When a band member steps away from the band that made him famous, his contribution to the band’s sound becomes clearer. After a quick listen to Don Felder’s “Road to Forever,” his first solo album in what seems like forever (twenty-nine years to be exact), one is left with a better sense of Felder’s important role in The Eagles.
You might assume that twenty-nine years to write an album would give an artist plenty of time to fill an album with great songs and not leave room for filler. In this case, you would be correct, every song seems to work very well.
Of course even though we hear Felder’s influence on The Eagles, it’s easy to hear the band’s influence on him, especially on the beautiful ballad “Life’s Lullaby,” a song that Don Henley or Glenn Frey could just have easily written. What Henley and Frey couldn’t do was add the dreamy flamenco guitar that made the “Hell Freezes Over” version of “Hotel California,” one of the best things The Eagles have ever done.
Felder also has plenty of opportunities to shine on electric guitar, including some tasty slide work on “Girls in Black,” a song that is part Eagles and part ZZ Top. On the next cut, “Wash Away,” he lays down some great licks without the slide.
Vocally, “Road to Forever” is very interesting. Felder’s voice is very unique and it has qualities that remind you of other artists, at times sounding like Steve Miller, other times David Gilmour. During his tenure with The Eagles he only sang lead on one song, “Visions,” from “One of These Nights,” and after hearing “Road to Forever,” it perplexes me that he didn’t sing more lead.
It’s an album I can confidently recommend to fans of The Eagles, and fans of modern country music looking to expand their musical horizons. For Eagles fans, “Road to Forever” is a nice companion to Joe Walsh’s recent solo album, which was excellent as well. Maybe it will inspire the two of them to get together and collaborate on some new material.
