The subtitle of SHOOTENANNY!--"Everybody Knows These Are Rock Hard Times"--says it all. The album plays like a deep blue depression on a sunny day, pounding along across it's own unique aural landscape. Some of the more fatalistic stuff is hard to take repeatedly, but "Saturday Morning" is stunning and, while most of the rest of the album is sure-fire Alt Rock, there are moments towards the end, like "Numbered Days," which have some kind of late 60s/early 70s atmosphere to them.

SHOOTENANNY! has been in my short stack of CDs for a month now; it's inspiration may not be unique but the effect the Eels create is.


Best of the Year??   June 5, 2003
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I've always enjoyed E's stuff, and the Eels...very good indeed. But, this is perhaps E's masterpiece and arguably the Best Album of the Year thus far. At just over 40 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome (like so many who think they must use 50-60 minutes of a CD, even if half of it is filler), and leaves you coming back for more time and again. Great E-Pop with some very hard-edged guitar riffs thrown in - a perfect balance, really. Don't miss this one - all of E and the Eels promise finally comes together. Awesome.


EELS BEST   June 13, 2003
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Every time an Eels CD comes out, there is ALWAYS the usual grumbling about it not being up to par, etc. It was that way for every release. Then, in time, the album shows itself for what it really is. I believe this album is the best Eels album to date. Clearly he is going for a succinct, direct sound and message without pretense. It's direct, human and great! I could hear Muddy Water's singing the lyric of "Love Of The Loveless." Well done, again, Eels.


The Eels' most straight forward rock album   June 19, 2003
D. Christen (Rushville, IN United States)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

The Eels have released several great albums during the past years, but for every radio friendly 'Last Stop: This Town' you got several 'Souljackers'. Don't get me wrong, I love the Eels, no matter if they play straight forward rock or more complex material. So I do not think, that they are selling out at all on this album. In fact, this album shows, what a great songwriter Mark Oliver Everett really is and the CD will hopefully attract an even wider fan base. There are great rock songs (All in a Day's Work, Saturday Morning, Dirty Girl, Wrong about Bobby), beautiful ballads (The good old Days, Rock Hard Times) and also some 'old style' Eels (Love of the Loveless, Agony, Lone Wolf) material on here. If you never bought an Eels album or if you couldn't quite connect to their older material, give this CD a try. It's definitely one of the best releases this year so far. And as the CD says : Everybody knows these are rock hard times....


Gets better with every listen   August 30, 2003
EBHP (VALENCIA, CA United States)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is a rare artist where it's best not to decide which single album is best. Doing so only helps those unfamiliar with the artist decide which ONE album to buy. Spend the money and buy ALL of the Eeels albums out there - you won't be disappointed. Unless of course you don't enjoy strikingly insightful lyrics wrapped in musical arrangements that defy nearly every other artist working today. Need proof of his lyrical talent? From "Somebody Loves You":

This nagging malaise
Is more than a phase
It feels like a job
But no boss ever pays you to lay there
And think how you'll die
While the tears start to well in your eyes

Depressing? Yeah, when read like the poetry that it is, but coupled with the sweeping orchestral chorus that reinforces the message that "somebody loves you, you're going to make it through" - it's hard to not to feel invigorated by the talent of this artist.

EBHP