This is another recent purchase - I seem to be buying these quicker than I can review them. This is an album I heard and enjoyed at the time of release, yet unaccountably never actually owned a copy until seeing it for a quid in a charity shop last week.
I like Eels. There's always been just enough quirkiness to keep me interested, even if it's not a consistently great listen. But this album starts strongly with the hit singles Novocaine For The Soul, a fine song, full of energy and Susan's House, with its dark spoken verses and chorus which reminds me of a 1960s US sitcom theme. Rags To Rags is a solid, unspectacular song, then the title track Beautiful Freak, one of Mark Everett's reflective love songs, sparse, gentle and lovely, before the nondescript Not Ready Yet.
My Beloved Monster continues in the same musical and lyrical vein to Beautiful Freak, with equally enjoyable results, while Flower and Guest List are slower paced, and pleasant, but no more. Mental rocks along with a bit more life, before the slower, Spunky, another minimal Everett reflection which grows with listening. Your Lucky Day In Hell was the third single from this album, and it doesn't have the impact of the other two, pleasant but ... and the album ends anti-climactically with the dull Manchild.
This is a decent debut album, but there's a lot of filler between the stand out tracks. Eels go on to make many fine albums, including at least one genuine five star contender, but this shows more potential than product.
3* - some great moments and a fine debut, but much that's ordinary
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