Beautiful Freak (studio album) by Eels

Production is screaming 90s, but it mostly works as a good thing here.

Fantastic opener. After that however I find it just mainly plods along under the guise of a monotone tortured artist. As a whole it's alright, just nothing spectacular.

A classic 90's record that only gets better the more times you listen to it. One of the biggest strengths of this record and all Eel's releases is the vocal which is so distinctive and makes every song have that edge making the group standout. It is deep and gritty but full of power and can absolutely dominate songs such as Novocaine For The Soul as well as be gentle and soothing on My Beloved Monster. The lyrical delivery is exceptional as well and every song is a performance. This is then backed up by some great instrumentation which could be considered a little simplistic at times but despite this it is still extremely engaging and hypnotising. There are some fantastic choruses and hooks on here as well that are just so infectious and they make me want to keep coming back time and time again to these songs. Their sound just feels so warm, homely and it fills me with nostalgia despite not even being born when this was released. Overall, this record deserves a listen due to its large collection of great songs that all fit together so well and create a brilliant experience.

Album Rating: 80.50
(966/12)

1.Novocaine For The Soul. 87
2.Susan's House. 86
3.Rags To Rags. 79
4.Beautiful Freak. 68
5.Not Ready Yet. 85
6.My Beloved Monster. 72
7.Flower. 83
8.Guest List. 81
9.Mental. 84
10.Spunky. 75
11.Your Lucky Day In Hell. 85
12.Manchild. 81

From teague 08/27/2021 17:48

I was a bit harsh on Electro Shock Blues when I first listened to it, but it really grew on me, so I went into this knowing what to expect somewhat. And I really really enjoyed this one. I mean this in the nicest possible way, but it sounds like elevator music from a different dimension, I would like to be transported there.

Good album. Novocaine For The Soul my absolute favorite song.

Beautiful Freak is a beautiful album, and every bit as quirky and unpredictable as its title suggests.

Quite a decent album, with most of the elements I like from 90s alternative rock/pop music. Eels developed their own sound later, so this may be not the favourite work for the fans but still works very good for me.

Really enjoyful. One of my favourite Eels albums, which is a very special and unique artist who is able to keep producing high quality albums, which can't be said about a lot of artists...

One of my favourite albums - I love the Eels but took ages to get into them - thanks brothers, now saw them live a few times. Flower is my favourite track but there are a number of top tunes here including Mental, Your Lucky Day in Hell and Manchild in addition to the more wider known Susan's House, Novocaine and My Beloved Monster