Beautiful Freak

This album suprised me. I almost didn't expect to like it given the god-awful album art, but I can't judge a book by it's cover. This album is musically rich and intriguing. Right off the bat I got flaming lips vibes, which is good because I love the flaming lips. The artsy-grunge type songs were great, but I wish there were more jazzy songs like "Susans House" with its spoken word sections and beautiful piano and bass instrumentation. Sometimes the lyrics were a bit edgy, but not in the cool "rage againts the machine" way, but in the cringy "middle school kid that was bullied for wearing an anime t-shirt" kind of way. The lyrics make me think of someone who heard Radiohead's "Creep" and was like "damn, I could make a whole album like this". These lyrics seem like they'd be memorized by Jared Leto's Joker. Even so, this album had some beautiful and freaky baroque-grung songs that really impressed me, especially in the last half of the album. I'll definitely be listening to it again. Favorite track: Guest List - although this is tied with "Mental", purely for the amazing synth solo at the end. - Least Favorite: Rags to Rags

It's got the Shrek song on it, extra star.

Eclectic alt-rock at it's finest. Thought provoking lyrics and surprising instrumentation. Each song, unique in their own right, blends together forming a flowing soundscape through the project. Stand-Outs: Susan's House (interestingly crafted piece; the sample from Gladys Knight works so well), My Beloved Monster, Flower (country vibes with angelic background vocals), Manchild.

wow i really loved that maybe it’s just late and my heads a little fucky but that really felt like a magical experience listening to that such beautiful, unique, diverse compositions with every track like every time a song would be near the end I would get very excited wondering what fun surprise I would get next he often mixed together genres that shouldn’t work but HOLY SHIT do they work well i’ll give it a 9/10, it’s almost perfect, I have two minor complaints: firstly his vocals aren’t very diverse, I don’t hate his voice but I don’t necessarily love it, he regularly uses effects to spice it up and compensate for the lack of diversity but still i’d like a little more effort from his voice I guess and second isn’t really a flaw, more just preference but the rock genre isn’t really my favorite, it’s not bad but it’s not really something i like listening to normally still this is such a great album, i’m very glad I listened to this, such amazing song writing and surreal story telling with the lyrics, just awesome I’ll definitely be looking into more of Eels’ discography

Nothing wrong with this record, it a decent indie offering but is it 1001 essential album list material -- most definitely not, I have heard albums that I hated on this list whose placement I can definitely justify but this is probably the first one for which I cant do that. 1/5

Wow, never heard of this guys, but after a couple of listens, I'm hooked. Beautiful and quirky songwriting, I'm going to download and dive into the whole catalog!

Probably the most modern-sounding album we've heard so far. I like the style, a bit jazzy, a bit indie rock. And the band is American, there's a change of pace! Altogether though, it isn't very engaging. Background music in a good way, but still background music for me. ALSO, I must note that there is a sound of children cheering on "Susan's House" that is 100% without a doubt the same sample used for the Grunt birthday party sound effect in Halo. Favorite tracks: Susan's House, Spunky, Manchild Album art: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH 3/5

I found this by turns, Dull, irritating and condescending (he saw a 17 yr old pushing a pram and thought it must be her sister, Really? That great poignant sadness moved you deeply? Come visit a UK council estate sometime bud, or really anywhere else in the world). Still, I guess that is his experience and he's entitled to voice his feelings. Just because there are worse things under the sun, doesn't mean that I need to invalidate his experience I guess. Shame on me for shame shaming. Also strangely depressing, the music wasn't particularly sad or evocative of deep emotion, it's just, I felt kind of down listening to it. Would not recommend, although, it's all well and good. For someone else this was obviously a world changing album, I hope it is for you, fine reader. If not, you can just listen to that one song that got all the radio play for years on end and call it good.

I was too busy listening to Leonard Cohen in 1996 that I never gave this album a proper listen, but was excited to explore it. I came into the Eels late, being introduced through the song, "I like the way this is going" a few years ago and then digging into some of their older stuff (but not this album). I loved that song for it's tentative and nervous sweetness, a feeling that carries through so much of their work. I'm sure that "Beautiful Freak" was the song that I had always wanted a boy to sing to me in 1996. I love the juxtaposition of the sweet & gloomy moments with the angsty moments on this album. I love the grainy quality of the vocals on "Not Ready Yet." I haven't had such unprepared delight ever in a song as when the harmonicas came on in "Guest List." I think that this band stands out for its unique mix of grunge and emo that gives them a unique sense of vulnerability. Plus, I want a cat named Lolita with a violent past and their use of "mint chocolate chip ice cream" was brilliant. What a great listen.

His picture on spotify is of him playing chess against himself, which made me spiral into a homicidal rage. Pretty good music though. 4 stars.

Eels (the animal) are a lot cooler than Eels (the band), and probably more musically talented.

I wouldn’t have liked this album back in the 1990s either. Too much manly angst.

First listen to anything by Eels. I'm not sure that I liked this one. The lyrics are pained, but musically there is very little catharsis, and the vocal delivery is often overwrought in its expression of self-pity. It's a sad little wilting flower of an album, and on first pass it didn't do much for me. There were a few songs where it came together, namely the saccharine "My Beloved Monster," the withering "Manchild," and lone rocker "Mental."

The album cover sums it up - wide eyed & legless. Not my kind of music

First track Novocaine for the soul took me straight back to the mid 90s. the rest of the album would benefit from a few more listens as it rather washed over me

There is a certain sub-sect of people my age who treat the dude from Eels like he's one of the great underrecognized musical geniuses of our time. I'm very proud to call none of them my close, personal friend.

When I was 17 my high school crush loved this shit, and not even blind teenage puppy love could force me to like this - no matter how hard I tried! "Life is hard and so am I" .... gurl

I'm a huge fan of Eels, but for some reason I'm not as familiar with this, their debut album, as I am the rest of their discography. Every one of Eels' next five albums after this is a 5/5 album. What's more, each has a distinct and different style and sound to the record that came before it. If I had paid Beautiful Freak more attention I would have realised that it is like a microcosm of the next five Eels albums all squeezed into one record: -The dark, bass-driven, 'Susans House' and 'Your Lucky Day in Hell' would fit well on 'Electro-Shock Blues'; -'My Beloved Monster' has a similar innocent sentiment to 'I Like Birds' and wouldn't be out of place on 'Daisies of the Galaxy'; -The musically diverse 'Novocaine For The Soul', 'Flower' and 'Mental' could be from the more experimental 'Souljacker'; -The lyrically and musically straightforward, but endlessly catchy, 'Rags to Rags' and 'Guest List' are reminiscent of 'Shootenanny'; and -The sadly personal and dreamlike 'Beautiful Freak' and 'Spunky' share some DNA with tracks from 'Blinking Lights and Other Revelations'. Despite the diversity in this record it flows beautifully and comes across as a single piece. It is excellent and a great introduction to a brilliant artist with an outstanding discography. Rating: 5/5 Playlist track: Novocaine For The Soul Date listened: 22/07/23

Fucking brilliant

prachtig album

Beautiful Freak More Proustian nostalgia with this, taking me right back to the 2nd year of A-Levels. This along with Blur by Blur puts me right back in my bedroom in the middle of A-Level mocks, listening to Radio 1 as well, and taking my driving test, and then on to Uni. Also think Mackie was a big fan. Anyway, interesting to revisit it as I have really listened to it since that time, although I remember liking the album after this, particularly Mr E’s Beautiful Blues. Novocaine for the Soul really does stand out, as it did back in 1997, the plinky piano and strings in the intro set a suitably spooky, eccentric tone ahead of the marriage of a catchy pop melody with a despairing lyric. Still a great track. Susan’s House is similar, a pretty, delicate melody and piano motif in the chorus with the offbeat and slightly sad spoken word verses. Like Novocaine this still sounds great. As Does Your Lucky Day in Hell, another track that still sounds great, an excellent atmosphere and another catchy hook. In fact I’d forgotten how many great little hooks and melodies there are on here, there’s a lot of pop classicism behind the quirky arrangements, subject matter and approach, which probably makes it endure better than some other albums in the same vein and sets it apart from a lot of other angsty american alt rock. Beautiful Freak, My Beloved Monster, Guest List, Mental are all examples of this, some great melodies and musical hooks and textures, the bass, organ and guitar on Guest List in particular are really good. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but this is a lot more enjoyable than I thought it might be, there’s a lot more of interest than I remember, and the combination of quirky post grunge angst with some charming melodies and offbeat instrumentation elevates it above a being a late 90s curio and shades it into a 4. 🧌🧌🧌🧌 Playlist submission: Guest List

I have a huge soft spot for 90s Alternative Rock and I can’t believe I hadn’t come across this album before. This one is great for background music with its mellow vibes that can be played from beginning to end (maybe skip Susan’s House every now and then if you don’t want to be a buzzkill). There also seems to be some influence from Beck and artists like him. Definitely something I’ll be coming back to and a discography I'm excited to explore.

Can hear a fair bit of car Seat Headrest in this. Didn't recognise the Shrek song.

This is like the American version of Elvis Costello. Not spectacular, but it's good. Very popular with the 90s alt rock scene. Favorite song: Novocaine for the soul.

good start, strong ending. soggy middle though, bit same-y, mopey and has a bit suburban-kid-who-just learned-that-bad-things-exist-doing-grunge smell (especially on that Susan song). I like 90s rock though so the self-similarity doesn't bother me that much. the Shrek song was unexpected but great and might've given it the few emotional attachment points to bump this up to a 4.

Fun listen, it’s got a shrek song on it lol so that bumps it up a star

This was enjoyable, but not stellar. Found some of the songs a bit boring ...but great sound & vocals throughout. And what about Dobby's cousin on the artwork?

Well, this really was some background-listening worthy alternative rock. There really isn’t much to write home about, other than that I am not averse to any of the tracks, and would most definitely warm to most on re-listen. With the exception of Susan’s House and perhaps Mental, these are some bang-average alt-rock tunes.

Soft confessionals and gentle music make this album ultimately listenable. Nothing stands out as particularly special or weak.

Besides maybe a few highlights, this is a serviceable 90s alt-rock album with some rather flat ballads and lyrical content (e.g. Beautiful Freak). The most noteworthy things I can say about this record is that it has a song that was used in the Shrek film and the cover for this might be one of the worst things I've ever seen. Also starting your album with the lyric "Life is hard, and so am I" is crazy

I had a few of friends who liked Eels back in the in 90’s, but it never really worked for me. Listening now, it kind of reminds me of Beck, which I didn’t pick up on back then, but it still doesn’t really work for me. An indifferent 3 stars.

C'était du Radiohead en extrêmement flingué, un grand bravo à Eels pour cette performance absolument passable.

Was excited to hear this again as I played it a lot when it was out. It now feels of it’s time, possibly as I’m no longer an angst ridden 28 year old in a bad marriage. Standout track was and still is Flower.

It’s a nice by the numbers indie rock album. Good lyrics, good instrumentation. Nothing really mind blowing. Just a solid bag of songs. Lyrics specially are great - relatable and sad, about loneliness, depression, not fitting in etc. also has a nice winter feel to it. It’s a strong 3 for me.

Hard to get through an Eels album. It's both the hygienic post alternative sound and the lyrics, as well as the weak samples. Sputter Out I've heard so many times it doesn't have any gas left in the tank. This album is one you want to like, but the elements of the raspy vocals and the off-putting beats with those post alt guitars don't mesh well.

I'm not really feeling this one. It's not that it's bad, but the choice of melodies is kind of annoying and cheesy to me. 2.5

no i understand why I never heard of eels

favourite: novocaine for the soul least favourite: not ready yet, guest list wahhhhhhhhhhh wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is one of the whiniest albums I have ever heard. complaining from start to finish for 43 minutes and 52 seconds susan's house is one of the worst offenders, trying to be deep without really saying anything at all the instrumentals are pretty good though, save me from completely writing it off + the cover sucks ass mayb 4-5/10

Life is hard. And so am I. Takes some balls to start a song like that and then jump right into the chorus. That was really the only song I recognized from these guys and felt like there was a reason for that.

90s blah.

I hate this album cover, and I've made fun of it before. I do like the music I've heard from The Eels (though I don't remember much) so this should be interesting. WOW these are some 90s lyrics. Which I'm here for. This first track is pretty fun and creative. Glad to see a Shrek song made it on the list on the off chance Smashmouth isn't on here. This feels like such a distillation of 90s music. The sound, lyrics, themes, attitude, and of course the album cover. I'm into, but not as much as I maybe would expect to be? We'll see. Just finished Mental. Fun album, but don't know if I'll go back to it soon. Maybe the art made a bad impression and maybe I've listened to too many 90s albums, but it seems like the most 1996 album I've ever heard and that's both a good and a bad thing.

Not a bad album but not a top 1001 album. If you want to listen to an average indie album just pick one at random.

Track 4- beautiful Couldn't get behind this one at all. Sadly forgot about it immediately after listening

Simply not appealing to me! Found it from time to time boring. 1/5

che je voi di'

Brilliant. Interesting and moving.

What an album! I'd forgotten this existed. I think I had it on cassette or iTunes, or something... Great lyrics, great riffs. So bleak and twisted.

I find albums hard to listen to because I get bored of listening to the same artist. But this was tolerable. I listened to this album while grocery shopping. I enjoyed the eclectic mix of textures explored across the album. Definitely got Beatles influence for sure. Whacky af

I love the Eels. This is a great representative album of the 90s.

I thought about it but I'm gonna give this a 5. I know this album but have not returned to it in a very long time. This is engaging, melancholy, poppy, and complex. The band lost me through it's next...I dunno, 12 releases, but I was shocked and pleased to find this on the list, then again shocked and pleased at how much of the album I remembered and held up. It's so weird this ended up being the "Shrek" band too. It can be incredibly dark.

Muy indie noventero. Además, como me gusta bastante la portada, le pongo un 5.

gorgeous i really like

So damn good.

Lyrically stunning.

Enjoyed it way more than i remembered

Clossic

Maybe I will come back to this record and think it's too dramatic. But on first listen, it is a perfect mix of miserable with some beacons of hope. The lyrics describe feelings and situations so well - it's like Impressionism, but with music. The overall sound isn't anything super innovative, but it complements the themes of the songs well and is varied enough not to be boring.

Very good. Not quite as good or as catchy as Daisies of the Galaxy but just enough to sneak into 5* territory.

Very 90’s. Grungy folkish if I had to categorize.

Eels from the USA Genre: Alternative Rock 1996 2nd Listen: 3 Standouts: Susan's House, Novocaine for the Soul, Beautiful Freak, Spunky, Your Lucky Day in Hell Others: Rags to Rags, Not Ready Yet, My Beloved Monster, Flower, Mental, Manchild Rating: 4.5/5

I loved this album and am surprised I've never heard of it until now. Reminded me heavily of those really alternative bands in the 90s like the Butthole Surfers. Loved the ominous poetry in the lyrics and just all around 90s composition.

Surprise Shrek track! Scary cover! Joyously moody throughout

Great, unique style. I had not heard this album fully, and it is great

one of the nineties masterpieces

smart, artsy, and enjoyable back to front.

Don't know how the hell that happened, but i've always been a big fan of their singles, still haven't heard any lp front to back. And i can tell this one is a real gem.

I had never heard of this artist or this album before; what a treat! It’s a great album, with wonderful songwriting. Some songs reminded me of other artists I enjoyed (“Mental” in particular struck me as a sensible version of a Manic Street Preachers song). Fav songs: Novocaine for the Soul, Susan’s House, My Beloved Monster, Mental, Manchild

Had never heard of this band and was really enjoying it, then recognized the song from Shrek. Very much my vibes, ended up working to more eels and then a Spotify radio based off the album.

Beautiful. Dark. Wonderful. Now go check the book to know more about the lyrics.

Wasn't expecting to like this so much. Not sure why it resonated with me so much, but I loved it. Great songwriting and overall sound.

Absolutely loved it

4.5, rounded up. Kinda dull in a few spots, but overall good 90s indie/alt, I like the genre so it was nice to learn about another band. The lyrics have good prose. Guest List is so good. BT - Susan's House - Not Ready Yet - Guest List - Your Lucky Day In Hell - Manchild

Melodically brilliant with engaging lyrics

A beautiful and freaky album. One of my sister's favourite bands, so I will always have a fondness for that reason. There's a lot of good songs here though, and a handful of great ones. Susan's House is utterly unique, and the whole thing sounds like not much else. The closest comparison would be Beck (at least in my head), but E achieves more light and shade, and evokes more emotion. I was delighted to be reminded of this album, and cause to listen (properly) in full.

Que buen disco. Muy fino

Novacaine for the soul: a little weird, but that hasn't hurt anybody! I'm still enjoying it :D I like this! It's weird, it's vibey, it's dynamic, it's good. between 4 and 5 stars. My Beloved Monster would have been a good song to end the album on. Flowers- Interesting use of instruments, with angel choirs, beach guitars, and synths XD I thought there were a lot of good songs in this album, a lot of dynamic and interesting things going on. It maybe could have leaned a little bit more on the "weird" aspect of it, or maybe have made it a little heavier, but otherwise I liked it! 5/5

Absolutely the perfect mix of melancholic depression and 1998.

Another great 90s album. I especially liked Susan's House but lots of good selections and it all followed a theme

Having known Eels solely from Shrek and Shrek 2 I didn't know what to expect. I honestly thought it'd be a cheap Beck rip off with repeating beats and samples. That's not inspiring because I reaaaalllly don't like Beck. Beck can get fucked because this is everything he wishes he could be. Beautiful Freak is one of those rare albums that had me interested in a challenge like this. I knew the odds of find more music that I love than I don't were against me. This is one that I loved. It captures my specific suburban fears and insecurities and ironic hope that feels like it was written only for me. The music was not nearly as repetitive as I was expecting having melodies in places I'm not used to finding them, like bass, for example. The genre experimentation was cool because it never felt like a mish mash of shit. It's like a little flirt with experimentation, like the songwriter is almost afraid to let loose lest he sputter out. Where has this album been all my life? 5

Not listened to this in years. Still as haunting, melancholy, and beautiful as it ever was.

Kind of grew up with this, because my sister loved this album, but it still surprised me that it came out in 1996. That's a full five years before Shrek! How early in production do you think they started on the My Beloved Monster scene?

Depressed people make beautiful music. My favorite Eels album.

If you like this, I’d recommend A Man Called (E) and Broken Toy Shop by E. Broken Toy Shop is definitely the precursor to Beautiful Freak.

I love this album, the lyrics, the music, the Gladys knight sample on 'susan's house', the distorted riff on 'not ready yet', all of it

This ticks all of my alternative boxes. Mr Es autobiography is particularly good too.

Awww, YISS! I remember buying this album. I would have been 16 years old, and this would have been the first album I ever bought on CD. I loved it. I listened to it a couple of weeks back, actually, inspired by another album in the 1,001 - and am very pleased to see it come up in its own right. This album is great. I'm not speaking from a history of nostalgic whatever - there are some supberb lyrics here "Looking out with an ugly face, Winston Churchill in drag"

Amazing album, I can't believe I didn't know this band existed, especially since I recognized one of the songs from Shrek! Best tracks: Novocaine For the Soul, Susan's House, Guest List, Spunky, and Manchild.

First time listening to an Eels album front to back. I liked it a lot! Great flow, great overall production. Thumbs up!

Incredible album. I had heard novocaine in the 90s and liked it, but never bought the album. I wish I had. The whole thing comes together in thoughtful and unusual ways. Great songs and song variety.

Was my fourth or fifth favourite Eels album... but better than I remember it being

I went into this one cold. I may have heard something from it before, but I don’t think so. Really appreciated what felt like experimentation and creativity with restraint — every song had a spine of some sort. A hook/refrain/chorus that you were excited for it to get back to. Felt like someone with a degree in musical theory, but I say that as someone with nothing close to a degree in musical theory.m Also enjoyed that the lyrics had something to say, the use of spoken word, degree to which a lot of it seemed to be a subversion of something that initially seemed positive, etc.

Top to bottom, a great listen.

Love this one.

amazing

Eels är mysigt!

Love this album, I used to listen to it a lot when I first got my car. I have great memories of it, but I'm drawing a blank at some of the titles on the second half. Looking forward to giving it another listen! Listening back to this, it's about as flawless as I remember. Love "Novocaine For the Soul", the piano and hip hop influences on "Susan's House", and the weird bee-guitar solo on "My Beloved Monster". Very weird and innovative, and that's just the big singles! Of the titles I didn't recognize, I knew them all and remembered most of the lyrics even. I love the melancholy and the weird humor on these tracks. Great bassline on "Your Lucky Day in Hell" too.

Great album like it👍

In 1996 I heard Novocaine For The Soul and hurried that afternoon to my local record store to listen, and buy, the album. The album with its weird cover, parental advisory sticker and emotional, quirky indie-rock music became one of my most loved albums of that year. And it has not lost any of its power over the years. The clever lyrics, the many beautiful tributes to his mentally ill sister, the wide array of techniques, samples, instrumentation and inspired production makes 'Beautiful Freak' one of the most interesting, and at times haunting, debut albums I've heard in my life. The songs go between samply dreamy to guitar grungy and the tracklist makes it you're never bored by alternating between styles throughout. And to think that this the prelude to Electro-Shock Blues, which might be even a better album.

This album to represents the 90’s perfectly.

Unique, funky and grungy and emo. Loved all but a couple tracks!