Hell Freezes Over is the second live album by theEagles, released in 1994. The album is the first to be released after the Eagles had reformed following a 14-year break up. The band's lineup was that of theLong Run era:Glenn Frey,Don Henley,Don Felder,Joe Walsh andTimothy B. Schmit. It contains four new studio tracks and eleven tracks recorded live in April 1994 for anMTV special. Two Top 40 Mainstream singles, "Get Over It" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive", were released from the album. It also features an acoustic version of "Hotel California". The four new studio recordings are the last to feature Don Felder, who was fired from the band in 2001.
The album went to No. 1 on theBillboard album chart upon its release where it stayed for two weeks. The album has sold over 9 million copies in the United States.[3]
Hell Freezes Over was also released in video form onVHS,LaserDisc and DVD. Before the album was released, the Eagles also started a tour, which would last from 1994 to 1996 and became one of the most successful tours in music history.[4][5]
The album name is in reference to a quote by Don Henley after the band's breakup in 1980. Henley was asked in an interview about when the band would play together again, to which he responded "when Hell freezes over".[5] Glenn Frey also said in 1982 on the breakup: "I just rule out the possibility of putting the Eagles back together for a Lost Youth and Greed tour."[6]
In 1993, an Eagles tribute album,Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, was recorded by several country artists.Travis Tritt, who covered "Take It Easy" in the album, asked the band to appear in his video for the song.[7] The band members agreed, and it would be the first time the group had appeared together in 13 years. Two months later, Frey and Henley had lunch with their management and decided to reunite.[7]
The band members performed live for the first time in April 1994 atWarner Bros. Studios inBurbank, California for an MTV special.[7] The recording sessions produced 11 tracks for theHell Freezes Over album, including a new arrangement of "Hotel California" that featured an extended acoustic guitar and percussion opening. At the beginning of the concert, Frey joked to the audience: "For the record, we never broke up; we just took a 14-year vacation". The tour began on May 27, and theHell Freezes Over album was released on November 8, 1994.[7] The album is the band's second live album, after 1980'sEagles Live.
A new song "Get Over It" became a modest hit and another new song, "Love Will Keep Us Alive", reached No. 1 on theBillboard Adult Contemporary chart.
The DVD is one of the first music releases to feature aDTS format soundtrack in addition to aPCM stereo soundtrack. The DVD also featured the song "Seven Bridges Road" in DTS audio only. The DVD has since been re-released with an additionalDolby Digital soundtrack. The album was also released as aDTS CD in 1997.
All new songs were released as studio recordings on the album, but can be seen live on the VHS and DVD versions.
"Seven Bridges Road" –DTS – A remastered version of the recording featured onEagles Live, with a clearer separation of the five vocal parts to exploit the full potential of a 5.1 speaker set-up: Timothy B. Schmit is on the rear-right, Glenn Frey as the singer of the song's main melody on the front-right, Don Henley on the front-left and Joe Walsh on the rear-left. Don Felder is on the front-center channel.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^"Sveriges Officiella Topplista" (in Swedish). sverigetopplistan.se. RetrievedAugust 21, 2015. Note: Search for "Eagles" and press "Sök". Then select the video album to see certification awards.
