Beautiful Freak - Eels

The thing I really like about Eels, is that they're one of those indie bands that you can be satisfyingly depressed to, sort of like Radiohead. Unlike Radiohead, though, there seems to be a bizarre thread of optimism running through all Eels records, even though with creating songs as a response to life events like his sister's suicide, and his mother's cancer, you wouldn't think Mr E (Mark Oliver Everett, frontman) would really have all that much to feel positive about. Beautiful Freak, Everett's first release under Eels, in 1996, is a characteristically bleak collection of songs, but with real spots of sunshine penetrating the clouds in the form of some ...  Read the complete review

It's not often that I buy CD singles, often opting to get the album that the single is from. Sometimes I get burned, and sometimes I stumble, almost blindly, accross a real gem. Beautiful Freak definately falls into the latter catergory (what a crazy, fun-filled life of gambling frolicks I lead!). I bought the album, like so many, on the strength of Susan's House and Novocaine for the Soul, but was treated to so much more. If you can't remember the two singles taken from the album, Susan's House is an odd song which describes the journey to Susan's, and all of the wierd, and not so wonderful, things that the singer sees. A mad, drunken old woman and a child ...  Read the complete review

The Eels are undoubtedly a bit of an odd band. With their first two albums being written in response to a close relative?s death from cancer and another close relative?s suicide, you would not win any awards for guessing that they?re not exactly chipper chaps. But more recent outings have included enigmatic frontman ?E? belting out the confrontational ?God damn right it?s a beautiful day? and on other occasions dressing up like a terrorist and singing about stealing people?s souls. But we?re getting ahead of ourselves. Back in the humourless days of the late 1990s, the band?s first album seemed bleak enough to earn them serious credibility in the miserable Indie ...  Read the complete review

When I bought this album, I knew almost nothing about Eels. I'd grown to love 'My Beloved Monster' via one of those freebie sampler cds that you get with magazines occasionally. I'd also heard 'Novocaine' and 'Susan's House' once or twice. To be honest, I was expecting a pleasant, listenable album, but wasn't expecting to be blown away. And on first listening, 'pleasant and listenable' was about as far as it went. But after 5 or 6 spins, it really began to grow on me, until eventually it joined my list of CDs that I wouldn't live without. Every time I listen to this CD, I'm just blown away by how good it is. ...  Read the complete review

Beautiful and dark yet full of spirited good hope.This sums this album up nicely. This is the 1996 debut album from the eels "Beautiful Freak". I couldn't have picked a better title for this album if I tried. The eels are led by a frontman called "E" and his past experiences lead to the basis of what this album is about.At first glance they appear to be a mellow bluesy-rock threesome playing sweet melodies, accompnied by a marlboro smoking (and sounding) vocalist. However if you scratch beneath the surface,you find something more... This album provides a kind of outlet for E's trauma in his life;he had to look after his mother ...  Read the complete review