Album Reviews

Eagles – The Very Best Of The Eagles
*1/2
I read recently that in 1999 The Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) overtook Thriller by Michael Jackson as the biggest selling album ever! Now, I’m no fan of Thriller but appreciate its innovation. The Eagles on the other hand are barely innovative at all, musically conservative and basically, rather bland.
Enormously successful but often derided, the general critical consensus is that The Eagles are liked by those who find other more adventurous West Coast sounding acts such as Neil Young and Steely Dan too edgy for their tastes. I agree with this view and can find very little in the dull harmonies and playing on TVBOTE that excites me with the only saving graces being the increasingly poignant Hotel California and Desperado which was successfully covered by Johnny Cash on his final American IV LP. The rest of the album is unimaginative, country rock – very laid back though when the band try something a bit more uptempo the results are equally dire as the trite James Dean testifies.
I can’t vouch for the biggest selling album ever fact above though it comes from a reliable source. True or not, it’s incredible that a band who have had relatively little lasting impact outside the US can sell so many albums. The Very Best Of the Eagles is unimaginative and uninspiring and not recommended to anyone who really appreciates good music though there are clearly many who disagree with me…
Acquired by me: 4.09 – Borrowed (Library)

Eels - Beautiful Freak
****
Strong melodies and genuinely insecure, disturbed lyrics in the strong debut LP by this singular US band. Inventive arrangements and instrumentalism in songs with an almost nursery rhyme simplicity as well as some pared-down grunge.
Released - 1996
Acquired by me: 19.2.02 - Borrowed (Library)

Eels - Daisies Of The Galaxy
****
The 3^rd album by this idiosyncratic band, Daisies is much more upbeat and commercial than its very distressing predecessor Electro-Shock Blues. Main Eel E has regained the gift for melody that he displayed on Eels 1^st album Beautiful Freak though his musical palate has expanded considerably from that grunge influenced album. Most of the songs on Daisies are propelled by keyboards, strings or unusual percussion rather than guitar though the singular Eels sound is still retained. As well as upbeat highlights such as The Sound Of Fear, Flyswatter and It's A Beautiful Day ,there are also beautiful ballads such as Selective Memory and It's A Motherf**ker (how typical of E to make one of his most beautiful songs unplayable on radio because of its lyrical content!). Daisies Of The Galaxy is an excellent, melodic album by a talented and unusual band.
Released - 1999
Acquired by me: 18.11.02 - Borrowed (Library)

Eels - Electro-Shock Blues
***¼
More depressing and disturbing than their superior Beautiful Freak debut, Electro-Shock Blues is also more fully arranged and orchestrated yet less melodically memorable. The bleak lyrical and musical mood make difficult listening.
Released - 1998
Acquired by me: 5.4.02 - Borrowed (Library)

Eels - Souljacker
***½
The 4^th Eels studio LP. Although the title track is a 3 minute road movie classic, I overall don't really like the modern musical arrangements and instrumentation used which spoil for me some good songs. It seems to me that main Eel E is trying too hard to be like Beck, partly in covering so many musical styles. It is good to keep developing though I wish E would stick a bit more to the idiosyncratic art pop /rock style he already does so well.
Released - 2001
Acquired by me: 2.7.03 - Borrowed (Library)

ELO - Definitive Collection
***½
Compilation of singles by massively successful 70s band who are very unfashionable today. Acoustic Beatle-y and (less successfully) 50s rock'n'roll influenced songs embellished with elaborate string arrangements. Some good songs and much better than their press and reputation today suggests.
Released - 1990s
Acquired by me: 6.8.01 - Borrowed (Library)

Embrace - Drawn From Memory
***½
Light indie/rock with heartfelt, quite conventional songs and nice understated singing, melodies and arrangements. More varied than other Embrace albums with some quite aggressive moments but the beautiful, archetypal, title track is still the best song.
Released - 2000
Acquired by me: 23.8.01 - Borrowed (Library)