Eels

Electro-Shock Blues

A Perfect Album (well, almost)

Review Score:

(10/10)
I have all three of the Eels' albums, and this is really the only good one. Despite what most people say, I think Beautiful Freak really sucks (with the exception of Novacaine for the Soul). Daisies of the Galaxy, although better, still wasn't really the greatest. However, Electro-Shock Blues is not only the best Eels album, but is one of the greatest rock albums of all time. There are probably only about 10 albums ever that I would truly give five stars, and this is one of them.

The basis behind my praise of this album is simply the fact that every single song is a great song. You know how once in a while, you'll hear a song on the radio, and think, "Wow. That's a great song"? Every song on this album, except for Baby Genius and Dead of Winter, is like that. I'm serious. I remember first getting Electro-Shock Blues and listening to it in my room. I was hooked from the first damn note of Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor. This song is so beautifully haunting and hopeless that it almost makes you want to burst into tears (the song is about his sister's depression and suicide attempts).

My Descent into Madness is possibly one of the best songs ever written. The use of a classical violin sample at different points during the song is beautifully choreographed, and it is very catchy. This, incidentally, is the case with practically every song on the album. They are catchy. I don't like saying that, though, because most people hear that, and they're like, "Oh, it's catchy. It must be a stupid pop song." I mean they're catchy in a good way - you can be uncontrollably singing one all day, but not feel like an idiot.

Other highlights of the album? Well, in all honesty, the entire thing is a masterpiece, but what come to mind are the stop-and-go edginess of Last Stop: This Town and the uplifting Climbing to the Moon.

I understand that everybody likes different music, and that one person can think that one band is great, and someone else could hate them altogether. However, you cannot possibly hate this album. Now that I think about it, I'd actually like to read some of the negative reviews of this (assuming they exist) just to see what they could possibly find wrong with it.

Electo-Shock Blues is simply a perfect album (well, almost).

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