The Smiley Smile Message Board

The Eels - always been a favourite of mine.

His melodies are just tremendous. His songs are always uplifting, despite all he's been through (he's lost family to suicide, cancer and 9/11).

And he loves Friends. In an interview, after saying how much he liked the record, he then pointedly added ''there's not much Mike Love on Friends". Ha!

I wouldn't say his songs are always uplifting, but maybe that he has begun making uplifting more uplifting songs. There isn't much uplifting about "Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor."

Yes, though, to answer your question, I like Eels. Or at least, I really liked them from Electro-Shock Blues through roughly the Town Hall live stuff. Electro-Shock, Daisies of the Galaxy, and Blinking Lights... were very good albums. I think that except for Shootenanny, that whole stretch was a great run of music. E is also very funny and a good live performer. I've seen him maybe about four times, ranging from hard rock quartet to orchestral instrumentation to just him and The Chet. Always interesting choices for cover tunes--I love bands that throw in a few well considered covers--and good personality.

Since then I've lost interest, as it tends to feel like more of the same. It's great that he's still making music, but I'm just not getting anything new out of it.

Yup, big E lover here.

I strongly recommend getting hold of a copy of 'Tomorrow Morning' - it's easily as good as any of the albums you mentioned above. Fantastic album - great strong catchy songs throughout.

I have all of his albums.

A big fan here. I kind of went off eels around the time of the trilogy, but i bought Wonderful Glorious and i really like it. A good bonus disc too.

I enjoyed his autobiography more than his music (I don't know why I don't like his music, I ought to, and I've really tried, but i just don't).

Certainly Beautiful Freak, Electro-Shock Blues and Daisies Of The Galaxy are superb. Bit of a gap in my collection after that, but have Wonderful Glorious, and it's not bad at all.

This is a sentiment I hope everyone on the planet can find a way to overcome or avoid. (Not with Eels, with anyone.)

Well, when I say "I ought to", it's because on paper it's the sort of music and lyrics I normally like, and I can hear there is merit there. Not because anyone else tells me so.

Fair enough, that makes sense. Guess I'm just oversensitive to the imposition of tastes onto others.

Have loved 'em since he was simply known as "E".   His album "A Man Called E" struck me as incredibly BW/PS inspired and I wrote to tell him so.  He was kind enough to send back oodles of promo goodies, including a signed photo.   

*i* love eels.

Nope but Last stop this town (which had on a promo cd from Universal weeks before it was released back in ~98) is on my top 10 songs of all time. Incredible song...lyrics, vocals, production.

Blinking lights and hombre lobo are easily as good as the electro shock/daisies period. Phenomenal songwriter, producer and artist. Love 'em!

New Eels album coming out in April!

I particularly adore this song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF8oXDzzul8

Any Eel sceptics, please listen ASAP. There's a brief little instrumental, then the song kicks in at 0:50 and it is just heavenly.

I decided to do a Spotify playlist so people who are interested in sampling some Eels music would have at least one man's recommendations of how to start in a running order that hopefully is coherent and enjoyable. Spotify, for those who don't know or have it, is free. (I think this link will be public -- I hope someone will let me know if it doesn't work.)

http://open.spotify.com/user/lutherh/playlist/75s6RaZ87LSS07B5trUDoj

"Grace Kelly Blues," Daisies of the Galaxy (2000)
"Dog Faced Boy," Souljacker (2001)
"It's a Motherfucker," Daisies...
"Dirty Girl," Shootenanny! (2003)
"Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)," Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005)

"I Like Birds," Daisies...
"Son of a Bitch," Blinking Lights...
"That's Not Really Funny," Souljacker
"A Line in the Dirt," End Times (2010)
"Packing Blankets," Daisies...
"Whatever Happened to Soy Bomb?" Blinking Lights...

"Tremendous Dynamite," Hombre Lobo (2009)
"The Look You Give That Guy," Hombre Lobo
"Jungle Telegraph," Souljacker
"Novocaine For the Soul," Beautiful Freak (1996)
"Last Stop: This Town," Electro-Shock Blues (1998)

"Souljacker, Pt. II," Souljacker
"Climbing to the Moon," Electro-Shock...
"Mr. E's Beautiful Blues," Daisies...

"I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man," (live, Prince cover) Live at Town Hall (2006)
"It's a Motherfucker," (live) Oh What a Beautiful Morning (2000)
""Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)," (live) Live at Town Hall

Nice one - although there's far better tracks on Daisies... than 'Packing Blankets'.

Tracks 3-9 on Daisies... is one of my favourite run of songs on any album, ever.

If I were trying to win a sceptic over to the wonder of the Eels I'd probably just play them this track, which is just unbelievably moving and beautiful (and was apparently written after he'd just been to his sister's funeral):
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDpuuT6YsJg

I have to admit, this list--or even this kind of list, when I do them (which seems kind of often, actually!)--never ends up exactly my favorites. And it never quite ends up what I think will be others' favorites. It's like some of each of those, plus some little games I like to play in putting together running orders: what would sound best following what, when do we need a change in mood, when should we extend a thought or even a lyrical idea. I can waste so much fucking time making playlists!

New Eels album out in late April, available as single and double album sets.

Read his brilliant autobiography, if you haven't already. One of the most moving pieces of music-related literature I've ever read..


(https://31.media.tumblr.com/3921d53ce53f1e57f7ffd5cf21c8e2d3/tumblr_inline_mzwt0rzR2G1qeyn3d.jpg)