MovieChat Forums > History of the Eagles (2013) Discussion > The Dude was right

The Dude was right

posted 10 years ago by AfroGeek
7 replies | jump to latest

I only know the Eagles big hits and never really listened to them much beyond that. I figured they were a great band by reputation. But, man after watching that documentary and paying attention to their lyrics they do a lot of really cheesy stuff. Their "social commentary" music from after their reunion album was godawful!

Top if off with the supremely douche way Henley and Frey acted, my opinion of them sank like a rock after watching this.

Amy: I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!

[–] chas437 10 years ago

Yes, you nailed it. The Eagles were nothing more than a gutless pop act and all the really ever cared about was making ungodly amounts of $$$.

They come off really badly in this doc. Probably the worst thing is how seriously they take themselves, as innovators and social activists. They were a band that catered to the lowest common denominator in the 1970's.

I'm a civilian, I'm not a trout

[–] mburns955 10 years ago

95% of the people missed "the dude was right" reference. But yes, I hate
The f'ing Eagles. Glenn Frey's whining during end of doc was pathetic. It was
a pretense for getting fielder out of the band.

[–] jokeco68 9 years ago

I definitely got the 'Dude' reference, yeah, after watching this I can see why the Coen brothers took a swipe at the Eagles. They really are the antithesis of the Dude. It's funny, this doc was obviously paid for and approved by Frey/Henley but it sure didn't paint either of them in a favorable light. I don't hate them after watching it, although I burst out laughing a few times at some of the ridiculous feuds and Frey's explanations. This doc certainly wont make any new Eagle fans, put it that way.

Life is always intense for a repo man.

[–] mburns955 9 years ago

Read Felders book and of course it's
His perspective but Henley and Frey are even
bigger AH's than the documentary implies. Another
great part was Henley explaining how felder gave him
some music that Henley turned into hotel California.
I guess people with power are just delusional.

[–] sith56 9 years ago

I had the complete opposite reaction. I always thought of The Eagles as a group that just had some big radio hits.

But after watching this doc I have a greater respect for their music. They have a ridiculous amount of well written and produced music and I like to think that it was all created as part of a collaboration.

It's just too bad Glenn Frey and Don Henley don't see it that way. This kind of reminds me of how Morrissey and Johnny Marr view The Smiths.

[–] eeleyebrown 9 years ago

Nothing new. The main songwriters often see the rest of a successful band as superfluous. Sting was also notorious for snubbing and dissing his bandmates and their artistic endeavors in print. At least the Beatles remained civil amongst each other though Macca and Lennon were the main songwriters. They both often employed George and Ringo on some of their solo stuff or asked them to perform with them during solo concerts especially televised stuff.

[–] JackSparrow92 8 years ago

Here's my take. The Eagles were headed towards easy listening Hell before they added Felder and Walsh; those two basically kept them as a rock band, though still largely soft rock.

Having said that, they sold millions upon millions of albums. In the midst of the Nixonian and post-Nixonian cynicism of the 1970s, they clearly exercised a muscle not being exercised by funk, glam, prog rock, heavy metal, disco or punk, and which a lot of people wanted to have exercised musically. Clearly there was a market at that time for soft rock with pretty harmonies.

So, to paraphrase the Stranger: "Sometimes there's a band -- I won't say a great band, because what's a 'great band' -- but sometimes there's a band, and well, they're the band for their time and place. They fit right in there."

That was the Eagles.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.
-- Klingon proverb