Daisies of the Galaxy [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Eels

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 14, 2000)
• Original Release Date: March 14, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Dreamworks
• ASIN: B00004NJL4
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,895 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 2000

Listening to the unbridled grief on Electro-Shock Blues was an unsettling affair, despite the album's beautiful pop-scrim setting. So one listens to Daisies of the Galaxy for the first time with trepidation--like willfully banging on your foot with a ball-peen hammer just for the endorphin rush. But if Blues was about the descent, Daisies is about the ascension toward a fragile health. "I'm feeling pretty good now," E sings on "Grace Kelly Blues." However, the music breaks and quivers with a kind of emotional instability, undermining his assurances. It's a tender balance, and no one registers the sad-happy yin-yang of life with tenderness quite like E. Which in some ways is pretty damned unsettling. --Tod Nelson

Amazon.com

This follow-up to 1998's grief-stricken Electro-Shock Blues finds head Eel E (that's all, just E) on steadier emotional footing, but don't expect cascading rays of sunshine to break through the clouds that cover this Southern California popmeister's world. The tone is set by the imagistic opener, "Grace Kelly Blues," which captures snapshots of misbegotten souls--a mime, a truck driver, a mall rat, the star-crossed movie star/princess who gives the song its name--before focusing in on E himself, who volunteers, "Me, I'm feeling pretty good now ... I think you know I'll be OK." From there, we're immersed in E's own version of Pleasantville, where gorgeous melodies and ornate arrangements adorn sad-sack sentiments. In the end, Daises is the work of a gifted composer/producer/performer who is indeed feeling OK. Not great, mind you. But OK. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Bummed-Out, March 14, 2000

By	Gianmarco Manzione (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Once in a while, maybe more so for some people such as myself, it feels great to get away from the pop chart junk, settle down on the road or in your bedroom, and give a listen to one of those brilliant, obscure groups that are too honest to be molded into an MTV mainstay. For their third studio effort, the beautifully bummed-out Eels return with their most subdued, yet no less melodic set of songs.

Like 1998's Electro Shock Blues, this album shows lead singer, E, tending towards quieter, folkish tunes like Grace Kelly Blues and Packing Blankets, with some more aggressive tracks like "The Sound of Fear." Then there are beauties such as "I Like Birds" that will inevitably have listeners waving their heads around, nodding to the hypnotic harmony.

This album is happier than its predecessors, the brilliant debut album and Electro Shock Blues, which focused on the recent deaths of people in E's life. That does not necessarily mean that this is a happy album. E may feel as if he has failed if any Eels album is labeled "happy." Like the editorial review says above, E is feeling OK. Just...OK.

Eels fans have no excuse to neglect this album, and with its comfortable melodies and lyrics stuffed with vivid imagery and real-life emotion, Daisies of the Galaxy will certainly calm the mood of anyone, Eels fan or not. No, it won't win album of the year on TV, but it may win album of the year in the hearts of many who give it a listen or two. That's what counts.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great Eels album., March 19, 2000

By	Bob Thompson (Oakville, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

Daisies of the Galaxy is the third album released by the underated Eels. After 1998's depressing masterpiece Electro-Shock Blues this one is being touted as a "sunny pop" album. Although there are some happy songs on here the album will not lift your spirits like you'd expect.

"The Sound of Fear" is the first truly classic song on the album. It's typical of the album as it has a more upbeat nature to it but at the same time incorporates depressing, sarcastic lyrics. "Flyswatter" is hooky little number that features the perfect line "headlights, field-mice, spiders in the kitchen/ don't think twice about whatever keeps you itching." Daisies' single ""Mr E's Beautiful Blues" is the best track on here but is tucked away quietly at the end as a b-side. Sarcasm runs through it as E repeats "goddamned right it's a beautiful day" over a breezy tune with wonderful pretty harmonies.

All of the tracks on "Daisies" are good in there own way. "Grace Kelly Blues", "Jeannie's Diary", "Wooden Nickels" and "A Daisy Through Concrete" are all lovely introspective tracks that make the album far more solemn than it appeared. "It's a Mother----" and "Selective Memory" are among the most depressing songs E has ever penned.

Without a doubt "Daisies" is still a change of pace for the Eels. The songs are, in most cases, the most upbeat that they've ever done. That feeling of sarcasm and misery still lingers on this album so don't be expecting "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" for 45 minutes. END

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Back to nature" masterpiece, March 16, 2000

By	Tim Vanbaelen (Limburg, Belgium) - See all my reviews

Yes, artists as Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and TLC rule the business with their ridiculous, always-the-same melodies and fony singing and stupidious text. These days, when you look at MTV, don't you just have to puke?

Slightly better are groups as Korn, Limp Bizkit and Methods of Mayhem who bring "cool" music, displayed in "cool" clips. But I say that these bands are more concerned about image and short-term satisfaction. Nothing to say about their skills to play instruments, those are great. They fill one part in my body: the music to hear when you want to rock, easy-listening tunes.

Why this long opening, you think? Because this CD of Eels (who have been put in my selection of top musicians by now), which was already availa- ble in Belgium in February, goes back to the nature of music. Beautiful melodies, simple but strong texts and you have to admit, E's voice may not be a beautiful voice, it's very pleasant to listen to his singing.

Also the guest musicians (like Peter Buck from R.E.M.)are top notch. From the great openener (Grace Kelly' Blues), to the emotional numbers (Daisies of the Galaxy and, the best song, Jeannie's Diary) and more happy and cool tunes (The Sound of Fear, Flyswatter and Tiger in my Tank), every song is most enjoyable (also the great bonus-single Mr. E's Beautiful Blues) and you will return to them over and over again. You will lay this CD in your player more then you realize and I think many will find this music more satisfying than other so-called "great" bands.

In my opinion, you can't buy wrong with this CD. The cover is also in the spirit of the CD itself: sweet, gentle, nice, beautiful and enjoyable. A great difference with their prequel Elektro-Shock Blues. One of the best CD's of 2000 already!

Oh, I can't wait for their 4th offering!