10 Amazing Rock Songs That Divided Bands
6. Victim of Love - Eagles
The biggest rule of stardom is that you have to keep having hits to stay at the top. The Eagles knew that better than anyone in the late '70s, and their next album Hotel California had to be bulletproof if it was going to measure up to what they had done with One of These Nights. That meant that there was no more room for filler, even if it meant breaking a few hearts along the way.
Since Don Felder had his vocal debut on Visions from the last album, he had put his foot down and said that he wanted to sing one of the songs on Hotel California, choosing Victim of Love from a track that he had worked on with Don Henley. From the looks of Glenn Frey and Henley though, there was no way that was going to happen, and they got the real track done right under Felder's nose.
As soon as Felder cut his vocals, manager Irving Azoff was instructed to take him out to dinner while the rest of the band stayed behind and cut it again with Henley behind the mic. That turned out to be just the opening shot of it though, as Felder got more and more bitter with Frey and pretty much ending the band onstage after getting into a heated argument with him at a benefit gig. Rock and roll might be one of the best occupations in the world, but it's also the Wild West, and Don Felder didn't watch his tracks.