Souljacker

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 American release was delayed due to the lack of "radio-friendly singles" record companies wanted.

Souljacker
Studio album by
Eels
ReleasedSeptember 19, 2001 (2001-09-19)
Recorded2001
GenreIndie rock
Length40:35
LabelDreamWorks
ProducerE and John Parish
Eels chronology
Daisies of the Galaxy
(2000)		 Souljacker
(2001)		 Shootenanny!
(2003)
Singles from Souljacker
  1. "Souljacker part I"
    Released: September 10, 2001

Content

Unlike some of Everett's other albums, most notably Electro-Shock Blues, Souljacker is mostly based on stories of outsiders rather than on Everett's own life.[1] 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.

Release

Souljacker was released on September 19, 2001 in Japan, September 24, 2001 in the United Kingdom, September 2001 in Canada, and March 12, 2002 in the United States. The American release was delayed due to the lack of "radio-friendly singles" record companies wanted.

"Souljacker Part I" was released as a single and reached No. 30 in the UK Singles Chart.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
NME7/10[4]
Pitchfork4.9/10[5]
PopMattersfavorable[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
Trouser Pressmixed[8]

Souljacker received a generally favorable reception from critics, with several reviewers comparing the album's sound to that of Beck.[2]

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."[6] 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."[4]

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."[5]

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 the season 1 episode "My Hero" of the NBC show Scrubs, as well as the season 1 episode "Chuck Versus the Truth" of the NBC show Chuck, and the movie "Failure To Launch".

Track listing

All songs written by E; additional writers in brackets.

  1. "Dog Faced Boy" (John Parish) – 3:17
  2. "That's Not Really Funny" (Parish) – 3:19
  3. "Fresh Feeling" (Koool G Murder) – 3:37
  4. "Woman Driving, Man Sleeping" (Parish) – 3:30
  5. "Souljacker Part I" (Butch, Adam Siegel) – 3:15
  6. "Friendly Ghost"  – 3:22
  7. "Teenage Witch" (Parish) – 4:44
  8. "Bus Stop Boxer" (Parish) – 3:42
  9. "Jungle Telegraph"  – 3:39
  10. "World of Shit" (Parish) – 3:29
  11. "Souljacker Part II"  – 1:58
  12. "What Is This Note?" (Parish) – 2:28
Bonus discs
22 Miles of Hard Road
Released in the United Kingdom
  1. "I Write the B-Sides" – 3:55
  2. "Hidden Track" – 4:25
  3. "Jehovah's Witness" (Parish) – 3:39
  4. "Mr. E's Beautiful Remix" (Butch 'n' Joey remix) – 3:53
Rotten World Blues
Released in the United States
  1. "I Write the B-Sides" – 3:55
  2. "Hidden Track" – 4:25
  3. "Jehovah's Witness" (Parish) – 3:39
  4. "Rotten World Blues" – 2:44

Personnel

Eels

Production

Charts
Sales chart performance for Souljacker
Chart (2001) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] 39
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] 34
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11] 15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[12] 22
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 56
French Albums (SNEP)[14] 34
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 47
Irish Albums (IRMA)[16] 19
Italian Albums (FIMI)[17] 41
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[18] 36
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 75
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 12

Certifications
Sales certifications for Souljacker
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Silver 60,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Everett, Mark Oliver (2008). Things the Grandchildren Should Know. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-02787-8.
  2. "Critic Reviews for Souljacker – Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  3. DiGravina, Tim. "Souljacker – Eels : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  4. Paine, Andre (September 26, 2001). "NME Album Reviews – Eels : Souljacker – nme.com". nme.com. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  5. Leone, Dominique (May 21, 2002). "Eels: Souljacker | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  6. Jamieson, Robert (March 29, 2002). "Eels: Souljacker | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  7. Kemp, Mark (March 1, 2002). "Souljacker : Eels : Review : Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  8. Zwirn, Michael. "TrouserPress.com :: Eels". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  9. "Australiancharts.com – Eels – Souljacker". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  10. "Austriancharts.at – Eels – Souljacker" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  11. "Ultratop.be – Eels – Souljacker" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  12. "Ultratop.be – Eels – Souljacker" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Eels – Souljacker" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  14. "Lescharts.com – Eels – Souljacker". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Eels – Souljacker" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  16. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Eels". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  17. "Italiancharts.com – Eels – Souljacker". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  18. "Norwegiancharts.com – Eels – Souljacker". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  19. "Swisscharts.com – Eels – Souljacker". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  21. "British album certifications – Eels – Souljacker". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Souljacker in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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