Beautiful Freak

Album: Beautiful Freak
Artist: Eels
Release Year: 1996
Genres: alternative rock, indie rock

1) Novocaine for the Soul; 2) Susan's House; 3) Rags to Rags; 4) Beautiful Freak; 5) Not Ready Yet; 6) My Beloved Monster; 7) Flower; 8) Guest List; 9) Mental; 10) Spunky; 11) Your Lucky Day in Hell; 12) Manchild.

Best Song: Novocaine for the Soul...or anything else

I remember listening to my sister's copy of the Holes movie soundtrack (which is great, by the way), and suddenly deciding "Eyes Down" was one of my favorite songs. "Eels?" I thought. "I need more of this!" So, having decided the first album was the best place to start, I picked it up, and it immediately became one of the cornerstones of my collection.

I suppose I should explain what makes it so great. I mean, there is no musical virtuosity here. You will not find any guitar solos. It's just Mark Everett (or E, as we fans call him) and a couple of other guys singing and playing a dozen sparse but quirky almost-rock songs. But, at the risk of sounding cliche, therein lies its genius. There are no pretentions to bury E's message. In fact, the general simplicity enhances the songs. They all have this "secondhand" feel to them, which I love. There's so much character here. There's such an offbeat yet sincere beauty to this album.

It's full of this delicious irreverence, too. Listen to the little "hooray!" in "Susan's House", right before E talks about a kid selling crack. No, this is not a happy album-- look at the song titles, for crying out loud. It's all about the underdogs, the misfits, the freaks: the ones E undoubtedly identifies with. Yeah, the "outcast angst" thing has been done a million times before, but the great thing about E is that he can take those cliches and make them sound good. Example:

"Turn the ugly light off, God, don't wanna see my face...Every day they rain down on me, a flower in a hailstorm. I'm living for the drought."

That's from "Flower." Take the other lyrics by themselves and they sound childish and trite, but put them in the song and they're perfect.

I really can't think of anything negative to say about the album, except that I don't care for the title track. The whole album's a bit of a downer, sure, but hey: it's Eels. Being happy isn't in their contract.

Rating: 9