[Kronomyth 6.3]
Eagles at the speed of sound.
Hotel California was the band’s masterpiece. It captured, for generations, the decadence of a decade. Using California as a metaphor for our own troubled social and moral state, Eagles showed a civilization in decline. The third single, “Life in the Fast Lane,” drew its inspiration (according to Songfacts) from a car ride that Glenn Frey had with a drug dealer. The opening guitar riff from Joe Walsh is amp’d up country rock at its finest. The B side, “The Last Resort,” is about man’s destruction of the beautiful world around him (and woman’s destruction of the beautiful world around her too, since we couldn’t do this without you, ladies). There’s a short discussion of Don Henley’s lyrical intent here.
Original 7-inch single version
A1. Life In The Fast Lane (Joe Walsh/Don Henley/Glenn Frey) (4:46)
B1. The Last Resort (Don Henley/Glenn Frey) (7:25)
Original 7-inch single (Germany)
A1. Life In The Fast Lane (Joe Walsh/Don Henley/Glenn Frey) (4:46)
B1. Wasted Time (Don Henley/Glenn Frey) (4:55)
Back-to-back hits 7-inch single reissue
A1. Peaceful, Easy Feeling (Jack Tempchin) (4:16)
B1. Life In The Fast Lane (Joe Walsh/Don Henley/Glenn Frey) (4:46)
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch single on May 3, 1977 in the US and Canada (Asylum, E-45403), on July 15, 1977 in the UK (Asylum, K 13085), and in 1977 in Germany (Asylum, AS 13089), Japan (Warner, P-198Y) and Spain (Asylum, 451529); reached #11 on the US charts (charted on May 14, 1977 for 11 weeks). Regional versions feature picture sleeve. Also released as promotional 7-inch single in 1977 in the US (Asylum, E-45403) feat. A stereo and mono versions.
- Re-issued on back-to-back hits 7-inch single in 1979 in the US (Asylum Spun Gold, E-45098) with “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” on the flip side.
