Long-awaited repress of Eels’ 1996 debut album. Universal Music’s BACK TO BLACK series continues stocking your record shelves and deflating out-of-print prices with their classic reissues. Beautiful Freak is the eccentric and quirky work of front man Mark Oliver Everett, also known as “E”. The album is full of concise and simple melodies with songs raging from piano ballads to pure rock - all with a tinge of sardonic and self-deprecating lyrics. The album starts of with the catchiest tune of the bunch, “Novocaine For the Soul” and has other well-known classics like “My Beloved Monster”. If you missed this album the first time around be sure to check out other greats like the humorous “Susan’s House” or the haunting pop of “Guest List”. This album has become such a time capsule of the mid 90’s Beck-era alt-rock that original copies have sold for upwards of $500. So now’s your chance to buy a minty fresh copy, on sturdy 180-gram wax, at an appropriate price point.

• music label: DreamWorks 2014

reviewed by boumtje-boumtje 082814