Eels

Eels biography

Eels (often typeset as eels or EELS) is an American indie rock band formed by singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E. Other members rotate frequently, both in the studio and on stage.

Eels appear on several film soundtracks, including Scream 2, American Beauty, Road Trip, Holes, The Anniversary Party, Knocked Up, Yes Man, The End of Violence, Hellboy II, Hot Fuzz, The Big White, and the first three Shrek movies.

Recording history

E solo records

In 1992, Polydor released A Man Called E under the name E. The single "Hello Cruel World" was a minor success. Touring to support the album, E opened for Tori Amos. A Man Called E was followed by Broken Toy Shop in 1993. This year also marked the beginning of E's collaboration with drummer Jonathan "Butch" Norton. After Broken Toy Shop, E was released from his record deal with Polydor. E himself has recovered two of the songs ('The Only Thing I Care About' and 'Manchester Girl') from Broken Toy Shop for his own live shows with the Eels.

Beautiful Freak

Eels were officially founded when Butch and E met Tommy Walter. The name "Eels" was chosen so that the band's records would be close to E's solo records in an alphabetical ordering, although it was too late realised that numerous "Eagles" and "Earth, Wind and Fire" releases were in between. Eels became one of the first groups to sign a record deal with DreamWorks Records, followed by Elliott Smith.

In 1996 the band released their debut album Beautiful Freak, a melancholy pop record with tormented lyrics. The singles "Novocaine for the Soul", "Susan's House" and "Your Lucky Day in Hell" achieved modest national and international success, winning the Best International Breakthrough Act award at the 1998 BRIT Awards.

In 1996 and 1997, the Eels toured extensively to support the album, playing at many festivals and building their name as a live act in the United States and Europe. In September 1997, Walter quit the band (or was fired, according to some accounts).

"My Beloved Monster" was featured on the soundtrack for the DreamWorks movie Shrek. Two other songs from the album, "Not Ready Yet" and "Guest List", were featured in the fifth season of the television show Homicide: Life on the Street. The song "Your Lucky Day In Hell" also achieved moderate success, and was used in the horror movie Scream 2.

Everett wrote the song "Beautiful Freak" for a girlfriend, and he jokingly remarks in his memoir, Things The Grandchildren Should Know (2008) "Perhaps if I hadn't referred to her as a 'freak' she'd still be my girlfriend". The song appears in "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army".

Electro-Shock Blues

Following the success of Beautiful Freak, E experienced a difficult time in his personal life. His sister committed suicide, and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. These events inspired him to write Electro-Shock Blues, which focuses on his family, which he had never written about previously, bar perhaps the song "Fitting In With The Misfits" from his 1992 solo album A Man Called E, written in the form of a letter to his mother. "Electro-Shock Blues" was released in 1998. The album deals with many difficult subjects including suicide, death, and cancer. The tragedy of Everett's father's death became prominent once more in the context of his mother's pending death and his sister's suicide, and as a result the song "Baby Genius" is written for Hugh Everett III (his father).

Biography from , the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.