Pros Words, vocals, diverse instruments, creative beyond words.
Cons Short.
The Bottom Line Two words. Buy it.
Full Review
Mark Everett has been making music for years. Don’t recognize his name? Well…he might be better known as the Eels. But before he became the Eels, Everett was a solo artist who went by the moniker E.
Born in Virginia, Everett has led a troubled life beginning with the death of his father that led directly to his spiral into drugs and alcohol in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Everett never graduated high school, and led what can only be described as a transient lifestyle until moving to California. Everett adopted the name E for the benefit of his musical career and in 1992 he released his solo debut, A Man Called (E) on Polydor.
In comparing his earliest work to his work as the Eels, there has clearly been a great deal of maturation. E does however shine with the occasional glimpse of the quirky strangeness that he would perfect later on in his career. A Man Called (E) is the work of an incredible man. Everett produced the album to perfection in addition to writing every lyric and note. He also played a wide variety of instruments ranging from guitar, harmonica, and every kind of percussion to keys (piano, organ, toy piano), accordion, and melodica. That combination sheds some light on the true nature of A Man Called (E), though the only way to really get to know the album is by hearing it.
E is a strange man in that he is the consummate artist. He sketches music, molds words, and drafts sounds. This resulting album provides flashes of brilliance and while the songs sound like those of a singer-songwriter the likes of a modern Elvis Costello or Elton John the words are something completely otherworldly. E possesses a knack for assembling quirky, free-form thoughts into a deceptively mainstream package. A Man Called (E) is an exuberant, intelligent, remarkably entertaining disc, most certainly worth owning for fans of the Eels or for quirky singer-songwriter types in general.
A Man Called (E) is just over thirty minutes of pure ecstasy. Though the album is short on time, it is long on emotion and as such proves memorable. The eleven tightly aligned songs weave themselves into souls of listeners, the instruments are unique, the vocals are seamless, the production is perfectly suitable, the words are just as thought provoking as one would expect from E. Kicking off with early single Hello Cruel World, the album couldn’t have a more positive start. Everett’s voice is smooth and soothing as he laments about the cruelness of life from caged monkeys to the absence of Norman Rockwell idealism. Everything about the track feels good.
Continuing on, Fitting in With The Misfits is the epitome of low-key genius. Everett blends the usual pop-rock elements with the less traditional organ and harmonica. Taken as a whole, the song is easily digested. Taken in tiny bites, something about E is disarming. It is clear that he is a troubled, though incredibly talented, man. His songs are amazing. The words are poignant.
Fitting in with the misfits
Living in the lost and found
And I will never be afraid
For lost souls don't know where they're bound
Taking a cue from John Mellencamp, E takes a turn a folk-pop star on Are You & Me Gonna Happen. His seamless blend of piano, jangle-pop, and light percussion nicely frame his vocals and lyrics…the true centerpieces of this otherwise incredibly worthwhile disc. The melody is inspirational and rousing…E doesn’t get more optimistic than this.
One of the songs most similar in feeling to the Eels in both feeling and sound is Looking Out The Window With A Blue Hat On. The track is hopeful, timeless, and smoothly charming. Everything that E does proves easy to love and impossible to forget. Looking Out The Window With A Blue Hat On and the associated words, vocals, and even accordion are of course no exception. Nowheresville is of similar interest. E exhibits a great sense of yearning and loss while still somehow seeming hopeful. The words are also beautiful:
I wanna see Paris
Insane on the Seine
I wanna do that bull run thing in Spain
I wanna go to England
And walk down Penny Lane
Half a pint in Ireland may wash away my pain
Symphony For Toy Piano In G Minor is a mere introduction to the second half of this outstanding album. Just as the title suggests, it is a brief instrumental almost entirely played on a tiny toy piano. What it preludes is something very special, a song by the name of Mockingbird Franklin. It is a beautiful, thoughtful ode to being a human being, to being something unexpected and different. The majestic melody, lightly strummed guitar, and truly incredible organ make for what can only be described as the perfect song. Amazingly enough, the words are just as moving as the music…
Alone along the sidewalk
The steps are barely heard
It's kinda that it's her name
'Cause she's nothing like a mockingbird
Nothing like a mockingbird
Mockingbird Franklin
E follows with the shimmering I’ve Been Kicked Around. While not particularly reflective of my favorite kind of music from the talented fellow, it is nonetheless an impressively likable outing. The fact that this song (and so many of the others) never got any radio or mainstream attention is a travesty. E should have had a following well before he became the Eels. Just as whimsical is Pray. Though this time around E neatly assembles a unique combination of harmonica and sleigh bells with piano and guitars in such a way that the resulting sound is fantastic. Pray is certainly worth hearing.
E’s Tune is one of the better songs of this overall unbelievable album. Once again, the song is the slightest bit like his later work. With a sweeping melody paired with a lightly picked electric guitar and grandiose, almost orchestral feel the song cements itself into the soul. Everything from the instruments and melody to the vocals and lyrics come together on E’s Tune.
A Man Called (E) wraps up with You’ll Be The Scarecrow less than thirty minutes from the album’s beginning. E sings gently aside his piano…speaking of the Great Unknown and his need for love, understanding, and acceptance. This song, this collection of truly great songs, will leave every listener wanting much more.
Fortunately, E returned a year later with the well-received Broken Toy Shop, although the album was unfortunately ignored by consumers. E of course returned as the Eels first with the mediocre, mainstream breakthrough 1996’s Beautiful Freak and then later with his emotional coming home on 1998’s Electro-Shock Blues. 2000 marked the release of Daisies of the Galaxy and most recently E returned with the 2002 Souljacker. Everything this man does is wonderful; nothing should be ignored beginning with his earliest work through his most recent. Mark Everett is sheer genius.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Hello Cruel World
02. Fitting in With the Misfits
03. Are You & Me Gonna Happen
04. Looking Out the Window With a Blue Hat On
05. Nowheresville
06. Symphony for Toy Piano in G Minor
07. Mockingbird Franklin
08. I’ve Been Kicked Around
09. Pray
10. E’s Tune
11. You’ll Be The Scarecrow
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