Blinking Lights and Other Revelations

Blinking Lights and Other Revelations is the sixth studio album by American band Eels. It was recorded over the space of 1998 to 2004 and released on April 26, 2005 through record label Vagrant, his first album on a new label following Eels' departure from DreamWorks Records.

"Blinking lights" redirects here. For the hacker jargon for the diagnostic lights on old mainframe computers, see Blinkenlights.
Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
A photo of a little girl sitting on the ground outside in a farm paddock with a Dalmatian dog. The girl, the dog and the ground are orange in color while the trees and sky in the background are purple.
Studio album by
Eels
ReleasedApril 26, 2005 (2005-04-26)
Recorded1998–2004
StudioOneHitsville, Silverlake, California, United States; additional recording at Knobworld, Tracktown, O'Henry and The Bomb Factory
GenreIndie rock
Length93:28
LabelVagrant
ProducerE
Eels chronology
Shootenanny!
(2003)		 Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
(2005)		 Hombre Lobo
(2009)
Singles from Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
  1. "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)"
    Released: March 22, 2005
Manchester 2005 cover
Cover to the live EP Manchester 2005, packaged with the deluxe edition of the album

A 33-track double album, Blinking Lights has been seen as one of frontman E's most personal records, and was met with some of the strongest critical reviews of his career. The album features guest appearances by Tom Waits, Peter Buck and John Sebastian.

Background
England's Manchester Apollo was the venue for the bonus live album Manchester 2005

Eels frontman E described Blinking Lights on the official website as being about "God and all the questions related to the subject of God. It's also about hanging on to my remaining shreds of sanity and the blue sky that comes the day after a terrible storm, and it's a love letter to life itself, in all its beautiful, horrible glory."[1]

The sleeve and liner notes are composed of typewritten lyrics and family photos.

This is original drummer Jonathan "Butch" Norton's last album with the band.[2]

Release

In January 2005, it was reported that Eels had signed to Vagrant Records, who planned to release the band's next album later that year.[3] The track listing and artwork was posted online on April 6, 2005.[4] The album was released through Vagrant Records on April 26, 2005, following the dissolution of Eels' contract with DreamWorks Records and the label's eventual take-over by Universal Music Group.[1][5] They played two shows in the US, before embarking on a tour of Europe in May and June 2005.[4] They toured the US in May and 2006, prior to a Europe tour, which lasted until July 2006[6] and featured a performance at the Wireless Festival.[7] In August 2006, they appeared at the Lollapalooza festival.[8]

On October 21, 2008, the band announced that 2,500 autographed copies of the album would be published on vinyl. The songs were split across three records, with a fourth record serving as the bonus album Manchester 2005. The band made four of those tracks available as a free download for a week within announcing the album.[9]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Entertainment WeeklyA[12]
The Guardian[13]
Los Angeles Times[14]
Mojo[15]
NME8/10[16]
Pitchfork6.5/10[17]
Q[18]
Rolling Stone[19]
Uncut[20]

Blinking Lights and Other Revelations was met with critical acclaim. On Metacritic, the album has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[10]

Mark Horan of PopMatters wrote, "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."[21] Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Everett finally delivers the absolute stone masterpiece fans have always known lurked inside his dour heart."[12] Under the Radar called it "some of the best-written songs of this new century".[10]

Track listing

All songs written by E, except where indicated.

Disc one

  1. "Theme from Blinking Lights" – 1:44
  2. "From Which I Came/A Magic World" – 3:13
  3. "Son of a Bitch" (E, Jim Lang) – 2:27
  4. "Blinking Lights (For Me)" – 2:01
  5. "Trouble with Dreams" – 4:33
  6. "Marie Floating Over the Backyard" – 2:03
  7. "Suicide Life" – 2:41
  8. "In the Yard, Behind the Church" – 4:05
  9. "Railroad Man" – 4:16
  10. "The Other Shoe" – 2:32
  11. "Last Time We Spoke" – 2:22
  12. "Mother Mary" – 3:21
  13. "Going Fetal" – 2:21
  14. "Understanding Salesmen" – 2:43
  15. "Theme for a Pretty Girl That Makes You Believe God Exists" – 2:06
  16. "Checkout Blues" – 2:27
  17. "Blinking Lights (For You)" – 2:00

Disc two

  1. "Dust of Ages" (E, Jim Jacobsen) – 2:21
  2. "Old Shit/New Shit" – 3:17
  3. "Bride of Theme from Blinking Lights" – 1:52
  4. "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)" – 3:02
  5. "I'm Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart" – 3:56
  6. "To Lick Your Boots" (Peter Buck, E) – 3:30
  7. "If You See Natalie" – 3:41
  8. "Sweet Li'l Thing" – 3:27
  9. "Dusk: A Peach in the Orchard" (E, John Sebastian) – 1:17
  10. "Whatever Happened to Soy Bomb" – 2:26
  11. "Ugly Love" – 2:58
  12. "God's Silence" – 1:26
  13. "Losing Streak" – 2:52
  14. "Last Days of My Bitter Heart" – 1:35
  15. "The Stars Shine in the Sky Tonight" (E, Lang) – 3:31
  16. "Things the Grandchildren Should Know" – 5:22

Manchester 2005

This live album is only available on disc four of the deluxe edition of Blinking Lights and Other Revelations.[22] The songs were recorded on October 13, 2005, in Manchester at the Manchester Apollo.

  1. "Fresh Feeling"
  2. "Packing Blankets"
  3. "Bride of Theme from Blinking Lights"
  4. "From Which I Came/A Magic World"
  5. "Son of a Bitch"
  6. "Ant Farm"
  7. "Jeannie's Diary"
  8. "My Beloved Monster"
  9. "It's a Motherfucker"
  10. "Taking a Bath in Rust"
  11. "Trouble with Dreams"
  12. "I'm Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart"
  13. "Dead of Winter"
  14. "Flyswatter"
  15. "Novocaine for the Soul"
  16. "Losing Streak"
  17. "Climbing to the Moon"

Personnel

Eels

Additional musicians

  • Wayne Bergeron – trumpet
  • Bobby, Jr. – "wails" ("Last Time We Spoke")
  • Peter Buck – guitar ("To Lick Your Boots", "If You See Natalie")
  • Matt DeMerritt – saxophone
  • Wally Gagel – keyboards
  • Ludvig Girdland – violin
  • Joe Gore – guitar
  • Probyn Gregory – horns
  • David Hlebo – saxophone
  • Jim Jacobsen – keyboards, horn, string arrangements, programming
  • Jim Lang – strings, mixing
  • Bill Liston – woodwinds
  • Andy Martin – trombone
  • Joe Meyer – horn
  • Dick Mitchell – flute
  • John Sebastian – organ ("Dusk: A Peach in the Orchard")
  • Todd Simon – trumpet
  • Gerri Sutyak – cello
  • Michael Valerio – bass guitar
  • Tom Waits – vocals ("Going Fetal")

Technical

  • Michael Aarvold – mixing
  • Ryan Boesch – mixing, programming
  • Robert Carranza – mixing
  • Greg Collins – mixing
  • Wally Gagel – mixing
  • Koool G. Murder – mixing, programming
  • Dan Pinder – mixing
  • Brendan Willard – mixing

Charts

References
  1. "Eels: Official Band Website". eelstheband.com. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  2. "Radio Swiss Jazz - Musikdatenbank - Musiker" (in German). Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  3. Paul, Aubin (January 19, 2005). "Vagrant signs Eels". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  4. Shultz, Brian (April 6, 2005). "Eels album info, tour dates". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  5. Everett 2008.
  6. Paul, Aubin (March 27, 2006). "Eels touring the United States, Europe". Punknews.org. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  7. "02 Wireless line-up expands". NME. March 6, 2006. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  8. Paul, Aubin (March 16, 2006). "Lollapalooza to feature Sparta, Cursive, Subways, Sleater-Kinney, Mates of State, Hold Steady". Punknews.org. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  9. "Eels: Official Band Website". Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  10. "Reviews for Blinking Lights and Other Revelations by Eels". Metacritic. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  11. Jurek, Thom. "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations – Eels". AllMusic. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  12. Burr, Ty (April 29, 2005). "Eels: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Entertainment Weekly. p. 147.
  13. Simpson, Dave (April 22, 2005). "Eels, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". The Guardian. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  14. Hochman, Steve (April 24, 2005). "Even Eels need room to breathe". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  15. "Eels: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Mojo (138): 95. May 2005.
  16. "Eels: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". NME: 51. April 23, 2005.
  17. Mitchum, Rob (April 27, 2005). "Eels: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  18. "Eels: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Q (226): 109. May 2005.
  19. Walters, Barry (June 30, 2005). "Eels: Blinking Lights And Other Revelations". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 8, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  20. Hasted, Nick (May 2005). "Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Uncut (96): 108. Archived from the original on May 15, 2006. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  21. Horan, Mark (May 4, 2005). "Eels: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". PopMatters. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  22. "Eels: Official Band Website". eelstheband.com. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  23. "Australiancharts.com – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  24. "Austriancharts.at – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  25. "Ultratop.be – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  26. "Ultratop.be – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  27. "Danishcharts.dk – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  28. "Dutchcharts.nl – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  29. "Lescharts.com – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  30. "Offiziellecharts.de – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  31. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Eels". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  32. "Italiancharts.com – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  33. "Norwegiancharts.com – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  34. "Spanishcharts.com – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  35. "Swisscharts.com – Eels – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  36. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  37. "Eels Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  38. "Jaaroverzichten 2005". Ultratop. Retrieved November 5, 2020.

Further reading
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