Souljacker
2001 studio album by Eels
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Souljacker is the fourth studio album by American rock band Eels, first released on September 19, 2001, in Japan and later on March 12, 2002, in the United States. The album reached No.12 on the UK Album Charts[1]
| Souljacker | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 19, 2001 | |||
| Recorded | December 2000 – July 2001 | |||
| Studios | Onehitsville, Conway Studios Hollywood | |||
| Genres | Alternative rock, hard rock | |||
| Length | 40:20 | |||
| Label | DreamWorks | |||
| Producers | E and John Parish | |||
| Eels chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Souljacker | ||||
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"Souljacker Part I" was released as a single and reached No. 30 in the UK Singles Chart.[2]
Content
Unlike some of Mark Oliver Everett's other albums, most notably Electro-Shock Blues, Souljacker is mostly based on stories of others rather than on Everett's own life.[3] Characters were inspired from various sources, including circus freaks ("Dog Faced Boy") and a recording engineer with an abusive past ("Bus Stop Boxer"). German director Wim Wenders called "Woman Driving, Man Sleeping" his favorite Eels song and he used it in the segment he directed for Ten Minutes Older. Wenders directed the video for "Souljacker Part I".
The strings used in the song "Fresh Feeling" were sampled from another Eels song, "Selective Memory" from Daisies of the Galaxy.
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 73/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Alternative Press | [6] |
| The Austin Chronicle | [7] |
| Blender | [8] |
| NME | 7/10[9] |
| Pitchfork | 4.9/10[10] |
| Playlouder | [11] |
| Q | [12] |
| Rolling Stone |  [13] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [14] |
Souljacker received a generally favorable reception from critics, with several reviewers comparing the album's sound to that of Beck.[4] Q said "Everyone will say this sounds like Beck, but at the last count Beck would be lucky to sound like Eels."[12] PopMatters wrote, "Souljacker is as strong as any of Eels previous albums, but even crawling through the muck there is a lot more joy and life here than heard before."[15] NME wrote, "Souljacker's songs rock harder than most of E's nu metal enemies. But what's really terrifying is that E's just warming up. The next album will be a killer – and probably feature one on backing vocals."[9]
Pitchfork was critical, writing, "Beyond the melodies that don't stick in my head and the beats that don't make me want to dance, the only real problem with Souljacker [...] is that it just seems like an underachievement."[10]
Legacy
The second track on the album, "That's Not Really Funny", was used as the theme tune to all three series of the BBC's animated comedy Monkey Dust.
"Fresh Feeling" was featured in Scrubs episode "My Hero", as well as the Chuck episode "Chuck Versus the Truth", and the movie Failure To Launch.
Track listing
All tracks are written by E; additional writers in brackets.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dog Faced Boy" | 3:17 | |
| 2. | "That's Not Really Funny" | 3:19 | |
| 3. | "Fresh Feeling" |
| 3:37 |
| 4. | "Woman Driving, Man Sleeping" | 3:30 | |
| 5. | "Souljacker Part I" | 3:15 | |
| 6. | "Friendly Ghost" | E | 3:22 |
| 7. | "Teenage Witch" | 4:44 | |
| 8. | "Bus Stop Boxer" | 3:42 | |
| 9. | "Jungle Telegraph" | E | 3:39 |
| 10. | "World of Shit" | 3:29 | |
| 11. | "Souljacker Part II" | E | 1:58 |
| 12. | "What Is This Note?" | 2:28 | |
| Total length: | 40:20 | ||
Bonus discs
22 Miles of Hard Road
All tracks are written by E, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Write the B-Sides" | United Kingdom | 3:55 | |
| 2. | "Hidden Track" | 4:25 | ||
| 3. | "Jehovah's Witness" | 3:39 | ||
| 4. | "Mr. E's Beautiful Remix" (Butch 'n' Joey remix) | 3:53 | ||
| Total length: | 56:12 | |||
Rotten World Blues
All tracks are written by E, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Write the B-Sides" | United States | 3:55 | |
| 2. | "Hidden Track" | 4:25 | ||
| 3. | "Jehovah's Witness" | 3:39 | ||
| 4. | "Rotten World Blues" | 2:44 | ||
| Total length: | 55:03 | |||
Personnel
Eels
- Butch – drums and percussion
- E – vocals, guitar, baritone guitar, piano, clavinet, Mellotron, and Wurlitzer organ
- Joe Gore – Guitar (Tracks 8 & 12)
- Koool G Murder – synthesizer, bass guitar, guitar, clavinet
- John Parish – guitar, percussion, drums, keyboards, melodica, and stylophone
- Adam Siegel – bass guitar (Track 5)
Production
- Ryan Boesch – programming, engineering, and mixing
- Greg Collins – tape transfer
- DJ Killingspree – liner notes
- E – production, art direction, and mixing
- Brian Gardner – mastering
- Chris Justice – engineering
- Koool G Murder – engineering
- Jim Lang – string arrangements
- John Parish – programming, production, engineering, and mixing
- Dan Pinder – technical assistance
- Francesca Restrepo – art direction
- Rocky Schenck – photography
Charts
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] | 39 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] | 34 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] | 15 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] | 22 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] | 56 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[21] | 34 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] | 47 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[23] | 19 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[24] | 41 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[25] | 36 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] | 75 |
| UK Albums (Official Charts)[27] | 12 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[28] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||