'Beautiful Freak' by Eels

In my head, the Eels career trajectory went from mainstream indie band to deliberate industry outsider. My memories of 'Beautiful Freak' were of a good, but relatively straightforward commerical success. Commercial success it was, of course - it went top 5, and spawned two top 10 singles - it even won a brit award. All of these would be unthinkable achievements from an Eels album now.

What's interesting listening back to the album now is how Eels-like it is. It may have achieved mainstream success, but it's a pretty uncompromising album both lyrically and musically. Mark Everett writes lyrics as miserable as anyone else in music, and this album has as many examples as any other album, particularly during 'Mental' and 'Your Lucky Day In Hell'. The music, whilst more electric-guitar-heavy than many of his other records, is still littered with glockenspiel, top-end piano and synth pads.

'Beautiful Freak' isn't an album to listen to if you need cheering up, but it's a great record. What it lacks in experimentation, it makes up for in focus, and general quality. It'll never be remembered as the quintessential Eels album - that would surely be 'Daisies of the Galaxy' of 'Blinking Lights' - but it's very, very good.