Beautiful Freak

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Beautiful Freak is a 1996 album by musician Mark Oliver Everett, his first using a full band and the name Eels (in an attempt to get the records in the same general location in the stores as his previous works under the name "E"). It was the first album released worldwide by DreamWorks Records (whose distributor, Universal Music Group, later became parent of Everett's previous label Polydor Records, which later began distributing DreamWorks releases internationally as well), and contains a mix of lo-fi, rock and pop songs including the singles "Novocaine for the Soul" and "Susan's House". Mark had suggested to have a little girl with big eyes on the cover. The girl that came in to have her picture taken, incidentally looked “like a miniature Susan”, the subject of the song Susan's House and a girlfriend of a few years before. "My Beloved Monster" was later used in the soundtrack of Shrek, and "Beautiful Freak" was used in the soundtrack of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and Monsters, Inc.

Track listing

All songs written by Mark Oliver Everett; except where noted.

1. "Novocaine for the Soul" (Mark Oliver Everett, Mark Goldenberg)– 3:08
2. "Susan's House" (Mark Oliver Everett, Jim Jacobsen, and Jim Weatherly) – 3:43
3. "Rags to Rags"  – 3:53
4. "Beautiful Freak"  – 3:34
5. "Not Ready Yet" (Mark Oliver Everett, Jon Brion) – 4:46
6. "My Beloved Monster"  – 2:13
7. "Flower" (Mark Oliver Everett, Jacobsen) – 3:38
8. "Guest List"  – 3:13
9. "Mental"  – 4:01
10. "Spunky"  – 3:11
11. "Your Lucky Day in Hell" (Mark Oliver Everett, Goldenberg) – 4:28
12. "Manchild" (Mark Oliver Everett, Jill Sobule) – 4:05

Bonus disc

All songs written by Mark Oliver Everett; except where noted.
The April 14, 1997 German release of the album included a bonus live EP from a BBC recording session

1. "Novocaine for the Soul" (Mark Oliver Everett, Mark Goldenberg) – 3:22
2. "Manchester Girl"  – 3:21
3. "My Beloved Mad Monster Party"  – 2:34
4. "Flower" (Mark Oliver Everett, Jacobsen) – 3:17

Triple J Hottest 100, 1996 #39

Personnel

Eels

• Butch – Drums and backing vocals
• E – Vocals, guitar, Wurlitzer electric piano
• Tommy Walter – Bass guitar and backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Jon Brion – Guitar, trombone, and Chamberlin
• Mark Goldenberg – Guitar and keyboards
• Jim Jacobsen – Keyboards and loops
• Paul Edge - turntables

Production

• Jon Brion – Production and engineering
• Amir Derakh – Engineering
• E – Producer, Engineering
• Ann Giordano – Photography
• Mark Goldenberg – Production and engineering
• Jim Jacobsen – Engineering
• Billy Kinsley – Mixing
• Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
• Francesca Restrepo – Art direction and design
• Rob Seifert – Mixing
• Michael Simpson – Production and mixing
• Matt Thorne – Engineer