Electro-Shock Blues

Electro-Shock Blues is the second studio album by the band Eels, released on September 21, 1998 in the United Kingdom and October 20, 1998 in the United States.

Background and inspiration

Electro-Shock Blues was written largely in response to frontman Mark Oliver Everett's (more commonly known as E) sister's suicide and his mother's terminal lung cancer. 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 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 some of life's most difficult occurrences. The record begins with "Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor," a sparse piece composed of one of his deceased sister's final diary entries. Later, the album's emotional climax is reached in two tracks: "Climbing to the Moon", which draws upon E'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 succumbing. The album's last song, entitled "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 E, incorrectly assuming he is the attendant, and E's decision that "maybe it's time to live."

According to the Eels official website, the song "Baby Genius" is about E's father, Dr. Hugh Everett III, a quantum physicist who authored the Many Worlds Theory. "Baby Genius" has, as the basis for its melody, the carol "O Sanctissima".

Critical and commercial response

The album was received very well by critics, gaining 4.5 (out of 5) stars from Allmusic [1]. The Los Angeles Times called Electro-Shock Blues "a brilliant work that combines often conflicting emotions so skillfully that you are reminded at times of the childhood innocence of Brian Wilson, the wicked satire of Randy Newman and the soul-baring intensity of John Lennon." [2]

However, fans of the band's heavily promoted hit single ("Novocaine For the Soul") taken from its more pop-friendly first album Beautiful Freak seemed to be put off by Blues's sound and lyrics, sprinkled as they are with phrases such as "radiation sore throat got your tongue" and "they put the flower on the box / that's holding all the sand that was once you", due to which the album sold considerably less than Beautiful Freak.

The record has, though, gained cult status with fans, and is lauded by many to be the best album the Eels have recorded to date. In a 2004 re-review, Dom Passantino of Stylus Magazine included an endnote in which he called Electro-Shock Blues "the greatest album ever put together" and that to disagree or be ignorant of this made the reader an "idiot." [3]

Lineup and other information

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. Therefore, the recording features guest appearances by T-Bone Burnett, Lisa Germano, Grant Lee Phillips, and Jon Brion.

In addition to CD and cassette releases, Electro-Shock Blues was also offered on vinyl. This version included two 10" 33 RPM discs on see-through blue vinyl, limited to a small pressing.

"Cancer for the Cure" was also featured in the soundtrack to the 1999 film, American Beauty.

The Daniel Johnston song "Living Life" was played often on the Electro-Shock Blues tour, eventually seeing a studio release in 2004 on the tribute compilation Discovered Covered - The Late Great Daniel Johnston.

Track listing

All songs written by E (Mark Oliver Everett) except where noted

1. "Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor" – 2:08
2. "Going to Your Funeral Part I" (E, Jim Jacobsen, and Parthenon Huxley) – 2:37
3. "Cancer for the Cure" (E and Mickey Petralia) – 4:46
4. "My Descent Into Madness" (E, Paul Houston, Dan Nakamura, and Michael Simpson) – 3:54
5. "3 Speed" – 2:45
6. "Hospital Food" (Butch, E, and Jim Lang) – 3:23
7. "Electro-Shock Blues" (E and Petralia) – 2:29
8. "Efils' God" (E and Simpson) – 3:19
9. "Going to Your Funeral Part II" (E and Jim Jacobsen) – 1:30
10. "Last Stop: This Town" (E and Simpson) – 3:27
11. "Baby Genius" (E and Lang) – 2:04
12. "Climbing to the Moon" – 3:38
13. "Ant Farm" – 2:11
14. "Dead of Winter" – 2:59
15. "The Medication Is Wearing Off" (E and Petralia) – 3:51
16. "P.S. You Rock My World" – 3:08

Personnel

Eels

• E – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, and keyboards
• Butch – drums and backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Jon Brion – Chamberlin and organ on "Climbing to the Moon"
• T-Bone Burnett – danelectro-shock bass on "Climbing to the Moon"
• Lisa Germano – violin on "Ant Farm"
• Parthenon Huxley – guitar on "Going to Your Funeral Part I"
• Jim Jacobsen – bass guitar and keyboards on "She Loved", clarinet on "Going to Your Funeral Part II"
• John Leftwich – upright bass on "Ant Farm" and "Dead of Winter", bowed bass on "Dead of Winter"
• Elton Jones – backing vocals on "Last Stop: This Town"
• Bill Liston – saxophone on "Hospital Food"
• Volker Masthoff – vocals on "My Descent into Madness"
• Cynthia Merrill – backwards cello on "Efil's God"
• Grant-Lee Phillips – electric guitar, banjo, and backing vocals on "Climbing to the Moon"
• Stuart Wylen – ½ Rhodes, guitar, alto and bass flutes on "The Medication Is Wearing Off"

Production

• Chester Brown – illustration
• Greg Collins – mixing
• Debbie Dreschler – illustration
• E – production
• Hugh Everett III – illustration
• Jim Jacobsen – production, mixing, and conducting
• Jim Lang – mixing and conducting
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering
• Joe Matt – illustration
• Mickey Petralia – production and mixing
• Francesca Restrepo – art direction and design
• H. Scott Rusch – illustration
• Seth – illustration
• Michael Simpson – production
• Adrian Tomine – illustration

References

• Stylus Magazine "On Second Thought" article on ESB

External links

• Electro-Shock Blues at MusicBrainz
• The Electro-Shock Blues Story -- From the Official Eels Site