"For the record, we never broke up; we just took a 14-year vacation."
 
Hell Freezes Over is a live album by the Eagles, released in 1994. The album contains four new studio tracks and eleven tracks recorded live for an MTV special. It went to #1 on the Billboard album chart upon its release where it stayed for two weeks. It is the band's second live album behind their live album in 1980. The Eagles had gotten back together after a 14-year-long break up. Their resumption tour would be given that title after the statement Henley once gave when asked when the band would get back together. The album proved to be as successful as the tour, selling over six million copies and releasing two Top 40 singles in "Get Over It" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive". The band's lineup consisted of the Long Run era, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Don Felder, and Timothy Schmit. The tour would last from 1994 to 1996 and became one of the most successful tours in music history. The album also features an acoustic version of "Hotel California". Hell Freezes Over was also released in video form on VHS, LaserDisc and DVD.
 
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." One of the most notable tracks is 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 new song "Get Over It" became a modest hit, and another new song, "Love Will Keep Us Alive", reached #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.
 
Track listing
Side A
"Get Over It"* (Don Henley, Glenn Frey) ¡V 3:31
"Love Will Keep Us Alive"* (Pete Vale, Jim Capaldi, Paul Carrack) ¡V 4:03
"The Girl from Yesterday"* (Frey, Jack Tempchin) ¡V 3:23
"Learn to Be Still"* (Henley, Stan Lynch) ¡V 4:28
 
Side B
"Tequila Sunrise" (Henley, Frey) ¡V 3:28
"Hotel California" (Don Felder, Henley, Frey) ¡V 7:12
"Wasted Time" (Henley, Frey) ¡V 5:19
"Pretty Maids All in a Row" (Joe Walsh, Joe Vitale) ¡V 4:26
 
Side C
"I Can't Tell You Why" (Henley, Frey, Schmit) ¡V 5:11
"New York Minute" (Henley, Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar, Jai Winding) ¡V 6:37
"The Last Resort" (Henley, Frey) ¡V 7:24
 
Side D
"Take It Easy" (Jackson Browne, Frey) ¡V 4:36
"In the City" (Walsh, Barry De Vorzon) ¡V 4:07
"Life in the Fast Lane" (Henley, Frey, Walsh) ¡V 6:01
"Desperado" (Henley, Frey) ¡V 4:17
 
*All new songs were released as studio recordings on the album, but can be seen live on the VHS and DVD versions.
 
Personnel
Don Felder ¡V lead guitars, steel guitar, slide guitar, vocals, mandolin
Joe Walsh ¡V lead guitars, slide guitar, organ, vocals
Glenn Frey ¡V guitars, piano, keyboards, vocals
Don Henley ¡V drums, guitars, percussion, vocals
Timothy B. Schmit ¡V bass guitar, vocals
John Corey ¡V piano
Scott Crago ¡V percussion, drums
Timothy Drury ¡V keyboards, vocals
Stan Lynch ¡V percussion
Jay Oliver ¡V organ, keyboards, piano
Paulinho Da Costa ¡V percussion
Gary Grimm ¡V percussion
Brian Matthews ¡V electro-theremin
Al Garth ¡V Trumpet on "New York Minute"
Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra ¡V backup on "New York Minute"
Elliot Scheiner, Carol Donovan, Rob Jacobs, Audrey Johns, Stan Lynch ¡V producers
Joel Stillerman ¡V executive producer
Rob Jacobs, Elliot Scheiner ¡V engineer
Charlie Bouis, Carl Glanville, Barry Goldberg, Andy Grassi, Tom Trafalski, Tom Winslow ¡V second engineers
Todd Bowie ¡V guitar technician
Rob Jacobs, Dave Kob, Dave Reynolds, Elliot Scheiner ¡V mixing
Adam Armstrong ¡V vocal technician
Ted Jensen ¡V editing
Don Davis, The Eagles, Jay Oliver ¡V horn arrangements
Don Davis, The Eagles, Jay Oliver ¡V string arrangements
David Hewitt ¡V live recording coordinator
John Halpern, David Skernick ¡V photography
Keith Raywood- Production Design
Robin Sloane, Janet Wolsborn ¡V art direction
Dwaine "The Peachin' Trucker" Wise ¡V road manager
Andrew Lopez ¡V head driver
 
Professional reviews
Allmusic 3/5 stars
Robert Christgau (dud)
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars
 
Dynamic Range analyzis
Analyzed folder: D:*****Eagles - Hell Freezes Over (1994) [flac] {Simply Vinyl 180g 2 LP-Set; CD-format}
 
DR Peak RMS Filename
DR11 -1.03 dB -13.30 dB A1 - Get Over It.wav
DR13 -1.21 dB -15.61 dB A2 - Love Will Keep Us Alive.wav
DR12 -0.62 dB -14.35 dB A3 - The Girl from Yesterday.wav
DR10 -1.83 dB -14.41 dB A4 - Learn to Be Still.wav
DR10 -2.01 dB -14.59 dB B1 - Tequila Sunrise.wav
DR13 -1.19 dB -16.38 dB B2 - Hotel California.wav
DR12 -0.95 dB -16.59 dB B3 - Wasted Time.wav
DR12 -0.59 dB -15.16 dB B4 - Pretty Maids All in a Row.wav
DR12 -1.20 dB -15.00 dB C1 - I Can't Tell You Why.wav
DR11 -1.10 dB -15.59 dB C2 - New York Minute.wav
DR12 -0.29 dB -16.14 dB C3 - The Last Resort.wav
DR11 -1.16 dB -13.99 dB D1 - Take It Easy.wav
DR11 -0.69 dB -13.28 dB D2 - In the City.wav
DR12 -0.54 dB -13.50 dB D3 - Life in the Fast Lane.wav
DR11 -1.31 dB -16.30 dB D4 - Desperado.wav
Number of files: 15
Official DR value: DR11 
 
Technical Log
RCM Hannl 'limited' with "Rotating Brush"
Music Hall MMF 9.1 Turntable 
Tonearm: Pro-Ject 9cc evo with Pure Silver Wires
Cartridge: Nagaoka MP-500
Brocksieper Phonomax (Tube Phono PreAmp)
E-MU 0404 external USB 2.0 Audiointerface
Interconnections : Silent Wire NF5
WaveLab 6 recording software
iZotope RX Advanced 2.00 for resampling and dithering 
 
Vacuum cleaning > TT > Brocksieper Phonomax > E-MU 0404 > WaveLab 6 (24/192) > manual click removal > analyze (no clipping, no DC Bias offset) > resampling and dithering with iZotope RX Advanced 2.00 > split into individual Tracks > FLAC encoded (Vers. 1.21)
 
No silence been removed, please burn gapless to match original tracklayout.
 
Personal Note
With my vinyl transfers, I try to catch the whole beauty of vinyl records; therefore I don't use any post-processing or any sound improvement. What you get is a clear and flat transfer. For getting a clear sound, I'll do an extended washing of each record with my RCM, which can take up to 30 minutes brushing on each side. Resistant ticks and clicks I try to remove as good as possible, but the priority is not to lose any musical information in the process. Surface noises, as long they are not too high, are left in place. Only on bad pressings or on records recorded at extremely low levels do I use a fade in-/-out. As John Peel said, "Life is full of surface noises." In some cases this means that I have to make a compromise.... The result has to pass my personal quality criteria, which is IMO quite high.