10 Greatest Debut Albums Of The 1970s
9. The Eagles - The Eagles
After the psychedelic sheen of the 60's faded from view, fans were still itching for something to latch onto. In the era of Nixon and the ongoing Vietnam War, people were looking for tunes that could take them away from the real horrors afflicting their lives. All of a sudden, here came this band from California with tunes that felt like a ray of sunshine.
The Eagles' debut release was the first time many people got a taste of the California sound. While artists like Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt were coming up the ranks, these guys truly made the sound their own with breezy tunes like "Take It Easy" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling," each of which conjure up an image of rolling down a long highway with the wind in your face.
That's not to say that it was all sunshine and roses, with tracks like "Witchy Woman" and "Tryin" showing the band's rock chops interspersed with the more country elements of their sound. This record would catapult the band into the mainstream and give the world the first taste of the genius songwriting from Glenn Frey and Don Henley. More epic material was to follow with Hotel California, but at the start, all we had to do was take it easy.