the eels

[Freakboy]

has anybody heard of the eels?
i just got their cd electro shock blues and their already one of my favorite bands. theyve got lyrics like

"laying on the bathroom floor, kitty licks my cheek once more, and i could try..but waking up is harder when id rather die.
walter's on the telephone, tell him i am not at home and i think that im going up to a place where i am always high." its really cool stuff, its got a jazzy sound mixed with rock and crazy distortion. anyway they remind me a bit of Neutral milk hotel thats why i posted here.
not as obscure and yet beautifully simple as neutral milk hotel, but its an unshakable vibe (just the way the singer sings and all)
so ill stop soliciting and go wish
i finally had my band the aliens put together :(

[machmach]

Eels used to be my favorite band before NMH. Nothing compares to them, but I still do favor Eels very much. E's lyrics are sort of whiny, but the music is usually something cool and different.

[finch]

I like the Eels a lot, but I'd say Electro-Shock Blues is by far their best. The first CD, Beautiful Freak isn't very good at all. Daisies of the Galaxy, the follow-up to ESB is good, but a lot more acoustic and folky.

They came out with a live CD, Oh What a Beautiful Morning which is okay. It's kind of a lot to digest. Souljacker is much heavier, distorted, and electric, I like it. They just put out a new one which I haven't heard yet called Shootenanny. Pitchfork trashed the hell out of it, so I'm nervous.

Electro-Shock Blues is an all-time great album in my opinion. I'd say E is more along the lines of Beck than of Jeff Mangum though.

[finch]

P.S. you know what Electro-Shock Blues is about, don't you? E made the album during/after his mom died of cancer and his sister committed suicide. That's basically what the album is about.

[William]

I heard about them last year. They/He sounded interesting. I downloaded some 30 second samples and I decided that Electro-Shock Blues could be put on the ''I may get it possibly'' list. I never did. I was reminded of them again because I read a review on Pitchforkmedia about their latest album...they gave it a 2.8

''Let's set aside that the Eels are not for everyone. Some folks can't stand frontman E's sense of humor, which he calls "edgy" but is closer to a seven-year-old yelling "SHIT!" in a crowd to embarrass his parents. Not everyone likes his super-polished power pop stylings; in fact us indie folk are usually suspicious of a band as finely calibrated to the needs of cutesy, "alternative" pop radio as the Eels.'' - Pitchforkmedia

''We didn't sharpen the knives when the Eels announced a new record, even if the title deserves a chuckle. E coined the word "shootenanny" to describe a fun shooting spree, but this pathetic title turns out to be ten times more clever than anything else on the album. Musically and lyrically, E is spent-- out of ideas, out of innovation, unable to cough up anything but by-the-numbers pop in the fourteen originals he wrote for this disc. The self-loathing and despair that seeps in around the edges touch so lightly that they can't give it a backbone. I'm not slamming this album to diss the man behind it, but to tell him he can do better. Much, much better.'' - Pitchforkmedia




[Edited on 5-31-2003 by William]

[dolemites_sister]

If pitchfork gives it a bad rating, its probably a good album.

Every album I love pitchfork hates...

[Ouch!MyPhantomLimb!]

I don't know, they've trashed some good ones (always entertaining) but they can pick some real gems.

[orbitone]

for what it's worth, i love the first three albums by the eels (haven't heard the others). before Aeroplane, I'd say Electro-Shock Blues had affected me more than any other album. It uses a lot of his sister's writing and incorporates other stuff from his family (Drawings etc). I interviewed him a few times (http://www.laweekly.com/ink/00/23/music-fiore.php) and learned two really valuable things...

1) you don't need to throw the baby jesus out with the bathwater (you can like his ideas without the orthodoxy)
2) you can use depression to create, you don't necessarily have to run from it. use it to save yourself, the way you use other people's art to do that.

for people unfamiliar with him, download "last stop this town" and "climbing to the moon" -- two of my all-time favorite songs.

kristin

[machmach]

Man, "Last Stop This Town" is such a great song. I remember when I first bought E-SB, I listened to that song over and over for days.

[opopopo]

so many nasty things have happened to my friends involving the eels. first, my buddy got dumped with the eels playing at whatever restaurant he was at. second, my friends brother got angry and trashed her room, and the only permanant damage was ruining her 2 eels cd's. third, another friend broke her ankle while listening to the eels. and finally and most recently, one of my dear closest friends was playing Beautiful Freak in her car and got smashed by a very wreckless driver and won't be able to walk for weeks!

coincidence? i dont know... all i know is i'm scared to listen to the eels... i could be next! :o:o:o

[machmach]

Holy woah!
That's crazy!

[Kinky Shrew]

Wow, I decide to take a look at the forum for this newly discovered to me magnificent band and I find lots of people complimenting my true favourite band; the wonderous eels of course. Now I know I should definatley further my Neutral Milk Hotel investigations!

Did anyone catch any of the Eels recent shows? I'm going to one on Sunday, and ooo I just cannot wait :)

And Hello by the way, seeing as I'm the newbie here

[bandersnatch]

electro shock blues was in my cd player when i rolled my bronco and there it will remain forever.

[opopopo]

see! the eels are cursed!

[Apple (in Stereo)]

i just saw them performe in norway.
daisies of the galaxy is - without a doubt - their best album. then comes electro-shock blues, and so beautiful freak.

:)

[Little DiSH Z]

My favorite albums go like this :

1) Electro-shock blues
2) The Discovery of a World Inside of the Moone
3) In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

And Eels' new album, while certainly not their best, is still a quality record that really doesnt deserve the negative stigma.

And, to continue with the curse, when my car's CD player broke, i was palying "Beautifu Freak" . That was a year ago, and i just now got it fixed and have started to listening to that album again.

[William]

I want to buy it now...

[perfectbrokenmirror]

i finally listened to electro-shock blues. I've had it downloaded forever on my computer and it is amazing. i really really enjoyed it.

c.s

[William]

I know this topic is old but I oredered it just now for six bucks...I just searched The Eels on this board because I remembered there was a topic about it and I wanted the refresh my memory of the board's general opinion before I ordered.

[dunnock]

Originally posted by William
I know this topic is old but I oredered it just now for six bucks...I just searched The Eels on this board because I remembered there was a topic about it and I wanted the refresh my memory of the board's general opinion before I ordered.
thanks for bumping the thread.. sounds like a band i'll like. i'm gonna download electro shock blues and if i like it i'll buy it.

[DrinkTeaEatBooks]

I'm personally a huge fan of Daisies of the Galaxy - I think E was vocally at his best on that record, and although it got a bit samey towards the end, nobody could ever argue with 'Tiger in My Tank', 'Grace Kelly Blues' (for my money, the best song that man ever did write), 'Flyswatter', 'It's a Motherfucker', and, let's face it, the majority of songs on that record. I find the eels song that most moves me, though, is actually Flower, from Beautiful Freak. There's something about E in that song - the first time I heard it I nearly cried.
To further back up the eels curse, I was listening to the eels when I found out my grandmother had died, they were playing Novocain for the Soul on the radio when my mum told me she was splitting from my dad, who was somewhere in Africa at the time, and I lost my wallet during an eels set at a festival.
There's something unlucky about that man.
Although, maybe you all had car crashes listening to eels because it's such a good record, and you concentrated on it more than driving? Just a thought :)

[William]

I got 'Electro-Shock Blues' yesterday and listened to it last night...I thought it was okay. I've only heard it once so I guess I can't pass total judgement on it yet.

[m]

electro shock blues is just...wow.

i remember hearing someone (or seeing it online) say that it was the most underheard masterpiece of the decade. it certainly ties with aeroplane in that field.

so yeah, eels = one of my favourite bands.