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Electro-Shock Blues
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Electro-Shock Blues
Electro-Shock Blues is the second studio album by American rock band Eels. It was released in the United Kingdom on September 21, 1998, and October 20 in the United States by record label DreamWorks. Commercially the album didn't fare well, compared to Beautiful Freak (1996), selling considerably less. Though it reached number 12 in UK, eventually being certified gold, it did not chart in the US.
It was well received by critics with many acknowledging the album's darker tone, compared to its predecessor, dealing with themes of death, loss and tragedy.
Electro-Shock Blues was written largely in response to frontman Mark Oliver "E" Everett's sister Elizabeth's suicide and his mother's terminal lung cancer. The title refers to the electroconvulsive therapy received by Elizabeth Everett when she was institutionalized. Many of the songs deal with their decline, his response to loss and coming to terms with suddenly becoming the only living member of his family (his father, Dr. Hugh Everett III, having died of a heart attack in 1982; Everett, then 19 years old, was the first to discover his body).
Though much of the album is, on its surface, bleak, its underlying message is that of coping with tragedy. The record begins with "Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor", a sparse piece composed of one of Elizabeth Everett's final diary entries. Tom Baker of DIY Magazine described the song as "The most visceral, raw track of a visceral, raw album. " finding its subject matter to be described "in unflinching detail" and feels "E never tries to sugar-coat or shy away from ugly feelings, and it’s reflected in the language: “My name’s Elizabeth / My life is shit and piss.”" He also described the single "Cancer for the Cure" as "Another of Eels’ counter-cultural theme songs a la ‘Novocaine…’" with "creeping, creepy howling voices, grinding industrial noises"
According to the Eels official website, the song "Baby Genius" is about Everett's father, a quantum physicist who authored the Many Worlds Theory, although Jim Lang, who helped with the song, believed it was about Eels former bassist, Tommy Walter.
Later, the album's emotional climax is reached in two tracks: "Climbing to the Moon", which draws upon Everett's experiences visiting his sister at a mental health facility shortly before her death; and "Dead of Winter", a song about his mother's painful radiation treatment and slow death. NME described "The Medication Is Wearing Off" as "painful feelings start returning through an opiated haze of soothing melody."
The album's last song, "P.S. You Rock My World", is a hopeful bookend to "Elizabeth", containing subtly humorous lyrics that describe, among other things, an elderly woman at a gas station honking her car at Everett, incorrectly assuming he is the attendant, and his decision that "maybe it's time to live".
At the time of the album's recording, the only official Eels members were E himself and drummer Butch Norton, as Tommy Walter had left the band.
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Electro-Shock Blues
Electro-Shock Blues is the second studio album by American rock band Eels. It was released in the United Kingdom on September 21, 1998, and October 20 in the United States by record label DreamWorks. Commercially the album didn't fare well, compared to Beautiful Freak (1996), selling considerably less. Though it reached number 12 in UK, eventually being certified gold, it did not chart in the US.
It was well received by critics with many acknowledging the album's darker tone, compared to its predecessor, dealing with themes of death, loss and tragedy.
Electro-Shock Blues was written largely in response to frontman Mark Oliver "E" Everett's sister Elizabeth's suicide and his mother's terminal lung cancer. The title refers to the electroconvulsive therapy received by Elizabeth Everett when she was institutionalized. Many of the songs deal with their decline, his response to loss and coming to terms with suddenly becoming the only living member of his family (his father, Dr. Hugh Everett III, having died of a heart attack in 1982; Everett, then 19 years old, was the first to discover his body).
Though much of the album is, on its surface, bleak, its underlying message is that of coping with tragedy. The record begins with "Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor", a sparse piece composed of one of Elizabeth Everett's final diary entries. Tom Baker of DIY Magazine described the song as "The most visceral, raw track of a visceral, raw album. " finding its subject matter to be described "in unflinching detail" and feels "E never tries to sugar-coat or shy away from ugly feelings, and it’s reflected in the language: “My name’s Elizabeth / My life is shit and piss.”" He also described the single "Cancer for the Cure" as "Another of Eels’ counter-cultural theme songs a la ‘Novocaine…’" with "creeping, creepy howling voices, grinding industrial noises"
According to the Eels official website, the song "Baby Genius" is about Everett's father, a quantum physicist who authored the Many Worlds Theory, although Jim Lang, who helped with the song, believed it was about Eels former bassist, Tommy Walter.
Later, the album's emotional climax is reached in two tracks: "Climbing to the Moon", which draws upon Everett's experiences visiting his sister at a mental health facility shortly before her death; and "Dead of Winter", a song about his mother's painful radiation treatment and slow death. NME described "The Medication Is Wearing Off" as "painful feelings start returning through an opiated haze of soothing melody."
The album's last song, "P.S. You Rock My World", is a hopeful bookend to "Elizabeth", containing subtly humorous lyrics that describe, among other things, an elderly woman at a gas station honking her car at Everett, incorrectly assuming he is the attendant, and his decision that "maybe it's time to live".
At the time of the album's recording, the only official Eels members were E himself and drummer Butch Norton, as Tommy Walter had left the band.