5/5. It took the Eagles just 5 years to make a long way from Western outlaws to Los Angeles life experts. The best seller album featuring one of the most recognizable tunes of all times is a deeply conceptual piece of work showcasing the best and worst tendencies of Californian life of the time. With the departure of Bernie Leadon, the Eagles have left their bluegrass and country-rock roots behind (with the only exception of "New Kid In Town") going into the territory of harder rock with the addition of guitarist Joe Walsh, whose broken riffs are particularly audible on "Life In the Fast Lane", "Victim of Love" and second solo of "Hotel California". What started as Don Felder's Mexican reggae on a demo tape was soon to become the major international hit that most people around the world associate with the Eagles. With a Spanish notes throughout the tune, guitar interplay between Joe Walsh and Don Felder and an eerie second of silence right before the beginning of the second verse the track is a bizarre mix of musical influences. Lyrically, this might be the most intelligent song ever written, epitomizing the underbelly of success and American dream, the excess of American culture and darker side of the paradise that California was thought by many to be. The same topics are further explored throughout the album, most notably in "Life In The Fast Lane", a song about a couple who had everything but lost it because of their lifestyle, drugs and alcohol abuse and bad decisions. Hotel California is also an album which features the most melodic songs ever composed by Joe Walsh (piano-based "Pretty Maids All In a Row", a melancholic reflection on heroes that come and go) and Randy Meisner (the optimistic "Try and Love Again").