Meet the Eels: Essential Eels 1996-2006, Vol. 1 [ENHANCED] [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Eels

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 15, 2008)
• Original Release Date: January 15, 2008
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Enhanced, Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000Y2WAKM
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,413 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
MEET THE EELS: ESSENTIAL EELS VOL. 1, 1996-2006 spans the first decade of the EELS with 24 selections on CD and 12 previously unreleased videos on DVD. Featuring fan favorites culled fromthe EELS critically acclaimed releases on Dreamworks and Vagrant. ESSENTIAL EELS also includes 2 previously unreleased tracks, the Jon Brion remix of "Climbing To The Moon" and a cover of Missy Elliot's "get ur freak on."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Superb 10 Year Compilation ..., January 29, 2008

By	Kort Kramer "Art, Music, Book & Movie Enthusiast" (South Florida, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

...from a man called E!

Companioned with Useless Trinkets: B Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2007 (2CD+DVD), this just might be all you would ever need from the Eels first 10 years. All 36 songs are terrific and while I may miss a few favorites, most of them are here and the Eels albums are well represented.
Anyone new to the Eels, this is a good primer.

True fans of the Eels probably have more or all these tracks from the albums, making this not so neccessary. Just get the Rarities album in that case. But for completists, this is a must as it has 12 good quality videos on the companion DVD. So yeah, you might as well just pick this up no matter who you are. ;']

While I have your ear, let me recommend Eels with Strings - Live at Town Hall. It is the best concert video I have seen in a long time and a great companion piece to this Best Of CD.

So what are you waiting for, go pick this up! It truly is Novocaine For The Soul...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why buy this collection?, January 22, 2008

By	Mark Colan "duke-of-url" (Medford, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you are new to the Eels, this is a fine introduction. Eels fans may quibble about the best choices for a collection like this, but I like what was chosen here.

If you are a fan of the Eels, you probably have their albums, and thus you have most of the audio tracks here. There are still two reasons why you might want to get it.

1. (lesser reason) It has two audio tracks that were previously unpublished. But of course the companion "Useless Trinkets" collection has 50 B-sides, soundtracks, rarities and unreleased tracks, plus a DVD with six live performances, so that's the one to get for previously unpublished content, if you could only choose one.

2. (bigger reason) The companion DVD in Meet the Eels features 12 music videos (one is a live performance). Some of these videos were previously released on CD singles, but they seem to be higher quality here. It isn't HD or even modern DVD quality (some of these are >10 years old), but they are much better quality than the tiny versions they put on the CD singles.

In particular, the video for "Last Stop: This Town" is a most imaginative and appealing music video; you'll have to see it to believe it. Watch in amazement as a carrot... well, that would be spoiling it.

About my rating: I would give it 4 1/2 stars if it were an option. Anthologies are rarely as good as the complete original albums, but this one offers more in the form of the videos.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic compilation, March 26, 2009

By	Thomas Thomsen (Denmark) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very rarely would I call a compilation cd a classic - but "Meet The eels: Essential Eels 1996-2006, Vol. 1" is as classic an album as any other "proper" album release that has been deemed a classic. As usual with compilations fans will quibble about songs that were excluded (For me, Mental off the debut album Beautiful Freak is one such song), but since ALL of the 24 songs included are excellent examples of E's superior songwriting genius, for once any criticism really is redundant. Song choices, sequencing, artwork, packaging - it's all extremely well-executed.

E's lyrics are often bittersweet. In 3 Speed he sings: "Life is funny, but not ha-ha funny". Even so, the lyrics are humorous and engaging. Lyric sample from That's Not Really Funny: "Did you think I would laugh, when you said I was small? Did you think that that would pass, as if nothing at all?"

Some of my personal favorites: Your Lucky Day In Hell, My Beloved Monster, Flyswatter, Souljacker Part 1, That's Not Really Funny, Fresh Feeling, (Hey Man) Now you're really Living, The Trouble with Dreams.

This compilation is a very good place to start your Eels collection.

"Useless Trinkets: B-sides, soundtracks, rarities and unreleased 1996-2006" is a nice companion piece, but not as essential as "Meet The Eels: Essential Eels 1996-2006, Vol. 1".