Life in the Fast Lane

The Eagles’ Reckless Ride Down the Rock & Roll Highway

By: Mick Wall

Narrated by: Al Kessel

"Surely make you lose your mind . . ."

So the Eagles warn us about the outrageous and ruthless lifestyle of the ambitious rock-n-roller. In fact, Don Henley could barely listen to the track "Life in the Fast Lane" when they were recording it. He was so high that it made him sick.

The band that embodied the American dream with globe-straddling success, impossibly luxurious lives, and almost supernatural talent also descended into nightmare with bloodletting betrayal, hate-filled hubris, the skeletons of perceived enemies, brutally discarded lovers and former band mates left unburied in the road behind them. The Eagles' story is a truly gothic American fable: one of ultimate power and rivers of money; of sex and drugs at a time when both were the lingua-franca of sophisticated So-Cal living; of a band who sang of peaceful easy feelings in public while threatening to kill each other in private.

Now, legendary rock journalist Mick Wall delivers definitive insight into America's bestselling band of all time, exploring their meteoric rise to fame and the hedonistic days of the '70s music scene in LA, when American music was taking over the world.

©2023 Mick Wall (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

what a ride

captivating story of the seventies music I grew up on and love to this very day

Not what I expected, but

This my first time reading Mick Wall and his writing style is…different. I did eventually get around to kind of liking it but it was jarring at first. Also, the narrator wasn’t well suited to this style of writing and his Don Henley voice impression should never have been allowed to exist. But overall, an interesting read, though not much new for hardcore fans.

Tells both sides

Gives the point of view of all members much more in depth than don Felder book

Life in the fast lane by Mick Wall

The narrator which has to be A.I. Was like having an ice pick shoved into my ears. Story was good from what I could understand.

Welcome Overview

For those of us who grew up in the 50s -60s,
the music of the 70’s defined our young adulthood. We could pretend we were living the 70s rock life while going to college and grad school (medical school in my case) and live “life in the fast lane” the one night a week we could spare to let loose. This book reflects the true price our “Rock Gods” paid to entertain us and allow us brief vicarious images of what our lives might have been if we hadn’t put down our guitars to pursue our more earthly dreams. Great read!

A Bit Misleading

Why this book is certainly a bio of the Eagles, 40% is about the culture, bands and music scene of the 70’s. The first two hours the Eagles are hardly mentioned. A few of the back stories are interesting. Never knew Patti Davis dated Bernie L and even co wrote a song on an album for them. Ultimately, it’s sounds as if Henley and Frey were genius song writers but real jerks as people.

Ok, I Guess

The Eagles are one of my top three bands of all time. Growing up in the 70s, they were almost the soundtrack of my youth. The History of the Eagles is probably my favorite documentary of all time. I guess this audiobook combined with that documentary gave me a lot of insight in to the band. But there were a lot of conflicting stories between those two documentaries. but I guess that’s gonna happen over 50 years.

But the beginning of this audiobook seemed like it was a lot of supposition and not so much of the Eagles story. The first 2-3 hours was the story of southern California in the 1960s. Crosby, Stills & Nash, Gram Parsons, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, etc. Didn’t even get to the Eagles until hours into it.

Narration was pretty good except when he was doing Don Henley‘s voice. Came off as nasally and whiny.

Great book but not an audible.

Great story but we listened to it on Audible and the reader was terrible for this story. Sounded like he had never said the F-word before in his life. But the story is a gritty one of sex, drugs, and lots of F-bombs.

Pass on the audible. Read the book.

Not bad, but the Eagles story still needs a definitive example.

Entertaining enough, but could have been more in-depth. The robotic delivery of the narrator was no treat for the ears. The Eagles story is always a fun one whether you like the music or not.

good music history

Many of the tales told in here matches up with Feldlers book, which is good. But it is nice to hear the story from mostly all sides. But hearing the history of many other performers and bands is what I like, I've always loved the interwoven stories of different bands together.

The reader kind of bugged me, felt very flat, almost AI like. though, hearing some things and how he said it made me laugh.

And it's Patty Smyth, not Smith. Way different singers entirely.

All in all it was an ok book, I like the Eagles, and wanted to hear a little more about them. Wasn't a bad purchase, bur wouldn't go out of my way to re listen anytime soon.