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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Blinking Lights And Other Revelations
Universal acclaim
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 109 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Vagrant
Release Date: 26 April 2005
Discs: 2 discs
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
Mark Everett's diverse and epic sixth Eels album spans two CDs. It probably would never be classified as a happy album, but it does include appearances from Tom Waits, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, and The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian.
Also By This Artist: Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs Of Desire Shootenanny! Souljacker With Strings Live At Town Hall
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Alternative Press
A devastatingly beautiful collection of songs, and in some circles, it could be the best album released this year. [May 2005, p.124]
Entertainment Weekly
Everett finally delivers the absolute stone masterpiece fans have always known lurked inside his dour heart. [29 Apr 2005, p.147]
ShakingThrough.net
Blinking Lights is an astonishing mélange of life and sound cycles, as much about the ghosts of the past as it is an optimistic hedge toward a pensioner’s age bracket Everett clearly endeavors to appreciate.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Yes, this may well be the best of the Eels, his greatest achievement to date, because he reaches so far on nearly every track, and yet still finds something to grab on to.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
Dicing with folly at every stage and coming out victorious, 'Blinking Lights...' is sprawling, galling and downright enthralling.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Some of the best-written songs of this new century. [#9]
Uncut
Intermittently funny and never depressing, this confirms him among America's greats. [May 2005, p.108]
PopMatters
E is one of the best songwriters America has to offer, and he has made as personal, poignant, and ultimately redeeming an album that you are ever going to hear.
Read Full Review >Mojo
A DIY epic whose brief sorties into often spellbinding instrumental territory are pitstops in which to muse upon profound, touching or witty lyrics. [May 2005, p.95]
Lost At Sea
A masterpiece that celebrates life, in all of its horrific, painful, magical and wondrous glory.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
Calling an Eels album personal and somber seems redundant, but compared with the guitar-rock discord of the two preceding albums, this return to meticulously crafted pop miniatures seems even more inward-directed. [24 Apr 2005]
The Guardian
The first disc of this double CD jangles nerves with pop songs which dissect personal issues through wider problems facing America, but the stunning second finds meaning to it all in a series of supernaturally beautiful ballads.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
A calmer work than its harrowing semi-classic prequel, Blinking Lights... is also less startling or focussed. [May 2005, p.109]
All Music Guide
Blinking Lights and Other Revelations is blessed because of -- not in spite of -- its excesses.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
A classic of sad pop. [23 Apr 2005, p.51]
Trouser Press
Two albums of E musings is a bit much, but, on the whole, Blinking Lights does stand as a resounding return to form.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Everett demonstrates disarming wit, tear-stained awareness and heavenly loser love.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
Although rhythm sections, strings, horns and overdubbed sha-la-la's do turn up, "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations" sounds most often like a man alone, coming to terms with himself and trying to muddle through. [2 May 2005]
Pitchfork
There's a good album underneath all the filler-- probably the Eels' best since Electro-Shock Blues-- but it'll take some editing to excavate it.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
The harrowing track list of Electro-Shock just wears too thin here.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
The two discs offered here brim with ideas, some more navel-gazing than others. [#16, p.143]
Dot Music
A 93 minute-long nervous breakdown that offers few concessions to the needs of the listener to be entertained.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
Minus the instrumentals (eight), tracks featuring guest stars (three), and songs whose only redeeming quality is their cool title (at least five, including "Son of a Bitch," "I’m Going to Stop Pretending I Didn’t Break Your Heart," and "Whatever Happened to Soy Bomb"), you’re really only left with a handful of bonafide Eels tunes.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 109 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Billy H gave it a9:
An intelligent progression and evolution of a man called E this album shine new light on the eels perspective when you listen to the album from front to back you realize that everything is going to be ok.
Andrew M gave it a10:
This record could be one of the best I've ever listened to. It's much, much more melancholy than something like Souljacker. While the lyrics are possibly stronger than they have ever been, most tracks are enjoyable just listening to how it sounds. Given that E spent 7 years creating the material on this album, the album is obviously going to be long. Not "bloated". As for it being self-indulgent, E's music is more a form of personal therapy than material for platinum records. "Electro-Shock Blues", the last magnum opus, was in response to family tragedies. Not to sell a lot of albums. Recovery. For a large part, the people who can enjoy this album are the ones who can sit back and listen to the beauty of E emptying his head. And it's entirely worth it.
Jeff F gave it a9:
It's one of those that, after months of spinning, you realize how deeply rich and wonderful it is..if you've experienced loss as he has, it resonates that much more.
William gave it a5:
Although I tried, I wasn't able to enjoy this album as much as the other Eels albums I own (Beautiful Freak, Electroshock Blue, Daisies of the Galaxy). I feel that this album is bloated and disjointed; and a bit self-indulgent at times.
Richard H gave it a10:
This sprawling double album is fantastic. I haven't heard anything by the Eels since Novocaine, so my experience with E's writing style is horribly limited, but I was struck numb by the beauty and emotion that ooze from every second of this disk. Emo bands needs to take notes on how to 'emote' without sounding like a complete jackass. I loved this album so much that Electro-Shock Blues is now on it's way from Amazon. Highly recommended.
John F gave it a10:
I think this alblum could be an underated classic, never have I heard a singer be so emotional with his lyrics with such wonderful music to match. E I salute you, I wish I could write as well as you do. Best I'm Gonna Stop Pretending That I didn't Break Your Heart
Jeff V gave it a7:
Really good music, but poorly written lyrics. When I listen to this album, I listen to it for the music, and if I sing a long to it, I sing along because it's fun. Not because they are really good. I would recommend this to people who don't care about words as much as the actual music (people like me).
