Hell Freezes Over is the second live album by the Eagles, released in 1994. The album is the first to be released after Eagles had re-formed following a fourteen-year-long break up. The band's lineup was that of the Long Run era: Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Don Felder, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit. It contains four new studio tracks and eleven tracks recorded live in April 1994 for an MTV special. Two Top 40 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 album went to No. 1 on the Billboard album chart upon its release where it stayed for two weeks. The album has sold over 10 million copies in the United States.[1]
Hell Freezes Over was also released in video form on VHS, LaserDisc and DVD. Before the album was released, the Eagles also started a tour, which would last from 1994–96 and became one of the most successful tours in music history.[2][3]
Background
The album name is in reference to a quote by Don Henley after the band's breakup in 1980; he commented that the band would play together again "when Hell freezes over."[3] Henley said in 1982 on the break-up: "I just rule out the possibility of putting the Eagles back together for a Lost Youth and Greed tour."[4] 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.[5] The former Eagles 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.[5]
The band members performed live for the first time in April 1994 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California for an MTV special.[5] The recording sessions produced 11 tracks for the Hell Freezes Over album, including a new arrangement of "Hotel California" that features an extended acoustic guitar and percussion opening. At the beginning of the concert, Glenn Frey joked to the audience: "For the record, we never broke up; we just took a 14-year vacation." The tour began in May 27 and the Hell Freezes Over album was released on November 8, 1994.[5] The album is the band's second live album. behind their live album in 1980.
The new song "Get Over It" became a modest hit, and another new song, "Love Will Keep Us Alive", reached No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
The DVD is one of the first music releases to feature a DTS format soundtrack in addition to a PCM stereo soundtrack. The DVD also featured the song "Seven Bridges Road" in DTS audio only. The DVD has since been re-released with an additional Dolby Digital soundtrack. The album has also been released as DTS CD in 1997.
"Seven Bridges Road" (Steve Young) – DTS – A remastered version of the recording featured on Eagles Live, with a clearer separation of the four vocal parts to exploit the full potential of a 5.1 speaker set-up: Timothy B. Schmit is on the front-left, Glenn Frey on the front-right, Don Henley on the rear-left and Joe Walsh on the rear-right. Frey, as the singer of the song's main melody, is also featured on the front-center channel.
^"Sveriges Officiella Topplista" (in Swedish). sverigetopplistan.se. Retrieved August 21, 2015. Note: Search for "Eagles" and press "Sök". Then select the video album to see certification awards.