Product Description

ELECTRO-SHOCK BLUES is the ultimate example of artistic-statement-as-therapy-session. Written and recorded in the wake of the death of family and friends, the songs here are full of sorrow and bereavement, but redeemed by a self-conscious sense of black humor. The man formerly known as "E" is firstand foremost a popster though, so no matter how downheartedthings get (and with song titles like "Going to Your Funeral" and "The Medication is Wearing Off", this is no day at the beach) there are enough hooks to keep it all afloat. There's a sparseness to the arrangements that suits the stark nature of the subject matter, but the intimacy thus created allows ELECTRO-SHOCK BLUES to communicate that much more directly. Check your razor blades at the door.

Track Listing

1. Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor
2. Going To Your Funeral (Part I)
3. Cancer For The Cure
4. My Descent Into Madness
5. 3 Speed
6. Hospital Food
7. Electro-Shock Blues
8. Efils' God
9. Going To Your Funeral (Part II)
10. Last Stop: This Town
11. Baby Genius
12. Climbing To The Moon
13. Ant Farm
14. Dead Of Winter
15. The Medication Is Wearing Off
16. P.S. You Rock My World

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8163 in Music
• Released on: 1999-06-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 47 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The sound of Eels' Electro-Shock Blues, the follow-up to the band's intriguing Beautiful Freak, reflects a year in which leader Mark "E" Everett suffered the loss of his sister to suicide as well as the illness of his mother and other tragedies. The music's hushed, sometimes dark sound and Everett's earnest vocals are often more convincing than his diary-entry lyrics, despite the power and daring inherent in describing illness in alt-pop settings that recall everything from hip-hop to Tom Waits. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Great stuff
Such a bleak and depressing album. Yet I love listening to it.
Somehow it manages to cheer me up everytime.
I think you need to listen to it a couple of times, but once you get it - you cant stop.
highly recommended.
as are all of his albums.

Is depression supposed to be this entertaining?
Yes, it may be that this whole album centres around the suicude of his sister- confirmed in the opening track, but it thrills throughout. Elizabeth on the bathroom floor draws a depression on the whole album with it's haunting imagery and slow nature.
Mr. E uses the depressing nature of the lyrics however, and chooses to combine it with truly originally upbeat back tones, therefore creating a beautifully ironic tone to the album.
However, each song still holds its own, with some tracks playing out in the most inventive and bizzare manner possible - Cancer for the Cure, and Hospital Food being two prime examples - whilst other tracks play it straighter such as Dead Of Winter.
Being the third album released from the eels, this is an astonishing achievement, as their music just appears to evolve with each album. Beautiful freak is more similar in nature to electro shock blues than daisies of the galaxy, as they both achieve a more sombre tone than the latter album. Make no mistake, this is not a happy album.
Despite all of this, there are a few tracks that don't meet the standard that is expected from the eels. The instrumental track - going to your funeral is nothing compared to the inventiveness of the first track. Other than this no other tracks really go anywhere to spoil the party, but 3 speed edges on being a bit lifeless. But neither of these dissapointments can take anything away from this brilliantly executed album.

Highlights - Efils god , Cancer for the Cure, My Descent Into Madness.

Lowlights - Going to your funeral part 2.

Worst album of their career
I am a big fan of the Eels, and I think all their albums are great except this one. I listened to it once when I got it from the library and just thought it was dire, bland, tuneless, depressing. Tried it again a few months later, and it's still crap. If you want to find out what the Eels are about do not buy this album.