Some EELS, by request, Part 1

A longtime lurker/friend of the blog, Blake, recently requested some EELS.... I was somewhat familiar with them, at least with their early 90's material, but once I got into researching them a little bit, I was genuinely stunned by how much material is out there.....EELS (also known as Eels and eels) are/were basically multi-instrumentalist/singer/Elliot Smith-style songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, who performs under the name "E".... truly I have found SO MUCH material that this thing is going to take THREE posts to get to everything, I found a TON of EP's, singles, E's non-EELS work and side projects..... this post we'll get the "official" studio releases covered, and then (in the next week or so) we'll get to the other stuff.....if you are new to this band, start here, if you're a fan, likely you have all of these (I had the first few) but the other stuff to come in Parts 2/3 will be a Godsend to you!

OK, let's start with the first "official" EELS release, 1996's "Beautiful Freak".....it's a pretty fair effort, I enjoyed it when it came out, Elliot Smith/Nick Drake-style depression-pop, the best known/best tracks (imo)are "Susan's House" and "Novocaine For the Soul"......it's a good album, but not nearly up to the standard of the next release.

After the release of "Beautiful Freak", E went through more personal tragedy/distress than any human deserves....I won't go into it here, you can look it all up if interested. The thing is, as sometimes happens, the tortured state that his soul had to be in at the time resulted in a fantastic album, "Electro Shock Blues"......a bleak, depressed, chilling record (not unlike maybe a good bit of Elliot Smith's work"), this one is a classic...."Going to Your Funeral" and "Cancer For the Cure" are standouts, but this is an album that needs to be heard in its entirety, great disc.

2000 brought us "Daisies of the Galaxy". It is airier and more upbeat than "Electo", (it would be hard not to be), it's decent but no classic in the mode of its predecessor. "Grace Kelly Blues" and "It's a Motherfucker" are good tunes, and there are more.

"Souljacker", EELS 2001 release, was, I think, where I lost track of the band.......no reason really, I just did......this is also a very good album, a little more rocking than the earlier ones, and one I would recommend....."Dog Faced Boy" and the two part title track are standouts.

From here on, these albums were really not familiar to me until the request for this post and my researching it, for teh most part, I have heard the remaining material exactly once, and in the last week or so at that.....the next release was "Shootenanny!", which, on first listen really doesn't impress me that much, "Saturday Morning" is a pretty good track, and I'd NEVER render an opinion on an album after only one listen, so I'll give it a couple of more listens before passing final judgement.

In 2005, EELS released the sprawling 2 disc "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations"........it's massive, 33 tracks, and there truly is some good stuff here, although it might take some searching to get to. I'm certain there is some concept at work here, but I have yet to sort it out. Suffice to say, if you've enjoyed the other stuff, you may wish to venture here, personally, I think it might have been a really good single disc release.

Begining in 2009, EELS released a series of three albums, issued as a conceptual trilogy. The first was "Hombre Lobo", followed by "End Times" and "Tomorrow Morning".....believe it or not, I listened to all three in the last week or so, and while they do have their moments, I obviously haven't had the chance to break down the conceptual thing. I will say that, without question, the more bleak, sad, empty-feeling songs had returned.......by now you know if this is a band for you or not. If so, likely, these will be for you.

The most recent release (I think) is 2013's "Wonderful, Glorious", presented here in all its glory in 2-disc deluxe edition. Again, I've listened to it once.....can't render MUCH of an opinion, but here it is, if this stuff has appealed to you thus far.

OK, that's it for part 1.....look for the next couple of parts in the next week or so. There is a LOT of material to cover, if you are a fan of the band, likely you already have all the stuff from part 1, but the upcoming rarities and stuff will thrill you. If you are new to them, it'll all be of interest, and wait until you see (you especially, Blake!) how MUCH stuff I uncovered!

BEAUTIFUL FREAK-01 Novocaine For the Soul/02 Susan's House/03 Rags to Rags/04 Beautiful Freak/05 Not Ready Yet/06 My Beloved Monster/07 Flower/08 Guest List/09 Mental/10 Spunky/11 Your Lucky Day In Hell/12 manchild/13 Novocaine For the Soul/14 Manchester Girl/15 My Beloved Mad Monster party/16 Flower

ELECTRO SHOCK BLUES-01 Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor/02 Going to Your Funeral Part 1/03 Cancer For the Cure/04 My Descent Into Madness/05 3 Speed/06 Hospital Food/07 Electro Shock Blues/08 Efils' God/09 Going To Your Funeral Part 2/10 Last Stop: This Town/11 Baby Gebius/12 Climbing to the Moon/13 Ant Farm/14 Dead of Winter/15 The Medication is Wearing Off/16 PS You Rock My World

DAISIES OF THE GALAXY-01 Grace Kelly Blues/02 Packing Blankets/03 The Sound of Fear/04 I Like Birds/05 Daisies of the Galaxy/06 Flyswatter/07 It's a Motherfucker/08 Estate Sale/09 Tiger in My tank/10 A Daisy Through Concrete/11 Jeannie's Diary/12 Wooden Nickles/13 Something Is Sacred/14 Selective Memory/15 Mr E's Beautiful Blues

SOULJACKER-01 Dog Faced Boy/02 That's Not Really Funny/03 Fresh Feeling/04 Woman Driving, Man Sleeping/05 Souljacker Part 1/06 Friendly Ghost/07 Teenage Witch/08 Bus Stop Boxer/09 Jungle Telegraph/10 World of Shit/11 Souljacker Part 2/13 What is This Note?

SHOOTENANNY!-01 All in a Days Work/02 Saturday Morning/03 The Good Old Days/04 Love of the
Loveless/05 Dirty Girl/06 Agony/07 Rock Hard Times/08 Restraining Order Blues/09 Lone Wolf/10 Wrong About Bobby/11 Numbered Days/12 Fashion Awards/13 Somebody Loves You

BLINKING LIGHTS AND OTHER REVELATIONS DISC 1-01 Theme From Blinking Lights/02 From Which I Came/A Magic World/03 Son of a Bitch/04 Blinking Lights (For Me)/05 Trouble With Dreams/06 Marie Floating Over the Backyard/07 Suicide Life/08 In the yard, behind the Church/09 Railroad Man/10 The Other Shoe/11 Last Time We Spoke/12 Mother Mary/13 Going Fetal/14 Understanding Salesmen/15 Theme For a Pretty Girl That Makes You Believe God Exists/16 Checkout Blues/17 Blinking Lights (for You)

BLINKING LIGHTS AND OTHER REVELATIONS DISC 2-01 Dust of Ages/02 Old Shit/New Shit/03 Bride of Theme From Blinking Lights/04 Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)/05 I'm Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn't break Your Heart/06 To Lick Your Boots/07 If You See Natalie/08 Sweet Li'l Thing/09 Dusk: A Peach in the Orchard/10 Whatever Happened to Soy Bomb/11 Ugly Love/12 God's Silence/13 Losing Streak/14 Last Days of My Bitter Heart/15 The Stars Shine in the Sky Tonight/16 Things the Grandchildren Should Know

HOMBRE LOBO-01 Prizefighter/02 The Look you Give That Guy/03 Lilac Breeze/04 In My Dreams/05 Tremendous Dynamite/06 The Longing/07 Fresh Blood/08 What's a Fella Gotta Do/09 My Timing Is Off/10 All the Beautiful Things/11 Beginner's Luck/12 Ordinary Man

END TIMES-01 The Beginning/02 Gone Man/03 In My Younger Days/04 Mansions of los Feliz/05 A line in the Dirt/06 End Times/07 Apple Trees/08 Paradise Blues/09 Nowadays/10 Unhinged/11 High and Lonesome/12 I Need a Mother/13 Little Bird/14 On My Feet/15 And Now For the End Times/Some Friend/16 Walking Cloud/17 $200 tattoo/18 The Man Who Didn't Know He'd Lost his Mind

TOMORROW MORNING-01 In Gratitude For a magnificent Day/02 I'm a Hummingbird/03 The
Morning/04 Baby Loves Me/05 Spectacular Girl/06 What I Have To Offer/07 This Is Where It Gets Good/08 After the Earthquake/09 Oh So lovely/10 The man/11 Looking Up/12 That's Not her Way/13 I like the Way This is Going/14 Mystery of Life

TOMORROW MORNING (BONUS EP)-01 Swimming Lesson/02 St. Elizabeth Story/03 Let's Ruin Julie's Birthday/04 For You

WONDERFUL GLORIOUS DISC 1-01 Bombs Away/02 Kinda Fuzzy/03 Accident Prone/04 Peach Blossom/05 On the Ropes/06 The Turnaround/07 New Alphabet/08 Stick Together/09 True Original/10 Open my Present/11 You're My Friend/12 I Am Building a Shrine/13 Wonderful Glorious

WONDERFUL GLORIOUS DISC 2-01 Hold Onto Your Hat/02 Your Mama Warned You/03 I'm Your Brave Little Soldier/04 There's Something Strange/05 happy hour (We're Gonna Rock)/06 That's not Really Funny (live)/07 In My Dreams (live)/08 Prizefighter (live)/09 Looking Up (Live)/10 What I Have to Offer (live)/11 I Like the Way This Is Going (live)/12 Spectacular Girl (Live)/13  Summer In the City (live)

Stay tuned for the rest of this massive swarm, sometime in the next week or so......for now, let me know what you think of these, it's been a learning experience for me.