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Electro-Shock Blues
Electro-Shock Blues
is a heavy album lyrically and musically. It deals primarily with E working through the suicide of his sister and his mother being diagnosed with cancer (Cancer for the Cure.) She died shortly after
this album. There are some wicked creepy grooves and melodic sounds despite the album's overall theme of 'death.'
Key Electro-shock Blues Tracks
Last Stop: This Town
Last Stop: This Town is the lightest track on the album. It features a wicked keyboard hook and a DJ scratched chorus "Get down, ge-get down." The sonic changes throughout the song still amaze me to this day, going from light easy listening to harder dance-rock in the span of seconds. It's the arrangement of this song that makes it one of the best (in my opinion) Eels songs, like the wonderful parts where instruments (like the percussion) drop out. It keeps you guessing. The barber shop vocal (think Sha-na-na) "I'm going to fly on down to the last stop this town" still makes me gring. Oh ya, and the video for Last Stop: This Town is amazing. The link opens a popup window to the Eels video page (in other words, you have to allow popups from this site to use it.)
Cancer for the Cure
Cancer for the Cure is another fabulous groove-based tune. E proves once again that noise can masquerade as music (E put it best in a BBC interview "I like sounds that make the listener check to see if something is wrong with the stereo" read interview here.) Some of the cooler parts to this song are the haunting ghost-like keyboards and the industrial sounding, record-hiss laden loops. Oh ya, the percussion ain't bad either. Another cool factor are the unusual sonic changes you hear throughout the song, sometimes when least expected. I also love the hammond organ on the track, but I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.
P.S. You Rock My World
P.S. You Rock My World is a more 'straight-up' pop with soaring reverb laden keyboards contributing to the reflective feeling of the song. This is a love song, but like "Fresh Feeling," rises above being overly sentimental cliche. Perhaps it's how E counter balanced the love theme with darker elements like sirens, death, and funerals.
Hospital Food
It's the percussion, horns, and stand-up bass that make Hospital Food unique when listening to the album as a whole. The track has a very different feel from everything else on Electro-Shock Blues showing, once again, the Eels musical diversity.
My Decent into Madness
I think I like My Descent Into Madness mostly for the tasty bass riff that drives it forward and the string samples that pop up every now and then. The chorus lyrics (La la la la) aren't anything brilliant but the subtle harmonies there seem to be a tip of the hat to the Beatles. I also love that, despite all the crap going on, E still reveals his lighter side with lyrics like "voices tell me that I'm the shit."
Electro-shock Blues Related Links
Electro-shock Blues Videos Including Last Stop:This Town and Cancer for the Cure
Buy Electro-shock Blues from the Eels official store
Electro-shock Blues on Amazon listen to tracks and read reviews before buying.
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