Amazon.co.uk Review
Eels burst out to prominence with 1996's witty, bold paean to geekdom
Beautiful Freak, which matched black humour with bold arrangements and catchy melodies. Its follow-up,
Electro Shock Blues--written against the backdrop of the suicide of frontman E's sister and the terminal disease afflicting his mother--was beautiful, but its bleak content proved too naked for fans of hits like "Novocaine For The Soul" and "Susan's House".
Daisies Of The Galaxy pulls back from the abyss to which E took his music having lighter arrangements and more of his quirky lyricism. The themes are largely unchanged--his mother died during the making of the album and it opens with a track, "Grace Kelly's Blues", which recalls a New Orleans funeral--but
Daisies also meditates on escape ("Packing Blankets") and desire ("Jeannie's Diary"). The pervading sense of loneliness and loss clings nevertheless, notably on the deeply moving ballad "It's A Motherfucker" ("being here without you"). It can't all be sweetness and light. --
Mike Pattenden
CD Description
Having used ELECTRO-SHOCK BLUES as a dark musical therapy session in the wake of losing his mom and sister, Eels frontman E (aka Mark Oliver Everett) returned with a more optimistic follow-up, one steeped in gorgeous pop-craft. Utilising avocal style not unlike Beck's creaky delivery, E created songs marked by unblinking, Randy Newman-like observations, minus the sardonic edge.
E touches on a range of subjects--he pays tribute to his late mom's love of winged creatures (the gently bouncy "I Like Birds"), sings of unrequited love (the heartbreaking "Jeannie's Diary") and bemoans the evils of advertising (the irresistible "Tiger in My Tank"). Like fellow pop savant Jon Brion, E calls upon a handful of modern-rock pals, including Peter Buck and Grant Lee Phillips, to season his idiosyncratic arrangements. Among the most engaging numbers are the Nilsson-inspired "It's a Motherf#&!@r", as well as the Vince Guaraldi-flavoured "A Daisy Through Concrete" and "The Sound of Fear" The last of these is a classicstraight out of the Phil Spector/Brian Wilson school of arranging. The hidden track, "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues", is an optimistic number that nicely ties up this great collection, which finds E emerging from the dark so that the healing canbegin.