Phil Collen recently joined Radioacktiva Colombia for a chat and discussed Def Leppard‘s newest album, ‘Diamond Star Halos,’ opened up about the two cult records that influenced their album and shared his thoughts on why he believed the Eagles were better than Fleetwood Mac.
In a previous chat with frontman Joe Elliott, the singer had pointed out that both the Eagles’ ever-iconic, ‘Hotel California,’ and Fleetwood Mac’s breakthrough ‘Rumours‘ influenced their creative direction and approach while creating their new album. As the host noted Elliott’s previous statements, he reminded Collen of how ‘Rumours’ had beaten ‘Hotel California’ at the Grammys in the 70s.
So, when the topic drifted to asking the guitarist’s opinion about which record he would choose between the two, Collen readily answered ‘Hotel California’ without sparing a thought. The rocker continued by discussing the Eagles’ unique approach to different genres and how the act’s sound easily moved through country, rock, and pop throughout the record.
‘Hotel California,’ for Collen, was the most outstanding work of the Eagles, turning it into a far better record than ‘Rumours.’ Phil also pointed out how each track on the album was brilliant, culminating all the fascinating elements the Eagles had into one record.
The guitarist on choosing ‘Hotel California’ over ‘Rumours,’ discussing why it was the better one of the two albums:
“‘Hotel California It was that the Eagles were a really interesting band. They started kind of country; they were kind of rock. The songs were really brilliant, that the songs are better [than ‘Rumours’], I think.
They’re country; they’re rock; they’re pop; they’re all the above. I think on that album, it culminated. It was [the] apex for them. So it had amazing things. It’s special.”
Even though Def Leppard’s newest album, ‘Diamond Star Halos’ were produced while the act had ‘Hotel California’ and ‘Rumours’ in mind, it seemed that Collen didn’t hesitate the choose ‘Hotel California’ as the better one and discussed the Eagles’ unique elements while producing their magnum opus.
