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Blinking Lights And Other Revelations
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0601091040625
Label: Vagrant Records
Manufacturer: Vagrant Records
MPN: 406
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Vagrant Records
Release Date: April 26, 2005
Studio: Vagrant Records
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Editorial Review:
Blinking Lights and Other Revelations is a big, important record that's also devastatingly somber. Which, depending on how serious an Eels fan you are and the sturdiness of your psyche, can be taken as an endorsement or a warning. Shades of the band's superb sophomore effort, Electro-Shock Blues, recorded after the suicide of Everett's sister and the death of his father, show up here on such wounded tracks as "Checkout Blues," "If You See Natalie," and "I'm Going to Stop Pretending I Didn't Break Your Heart." Permeating those are instrumental snippets, some sad and ponderous ("Theme from Blinking Lights"), others bordering on bright ("Theme for a Pretty Girl that Makes You Believe God Exists"), and a handful of ironic exercises in straight-up pop (the winking "Going Fetal" and the cynical but upbeat "Hey Man [Now You're Really Living]"). Spread over two discs, the mood of Blinking Lights burns in fast and builds in its ferocity, so that when lighter moments like the funny "Whatever Happened to Soy Bomb" surface, they seem like ominous breaks in the storm. Though these songs make it easy to forget that Everett's gruff, fuzzed-over vocals have also graced fare breezy enough to be included on the Shrek soundtrack, their beauty delivers a thoughtful listener from caring. --Tammy La Gorce
A homemade epic, 'Blinking Lights'is an imaginative, emotional reflection on the condition of living, recorded mostly in Everett's Los Angeles basement over a period of several years. Sprawling over it's two discs are songs about faith, responsibility, growing up, dignity, disappointment, comfort, hope and renewal. It's the most personal eels album since 1998's Electro Shock Blues'. That album dealt with the nearly simultaneous suicide of Everett's sister and terminal illness of his mother, from the subjects' points of view. This album finds him a few years down the line, now battling some of the family demons himself, with the after effects of past tragedies becoming more of a personal issue in his adult life, sometimes fearlessly autobiographical, and other times built around the related stories of others. Vagrant. 2005.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Many great tracks amongst some clunkers
3 1/2
Few do morbid pop like Eels. Double discs are always a risky situation, usually ending up feeling excessive, creatively strained and compensated in unsatisfying stretches. Few can hold up to the musical scrutiny, obligatory themed albums being even less likely. Of course the music here dabbles in a certain mediocrity, especially when he emphasizes the witty but derivative nature of his songwriting style. E's bleak-black hope pervading almost every lyric can become a burden, but ... Read More
Rating:  - A Masterpiece
I had a couple of the band's earlier CD's and wasn't completely sold on them, but this one is a classic that will stand the test of time. I'd venture that it will (or should, anyway) be better known 10 years from now than upon initial release, ala the Velvet Underground and My Bloddy Valentine's Loveless (not that it has much of anything in common with either of those bands soundwise).
The other reviews largely lay out the back story, and I'll only add that it almost makes the themes of ... Read More
Rating: - A mindblowing experience in existential shock and awe.
Eels founding member Mark Everett (also known as "a Man Called E," "Mr. E," or simply "E") is a true tortured artist and no stranger to existential angst. Everett's father was distant and an alcoholic before his 1982 death. After the 1996 release of Beautiful Freak, Everett's sister committed suicide and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Everett writes melancholy pop music with darkly poetic and tormented lyrics (e.g., "Novocaine for the Soul"). Several of his albums have even been targeted by ... Read More
Rating: - Probably the best album of the 21st Century
Yes,that subject line is pretty dramatic, and I wrote it because I mean it. I'm one of those consumers of all forms of music, my 80gb iPod can only hold part of my collection, so it's fair to say that I've sampled much of the better musical output in multiple genres over the past 20 years. None of that prepared me for "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations."
E, very simply put, is for my money the finest artist of his generation--for me, I think of him as the Elvis Costello for his generation, ... Read More
Rating: - Will they ever stop?
This album's best quality is that it combines both the "classic" Eels sound and a newer darker sound. The Eels prove once again that they can set any mood and write about any subject in a gloriously playful and engaging way.
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