The Times 03/03/2000 - Barbara Ellen.

One understands that E, the main man of the eels, was determined to make his new album, Daisies
of the Galaxy, as upbeat and hopeful as its 1998 predecessor Electro-Shock Blues was stark and
harrowing. Electro-Shock Blues was dominated by the death of E's parents and the suicide of his
sister, and so, in it's own fashion, is Daisies. In spite of the sanguine reflection, the dark
jokes and perky melodic asides, one still gets the sense of a shocked little boy with his
finger stuck in his own emotional dam.
Helped along by REM's Peter Buck and Grant Lee Buffalo's Grant Lee Philips, this results in an
album that's as boldly entertaining as it is artistically adventurous and emotionally literate.
Laid-back foot-tapping narratives such as Grace Kelly Blues, Tiger in my Tank and the beautiful
Jeannies Diary remind me of Tom Petty around his Learning to Fly period. Quirkier tracks such
as the Sound of Fear, I Like Birds, Daisies of the Galaxy and Estate Sale ricochet between
humour and misery, hope and fear, life and death.
"Taking a walk down to the mall, smelling piss and beer. Guess that could be me in a couple of
years." observes E dryly on Something Is Sacred. Later on the life-affirming hidden track, Mr
E's Beautiful Blues, he is to be found yodelling merrily "Goddamn, right it's a beautiful day".
Indeed, while at times you get the feeling that E has been twisted out of shape by his
experiences, and has become rather too cynical "look at all the people like cows in a herd" he
growls on I Like Birds, ultimately, there's a wistful humanity and a deep romanticism about
Daisies that makes misanthropy seem like the only impossibility.

The Daily Express 03/03/2000 - Jeremy Novick ****

Despite getting rave reviews for their debut album Beautiful Freak, Eels - essentially one man
called simply E- are best known for their second album.Recorded after his mothers death
(cancer) and sisters suicide, Electro-Shock Blues was vinyl as therapy. Raw and painful and
honest to the point of hurt, it made Neil Young's Tonight's the Night sound like the latest
offering from S Club 7. So, when the first sound you hear on Daisies of the Galaxy is a funeral
march......but think about it and it makes sense.Putting the funeral at the beginning gives E
the room to move away from it all, to acknowledge the world and allow himself to move forward.
Daisies is a delicious record, a record that crawls under your skin, the sort of record you
find yourself putting on without even thinking about it. Everywhere you look there are pop
hooks and catchy melodies and while your ear is there, a word or phrase draws you in.
Typical is I Like Birds, the fourth track in and on the surface maybe the most inconsequential
track on the album. It's a delightful nursery rhyme of a tune complete with childlike words and
birdy whistles. but listen carefully and a different truth lurks below the surface. E's mother
was one of those people whose garden was full of bird tables and water bowls and as she was
dying she used to watch the birds frolicking out of the kitchen window. Armed with this
knowledge suddenly the song becomes a very personal and private tribute.
Elsewhere E faces it head on, and often drifts deep into Randy Newman territory. Newman's is a
good name to invoke because, like him, E's songs tell stories, draw you in, tell the tale, make
you understand, Daisies closes with the single Mr E's Beautiful Blues. Normal bands kick off
their records with the uplifting hit single, especially when it's a joyous slice of sunshine
pop where the key lyric is:"Goddamn right it's a beautiful day". He's right. It is. And for an
album that kicks off with a funeral march it makes perfect sense.

Hmm - i obviously interpret yodelling differently from Ms Ellis.
Argh....repetitive strain injury from typing.
i shall go and have a lie down.