Dalton" the band got help from a couple of solid singer-songwriters: Jackson Browne, who co-wrote the Eagles' hit "Take It Easy", and John David Souther, who collaborated on such Eagles hits as "Best Of My Love", "New Kid In Town", and "Heartache Tonight" and had his own hit in '79 with "You're Only Lonely". Although the Eagles' record sales climbed when Joe Walsh replaced Bernie Leadon in the band, I think the band lost something when Bernie left. Though Joe is an accomplished guitarist, singer and keyboard player, Bernie plays several different instruments well--banjo, guitar, mandolin, and pedal steel guitar--and he plays all of them on this record. Bernie also is an extremely gifted singer-songwriter; while an Eagle, in addition to the songs he contributed to Desperado, he wrote "Train Leaves Here This Morning", "My Man", "I Wish You Peace", and, with bandmate Don Henley, the hit "Witchy Woman", on which he played lead guitar. All of these songs are great numbers. Though their music is still popular, the Eagles have never quite filled the void Bernie left when he departed. Also, once Bernie left and was replaced by Joe, I think the Eagles became more of a Henley-Walsh dominated group and less of a team. Hotel California and The Long Run, though they're great records, feature Don singing lead on most of the tracks and Joe playing guitar and/or keyboard on practically every song. By contrast, Desperado features the Eagles working together as a group and has a bunch of songs with a common theme. For that reason I think it deserves every bit of praise it has gotten.