(Rock) [LP][24/96] The Eagles - One Of These Nights (Warner/Rhino (UK) 180g LP) - 1975, FLAC (tracks)

One of These Nights is the fourth studio album by the Eagles, released in 1975. The record's title song became the group's second #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, in July of that year. One of These Nights is the last Eagles album to feature Bernie Leadon. The seventh track, "Visions", is the only Eagles song on which Don Felder sang lead vocals. ”

Like its predecessor, One Of These Nights was produced by Bill Szymczyk and has the same band lineup as the previous album. The opening title track, was a #1 hit for the band, is a rock song with a funk/soul feel which was described as disco-like but it's not a disco number and featured a dynamic vocal from Don Henley whom sang normal in the first two verses and at the end goes into Barry Gibb mode with the falsetto at the end of the track. Next is bass player Randy Meisner's "Too Many Hands", written by himself along with guitarist Don Felder (a bit of an odd couple, but it's a superb mid-tempo rocker with killer guitar solos from Felder and guitarist/keyboardist Glenn Frey). The countryish "Hollywood Waltz", which was the only song written by Frey, Henley and guitarist Bernie Leadon and was, bless them, a real waltz. Don's vocal was great and has more superb falsetto work from Henley at the end of the track and the song was the first Eagles track to have a synthesizer. The first half ends with Bernie's first of two contributions, the wild but stately 7-minute instrumental "Journey Of The Sorcerer" which was a superb piece of music.

The second half of the album starts with the second single "Lyin' Eyes", which was one of Glenn's best songs and one of few 6 minute tracks to top the charts and is a great country-rocker. Next was "Take It To The Limit", a grand and melodious stop-and-go ballad, sung by Meisner whom gave his best vocal performance on this track. The album's hardest rock song "Visions" had guitarist Felder's sole lead vocal which was co-written with Henley. Next, was "After the Thrill is Gone" which was sung by Frey and Henley and was a superb ballad about breaking up. The album closes with Leadon's second of two contributions, the ballad "I Wish You Peace", which ironically was his last song with the band as he would leave in late 1975.

"Journey of the Sorcerer" was used as the theme music for Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series produced by the BBC in 1978 and 1979. Adams said he had wanted something sci-fi sounding while at the same time suggestive of a traveler, so this banjo-based instrumental struck him therefore as ideal. "Journey of the Sorcerer" was used subsequently for the television series in 1981 (albeit re-recorded), the sequel radio series produced by Above the Title Productions for the BBC in 2003 and 2004, and (re-recorded once again) for the film produced by Disney/Touchstone in 2005. The original version from One of These Nights was used for all original transmissions of all five radio series. The TV adaptation of the series, and also an additional version released on LP record, used an arrangement by Tim Souster, the CD releases of the radio series transmitted in 2004 and 2005 used another one arranged by Philip Pope, and the 2005 film used one by Joby Talbot.

“I Wish You Peace” was written by Bernie Leadon and his then-girlfriend Patti Davis, daughter of Republican then-Governor of California Ronald Reagan. Nancy Reagan had already disowned Patti during this period, ostensibly due her choice of living together with Leadon as an "unmarried couple". Don Henley would years later disparage this song as an Eagles release, describing it as “smarmy cocktail music”.