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Amazon.co.uk Review
It may have taken several years for Eels frontman Mark Oliver Everett, a.k.a. E, to write and record Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, but the end result is no less than a masterpiece. At two discs and 33 tracks, it’s a veritable epic, but when your topic is no less than life itself, it’s good to have a bit of space to work in. This is a grown-up album about being a grown-up, and in the years it took to create, Everett has done a lot of growing up, and dealt with a lot of tragedy: his mother died of cancer, his sister committed suicide, and his cousin was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. With all that, it’s almost a wonder that Blinking Lights doesn’t lose itself totally to melancholy. Sure, there’s an overarching sense of sadness to this album (culminating in the beautiful and painful "If You See Natalie"), but tracks like "Hey Man", "Trouble with Dreams" and "Going Fetal" (the latter featuring Tom Waits) all display a hopeful exuberance and contagious optimism. It may be a lot to take in over a single listen, but Blinking Lights and Other Revelations is well worth the effort. It’s a remarkable achievement. --Robert Burrow
Album Description
The new Eels album, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, is a two disc set about "God and all the questions related to the subject of God," says its creator, E. A homemade epic, it's an imaginative, emotional reflection on the condition of living, recorded mostly in Everett's Los Angeles basement over a period of several years. Sprawling over its two discs are songs about faith, responsibility, growing up, dignity, disappointment, comfort, hope and renewal.
Echoes of Everett's Virginia youth are heard during a fever-dreamed summer night's picnic inside the Civil War-era graveyard near his family's house ("In the Yard, Behind the Church), while the engineer of a dying travel industry laments the long gone Washington & Old Dominion Railroad that once ran nearby ("Railroad Man").
Finally completed in 2004, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations rides a wide aural spectrum of sometimes disparate, ghostly sounds--from the saxophone sextet gospel of "Son Of A Bitch," to the surf-rock operatic wail of "Old Shit/New Shit." There's the apocalyptic fire and brimstone of "The Other Shoe," and then there's the Jackie Wilson-in-cyberspace existential celebration of "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)." The album is full of unusual instrumentation and some notable guest stars. One song ("Last Time We Spoke") features Everett's hound dog, Bobby, Jr., howling a lonesome solo. A few songs later, Eels-fan-turned-collaborator Tom Waits cries a solo--literally--("Going Fetal"). Later, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck (making his second appearance on an Eels album) plays dobro, guitar and bass (the Buck co-written "To Lick Your Boots"), and on an album that prominently features the autoharp on several songs, it's exciting to know that the king of rock & roll autoharp, The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian, makes a rare appearance, playing autoharp on one track ("Dusk: A Peach In The Orchard," co-written by Sebastian).
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
After Shootenanny, which I personally feel is their worst album to date, lacking the immediacy of Beautiful Freak or Daisies of the Galaxy, the sheer unadulterated excellence of Electro Shock Blues or quirky, fuzzy rock sensibilities of Souljacker, I was concerned as to how this one would turn out. I needn't have been, the latest Eels album is a triumph.
From the toe-tapping catchiness of Going Fetal on disc one and its compatriot Hey man (Now You're Really Living) on disc two, to the melancholy of 'If you see Natalie' the double album is packed with excellent and catchy tunes.
On the flipside, there is a lot of what could maybe be described as 'filler' and some of the songs may sound extremely familiar to Eels fans. I admit to getting a feeling of de ja vu when listening to Blinking Lights, certain tracks seeming to echo songs present on other older Eels albums. Overall however it's only a minor issue and not enough to detract from a truly excellent album.
This has been described elsewhere as E's masterpiece and for once it's right to believe the hype.
From the toe-tapping catchiness of Going Fetal on disc one and its compatriot Hey man (Now You're Really Living) on disc two, to the melancholy of 'If you see Natalie' the double album is packed with excellent and catchy tunes.
On the flipside, there is a lot of what could maybe be described as 'filler' and some of the songs may sound extremely familiar to Eels fans. I admit to getting a feeling of de ja vu when listening to Blinking Lights, certain tracks seeming to echo songs present on other older Eels albums. Overall however it's only a minor issue and not enough to detract from a truly excellent album.
This has been described elsewhere as E's masterpiece and for once it's right to believe the hype.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Mark "E" Everett has had to endure a lot of personal loss and grief over the years. It's always been a credit to him that he's always been able to transform this misery into enthralling and inspiring music.
Blinking Lights may just be his best work yet. Written over the course of seven years, this album more than any of his others offers the scope to cover many of his personal tragedies. As a result, it's a double-disc 33 track sprawling epic, touching upon a number of events in Everett's life, both from childhood, and more recent times.
On the first listen, much of the album washes over you, with many of the tracks sounding vaguely similar. Musically, this is pitched somewhere between the first two eels albums, featuring some of the big tunes of Beautiful Freak, as well as some of the stark minimalism of Electro-Shock Blues, and the auto-harp is prevalent throughout. With subsequent listens, however, the subtle variation of the tracks takes hold, and the album truly opens up to you.
Considering all that's happened to Everett, there's a remarkable optimism here. Going Fetal, Old Shit/New Shit and Hey Man (now you're really living) are genuinely cheery moments, whilst the lilting A Magic World is an inspiration. Meanwhile, the excellent Trouble With Dreams sounds like the lost brother to Flyswatter from Daisies of The Galaxy.
Lyrically, we're on fairly familiar territory, with the wry humour of tracks such as Son Of A Bitch mixed with a charming, almost childish naivety on tracks such as Blinking Lights For Me ("and the doctor in the sky, gonna bring his chopper down, gonna bring me out alive"). As ever, Everett plays the well-meaning, misunderstood outcast very well, just listen to Things The Grandchildren Should Know, and the wonderful Ugly Love ("If she finds me so repulsive, she wouldn't be the first to wretch").
Of course, it wouldn't be an eels album without a great sense of melancholy, and Blinking Lights offers some of his saddest songs to date. If You See Natalie is an achingly beautiful piano ballad, whilst Last Time We Spoke is ominous. Best of all is Railroad Man, a song about losing your purpose in life to the relentless progress of technology.
The whole thing is held together by Everett's worn, earnest vocals, managing to be both deadpan and heartfelt. As a whole, Blinking Lights rarely jumps out at you, and could perhaps do with being five or six songs shorter. But given time, this blossoms into the finest moment of the eels distinguished career.
Blinking Lights may just be his best work yet. Written over the course of seven years, this album more than any of his others offers the scope to cover many of his personal tragedies. As a result, it's a double-disc 33 track sprawling epic, touching upon a number of events in Everett's life, both from childhood, and more recent times.
On the first listen, much of the album washes over you, with many of the tracks sounding vaguely similar. Musically, this is pitched somewhere between the first two eels albums, featuring some of the big tunes of Beautiful Freak, as well as some of the stark minimalism of Electro-Shock Blues, and the auto-harp is prevalent throughout. With subsequent listens, however, the subtle variation of the tracks takes hold, and the album truly opens up to you.
Considering all that's happened to Everett, there's a remarkable optimism here. Going Fetal, Old Shit/New Shit and Hey Man (now you're really living) are genuinely cheery moments, whilst the lilting A Magic World is an inspiration. Meanwhile, the excellent Trouble With Dreams sounds like the lost brother to Flyswatter from Daisies of The Galaxy.
Lyrically, we're on fairly familiar territory, with the wry humour of tracks such as Son Of A Bitch mixed with a charming, almost childish naivety on tracks such as Blinking Lights For Me ("and the doctor in the sky, gonna bring his chopper down, gonna bring me out alive"). As ever, Everett plays the well-meaning, misunderstood outcast very well, just listen to Things The Grandchildren Should Know, and the wonderful Ugly Love ("If she finds me so repulsive, she wouldn't be the first to wretch").
Of course, it wouldn't be an eels album without a great sense of melancholy, and Blinking Lights offers some of his saddest songs to date. If You See Natalie is an achingly beautiful piano ballad, whilst Last Time We Spoke is ominous. Best of all is Railroad Man, a song about losing your purpose in life to the relentless progress of technology.
The whole thing is held together by Everett's worn, earnest vocals, managing to be both deadpan and heartfelt. As a whole, Blinking Lights rarely jumps out at you, and could perhaps do with being five or six songs shorter. But given time, this blossoms into the finest moment of the eels distinguished career.
Key moments: From Which I Came/A Magic World, Trouble With Dreams, Railroad Man, If You See Natalie, Ugly Love
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
First off, no it's not Electro Shock blues, but nothing else ever will be. No one could write something like that twice and survive. This is bigger. If electro shock is about a bad time in life (most of its songs are about moments and they form part of a strict narrative), this is about life, all of it, vast and rambling. It's an album I've owned for a few weeks now, and I still haven't got my head around it, but it is nothing less than fantastic. Simply put there are few artists out there who could produce a double CD that wouldn't be a simple vanity project; E is one of them.
Highlights are of course Old xxxx/New xxxx, Hey Man (the most uplifting song he has ever written) and Lick your Boots, but it includes many smaller gems in its glittering hoard (If you see Natalie, My Kind of Love and the finally Things the Grandchildren should know).
This album deserves that the listener put the effort into listening that E put into making. Given that, it is brilliant.
Highlights are of course Old xxxx/New xxxx, Hey Man (the most uplifting song he has ever written) and Lick your Boots, but it includes many smaller gems in its glittering hoard (If you see Natalie, My Kind of Love and the finally Things the Grandchildren should know).
This album deserves that the listener put the effort into listening that E put into making. Given that, it is brilliant.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Bold, Breathtaking And Simply Beautiful.
'Blinking Lights And Other Revelations' is a sprawling 33-song album, spread over two discs, that deals with love, loneliness, religion and twenty first century confusion, as told... Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2010 by J. Hood
Definitely in my top ten albums of all time.
Bravo, E. A long album, arranged with variations and instrumentals which tie the whole thing up brilliantly. Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2009 by M. Bubb
The greatest album ever? But in my top 10
Electro shock is beautiful .....Beautiful freak is .....well beautiful and blinking lights for me tops both just purely by virtue there are so many great tunes.... Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2009 by Alan S. Waldron
An album I'm glad to have in my life
Simply as the title suggests. I bought this originally as a present to myself on my 18th on the year Blinking Lights was released and now almost 4 years later it still plays a big... Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2009 by T. Simms
ignore remote control
this is one of the few bands that hold my attention throughout all of the tracks ignoring the remote completely.
Published on 6 Mar 2008 by Mr. R. Neary
An absolute gem of an album.....
OK, I am an Eels fan, but this album is just a great listening experience. The album has the sound of an amalgamation of the previous 5 Eels albums, although it's probably E's most... Read more
Published on 27 Nov 2007 by Mr. Jonathan Robin Oxley
This man is a genius
To fill one album full of great songs is hard enough, but to make a double album this good is incredible. Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2006 by "robbie_the_robot"
Masterpiece pretty much covers it
"Blinking Lights..." was the first Eels album I heard, about half a year ago. I now own all the Eels albums. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2006 by John Tansey
Eel - luminating! Eel- aborately and wonderfully poignant
Buy it!
Sliced bread was never this good!
Simply THE masterpiece album of 2005.
I could deconstruct every nuance, every melodic development, every lyric that shakes... Read more
Sliced bread was never this good!
Simply THE masterpiece album of 2005.
I could deconstruct every nuance, every melodic development, every lyric that shakes... Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2006 by Callum Doone
overlong and overfamiliar
I admire his candour and his confessional style, and "electro-shock blues" is one of my all-time favourite albums, but... Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2005 by Adam K.
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