Souljacker [Bonus Disc]

Eels | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 12, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Dreamworks
• ASIN: B000062YAJ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,503 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If irony could be traded like currency, Eels singer-songwriter E would be a wealthy man. As it is, his remarkable ability to filter out the mundane and focus on the fringes, where the really interesting cats dwell, guarantees he'll always have a career but will never be a household name. On Souljacker, E and the gang frame a motley assortment of characters with the sonic equivalent of a doodle pad--all random squiggles, free-floating words and phrases, disembodied hearts, and unblinking eyes. As such, unlikely bedfellows--"Dog Faced Boy," "Friendly Ghost," "Bus Stop Boxer," "Woman Driving, Man Sleeping"--are bundled in a patchwork quilt of guitars, bass, drums, organ grinder-style synth, and quite possibly a toy piano and percussion. The unabashedly goo-goo-eyed ballad "Fresh Feeling" launches with a swell of strings, just to underscore how dreamy our protagonist feels, and the spastic instrumental twitches on "That's Not Really Funny" counter the song's title, while doubling as one of the few elements able to snap E's voice out of its vaguely narcoleptic drone. Ruggedly individual and wickedly catchy (not to mention more upbeat than the two death-obsessed albums preceding it), Souljacker cements E's position as patron saint to the weird-and-weary-but-still-hopeful. --Kim Hughes

Product Description

4th album from the Eels. 12 tracks including 'Dog Faced Boy', 'Friendly Ghost', 'World Of Shit' & 'Teenage Witch'. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I have issues with this CD, January 16, 2003

By 

Christopher Conley (Saginaw, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Souljacker [Bonus Disc] (Audio CD)

Well here it goes. No Eels album could ever top Electro-shock Blues. It's just not possible. The sincerity that E, the lead singer, shows in every song on that album is amazing and you can almost feel his pain since he wrote the majority of the album while coping with the death of his mother from cancer and sister from suicide. As the second follow-up, Souljacker disappoints. Many of the songs on this disc are beautifully written ie. "Fresh Feeling", "Friendly Ghost", and "Busstop Boxer", while others especially "Dog-Faced Boy" and "That's Not Really Funny" are a bit abrasive. Most Eels fans are not used to E screaming at the top of his lungs and the rest of the band simply rocking out, however, this is precisely what they do throughout half of this album.
If you are a casual Eels fan I suggest picking up either Electro-Shock Blues or Daises of the Galaxy. Although this is a good CD, it is definitely not one of their best.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars New Sound For Eels!, October 8, 2001

By 

Ian Creamer (Dublin,Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Souljacker (with Bonus EP) (Audio CD)

This the latest album from Eels sees a major departure in sound from their last glorious album proper 'Daisies Of The Galaxy'.This album is far louder,rockier and far less melodic.The wonderfully strange lyrics still exist and each song tells great stories and is packed with interesting characters.One of the excellent parts to this album is the critique written on the inside by a close confidante of the group.It explains much of how the new sound of this album has evolved and it's an excellent touch.

The last album was quite a melancholic affair-many of the songs had a ballady feel to them and they were augmented by glorious string arrangements.This really doesn't happen much on this album except for the best song on the album "Fresh Feeling" and even then the string arrangement on this song is a sample taken from 'Selective Memory'-which of course features on Daisies...The song is quite incredible though and despite having hints of Beck,the rumbling drum machine,strong bass line and E's best vocals make this song one of the best Eel's songs I've heard.This one song though is not enough for me to cover up for this albums lack of melody.Maybe I'm being unfair as it's very difficult for them to match their last point of reference which was that magnificent last album.But as soon as you hear the first chords on this album you'll know what I mean.It's a very heavy rock sound-the shock is almost like listening to the R.E.M. sound when they came out with Monster.It's an agressive almost ugly sound,which maybe is in keeping with the songs lyrical content.This album though is the loudest yet from Eels.The second song has hints of that fuzzyguitar joining a very strong bassline an almost Latino brass section and a rhythm section of marvellous variety.The next few songs are the most familiar for Eels fans-the aforementioned Fresh Feeling and track 4 'Woman Driving ,Man Sleeping'.It's the sort of song that nobody does better then Eels.A simple riff on acousitc guitar-precious few effects but it's melody doesn't need any tampering with-as usual it's the songs strongest asset.

Souljacker the title track appears in two parts on this album.It's in my opinion a very good song.A sixties style bassline hooks in with E's singing-then the guitars kick in and the whole sound becomes very unfamiliar to anything I've heard from this group.It's best illustrated when E. roars "ROCK!"-cos that's what this song does.It's as heavy as anything you'd hear now a days.Lyrically the next few songs tell stories of friendly ghosts,teenage witches and an amazingly sad story of a boy in the song Jungle Telegraph.None of these songs are particularly laden with catchy hooks.Teenage Witch has a funky fuzzy bass and distorted vocals.Jungle Telegraph is another album highlight-the song drifts from one sound to the other as frequently as the story of this boy's lfe moves from one scene to another-maracas,crazy jungle rhythms,Beck like beatbox-various guitar effects-from fifties rockabilly to 21st century distortion and lots of synth interludes.It's a song that becomes as infectious as it's crazy rhythmic patterns.

The final three songs are the weakest on the album-track 10 is a very lowkey depressing slow song.Many of these songs tell stories of various really depressing childhoods-this song is no exception.It is a very quiet affair-with a few synth sounds that remind me of that White Town hit a few years ago.Just to be sure that we know Eels are heading in a new direction the last song is another sonic noise fest-but once again despite repeated listenings I just can't get into this.

So this is not my favourite Eels album-in fact it's my least favourite of the four.I seem to be alone in this opinion as almost every review I've read has been very positive.It is very interesting and they're not sitting back and being lazy about their sound-I just think it could do with a few more decent melodies.Still though an average album from Eels is usually well above anything your average band can produce-and in this Souljacker is no exception.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great rockin', catchy and interesting album., April 28, 2002

By 

Pen Name? "fluxus" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Souljacker [Bonus Disc] (Audio CD)

I just picked this cd up after listening to some of it at a store and am quite impressed. The songs are catchy enough and feature a lot of interesting textures from distorted guitars, awesome basslines, some dj beats, etc. Many have tried the cut-and-paste technique of mixing dj and rock elements to lesser success, but the Eels do a great job at it, making nothing but flawless rock songs. Nothing is forced. It is interesting to see John Parish working on this cd, known for his work with PJ Harvey and recently helped on Sparklehorse's latest. Parish has also done some terrific haunting film score work (the only thing I enjoyed in the European film Rosie), which I wish I could get a hold of on cd.
Songs like "Dog Faced Boy", "Fresh Feeling" and "I Write the B-Sides" are such a release. They are catchy and envigorating: meant to be turned up. E (lead singer) offers some strange and memorable stories through his lyrics, too. This album fulfills the promise I thought this band had on Beautiful Freak. Souljacker is a much more solid album, perhaps one of the year's best.