Disco de Eels: “Electro-Shock Blues”

This is the 3rd or 4th time I have reviewed this record, and I will persist until one of my reviews gets posted. I will persist because this album is worth raving about. the eels have been compared to Soul Coughing and even Cake. I have a hard time seeing the similarities. The eels have a fresh, original sound. (Yes I said original). Sure, lead singer and songwriter E has his influences, but he brings something all his own to these songs. He has an intruiging voice, and a knack for writing a pop song that doesnt neccessarily fall on the ears as such... It took me a couple of listens to really dig my teeth into ElectorShock Blues, but It quickly became one of my favorite albums. Some might say that the lyrics are melodramatic. They might be, but this is a concept album about sickness and suffering (if you dont know, you should read up on what was going on with E before this came out). E captures the feeling of being powerless and alone perfectly. Check it out, give it a careful listen or two. You wont be sorry.

I gotta start off by saying that I'm no music critic. In fact, most of the reviews that I've posted have gotten an overwhelming amount of "no, this review was NOT helpful"'s. But this is something I have to do. I HAVE to keep on getting people to buy this gorgeous album and rate it so that the average user rating is 5 stars. Get it? Buy this album, and rate it 5 stars because this is perhaps my favorite cd of all time.

It wasnt until last summer that I started to listen to the eels religiously, and this is the album that started my rampage. It's gorgeous from beginning to end (even baby genius, probably the most hated track on the cd). Mark Oliver Everett (or E), vocals for Eels, wrote this album about death, or death around him, and how he dealt with it. When he was 18 (or 19) he saw his father have a heart attack and die. I believe that year his sister also tried to kill herself. She succeeded years later during the Eels tour in europe. E's mother was also diagnosed with cancer and he was soon to become the last remaining member of his family. I love this cd, not only because of the beautiful lyrics, but because if flows so perfectly together, from the haunting first tracks to the powerful accoustic numbers near the end. And its also really cool to see the change, musically, that the eels went through with each of their albums. Truly Beautiful.

Scarred by the death of his mother and sister, this masterpiece was always going to be subdued. Yet its beauty thrives off E's vocal simplicity and his ability to implicity evoke messages through subtle lyrics. 'Last Stop This Town' is a wonderful figurative piece engraved with euphanisms, as through is restrained voice he chokes 'Its getting dark a little too early, are you missing the dearly bereft?' Although undervalued upon its first hearing, the album grows with time to emerge as a collection of songs simply incomparable with any of its peers. Infectious at times (my descent into madness) and thoughtful at others,its only defect being the occasional filler (baby genius), Electric Shock Blues is a masterful album whose beauty will prevent you from reaching for the anti-depressants.

Okay, there is probably no connection between this record being one of my all time favorites and the chunk of scrap metal and wire that my cd player became... But take my word for it, this is an amazing record. It is lightyears away from the eels first record, Beautiful Freak, or any of lead singer (E)'s solo work. The music can only be described as "wintery." I have found that the best time to listen to it is on a cloudy sunday afternoon, but it is good whenever. It is important to note that most of the songs here express a very downtrodden mood. With the exception of Last Stop: This Town and P.S. You Rock My World, these are moody, and often dark songs. I dont like to listen to them unless I am alone, for fear that someone will try and have an intervention, or something. But I enjoy every song on this record tremendously. (E) has a tremendous voice, It really brings the most out of his songs.

Usually the best concept albums are once drawn from pure emotion. Using music as his venting post, E recorded to recover from the deaths of his mother and sister. The result is simply brilliant.

The opening track is quite possibly the most saddening, sporting the most haunting imagery in a song title that I can remember. The subsequent tracks, all through the end of PS You Rock My World (with exception to Baby Genuis- I'm just not all that crazy about it), are all winners, with the major highlight going to "My Descent Into Madness" with its understated "La-la-la"s and repeating violins.

If you aren't familiar with the Eels, than this is the album to start with; and if you have Beautiful Freak, Daisies, and/or Souljacker, but not this, than you are missing E at his peak performance.

(Also a side note- E is consistently compared to Beck and I'd like to take this time to explain why. First off, E and Beck both have almost identical voices. They also are experimental in their sounds and layers- though Beck is the much more experimental of the two. What seperates them is the Eels are more subtle with their style, while Beck tends to be outragous and more and more hip-hop driven.)