Eels 2014

[redcloud]

New album announced a few weeks back and now tour dates....

June 8th for me!

http://eelstheband.com/tourdates/

[burningwheel]

What a good album to start with?

[runcible]

Electro-Shock Blues is fantastic. That's where I started.

Bloody Manchester again? Another artist I will have to wait to see live I guess.

[burningwheel]

Thanks runcie

[redcloud]

What a good album to start with?

"Electro-Shock Blues" is one of the greatest albums of the past 20 years. Be forewarned though...it is not a happy album! It is a tale of a sister's suicide, a mother's diagnosis of cancer and dealing with the ghosts of his father's death. The emotional weight is HUGE but, the payoff is one of the most brutally honest pop/rock records ever recorded. It's up their with "Blood on the Tracks" and that is no overstatement. Yes, it is THAT good.

After that...there are many, many Eels albums and they all have highlights and hold many places in my heart. "End Times" is also another that is melancholic but deeply moving (and possibly more parallels with "Blood on the Tracks" as it was written during his painful divorce).

This thread has a lot of answers to some of your questions:

http://forum.spiritualized.me/viewtopic ... hilit=eels

[Shinesalight]

Inspired by this thread (and the other that it links to) and the fact that Eels will be playing at a gorgeous venue just along the south coast ( http://www.dlwp.com/visit-us/ ) , I thought I'd check Discogs to see if I could grab a copy of their album that seems to be rated as their best, Electo Shock Blues. I think I'll be tracking down a CD copy instead though looking at theses prices :-

http://www.discogs.com/marketplace?rele ... 9190&ev=rb

[stegraham]

I'd recommend, Daisies of the Galaxy. "It's a Motherf**ker" is a fantastic song, and possibly my fav Eels track.

[burningwheel]

Thanks guys. Will check these out as well

[mc]

I'll be heading to Glesga in June for sure

I'm an eels freak who believes everything E has ever done is golden, but I would also recommend their first album "Beautiful Freak" as a good starting place alongside "Daisies" and the best-album-ever-alongside-LGM "Electro-Shock Blues". BF has a few grunge-esque tracks that have perhaps aged slightly, but overall it's a wonderful listen, with some exceptionally tender and harrowing songs. I've had this album since it came out (God, nearly 18 years ago!) and "Manchild" still almost moves me to tears every time I listen to it.

[redcloud]

I am in total agreement with mc. I first heard "BF" when it came out and was blown away from the beginning. The songs that still, very powerfully, resonate off that album are "Guest List" and "Manchild".

I love "Daisies" too but, I think if I had to choose just a couple faves it would be "Electro-Shock Blues" and "End Times". After that, in no particular order would be "Souljacker", "Daisies", "BF', "Hombre Lobo" and "Shootenanny".

I love and appreciate much of "Blinking Lights" but it has always been one of the more impenetrable Eels albums for me to fully grasp. It's a huge album and takes longer to fully sink in because of its ambition but I totally respect its vision.

The two weakest Eels records are, in my opinion, the last two: "Wonderful Glorious" and "Tomorrow Morning". But, they too have some great moments. These two are more inconsistent than the others and the "wonderful and glorious" moments less frequent. I would advise NOT to start with either of these two records.

I am really looking forward to this new one though. I feel (hope) it will be Mark at his best.

[mc]

The two weakest Eels records are, in my opinion, the last two: "Wonderful Glorious" and "Tomorrow Morning". But, they too have some great moments. These two are more inconsistent than the others and the "wonderful and glorious" moments less frequent. I would advise NOT to start with either of these two records.

I am really looking forward to this new one though. I feel (hope) it will be Mark at his best.

I agree. The last two albums haven't been his best work - some of the songs have felt a little lazy, for want of a better word - but they still feature wonderful songs. "This Is Where It Gets Good" and "The Turnaround" in particular are up there with anything else he's done. I'm really looking forward to April

redcloud, have you read "Eels: Blinking Lights And Other Revelations", a biography of the band, and "The Many Worlds of Hugh Everett III", a biography of Mark's father? I'd strongly recommend them both to anyone interested in E : the former is an easy reading account of the band (up to "Tomorrow Morning") with some very illuminating interviews from former collaborators (the music to "Mr E's Beautiful Blues" was originally written for Hanson as an aborted follow-up single to "Mmm-Bop"!) The latter is an account of his father's scientific and defense-based career along with an in-depth study of his family life that really helps to understand E and where he comes from. E gave the author exclusive access to the family archive in his basement, so much of the material the biography is based on has never been seen before. As a confirmed eels and quantum physics geek, this was the perfect book in many ways! Both books fill in some of the gaps in E's autobiography, too

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Many-Worlds-Hug ... verett+iii

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eels-BLINKING-L ... ing+lights

[redcloud]

I have not read either. But, I have read his autobio, which I bought at a WH Smith's before moving back to the States. I'll look out for the band bio. Cheers! "Mmmmm Bop"? Wow!

The bio about his dad...does it mirror the British made tv doc "Parallel Worlds/Parallel Universe"? At one Eels gig there was no opener, instead the gig was seated and that doc was projected. After it just Mark and Chet came out and swapped instruments. Did you see that tour? Probably 6-7 years ago now.

It will be interesting to see how he mixes it up this time around. Last three or so shows have been more rock with the whole band thing either wearing the boiler suits or the 60's group/suit/sunglasses thing. I wonder if this one will be back to a more stripped down band? This is one of the reasons why the live Eels show is so brilliant. He mixes it up and you never know what he and Chet will do next.

On a cool note...both my kids have grown up with Eels music in the house. They are now 16 and 13 and have seen them live (my son has seen them on the last two tours and even got a guitar pick from Mark the last time around). When I mentioned they were returning both said "Awesome! Can we go too?"

[mc]

The bio about his dad...does it mirror the British made tv doc "Parallel Worlds/Parallel Universe"? At one Eels gig there was no opener, instead the gig was seated and that doc was projected. After it just Mark and Chet came out and swapped instruments. Did you see that tour? Probably 6-7 years ago now.

I did see Eels on that tour - I'd already seen the documentary on TV, but was more than happy to watch it again. The book covers HEIII's work on quantum mechanics in much more detail and at a higher academic level, and it also comprehensively covers his career in the defence industry - I learned some very scary things about the Cold War! The insight into the Everett family life is very illuminating, and rather unsettling and depressing at times. Well worth a read if you're interested...

[redcloud]

have you read "Eels: Blinking Lights And Other Revelations", a biography of the band,

I was in a local bookstore and found a copy of this today.

[BVCP206]

What a good album to start with?

"Electro-Shock Blues" is one of the greatest albums of the past 20 years. Be forewarned though...it is not a happy album! It is a tale of a sister's suicide, a mother's diagnosis of cancer and dealing with the ghosts of his father's death. The emotional weight is HUGE but, the payoff is one of the most brutally honest pop/rock records ever recorded. It's up their with "Blood on the Tracks" and that is no overstatement. Yes, it is THAT good.

Could not agree more, a truly great record.