Shootenanny!

Shootenanny! /ˈʃuːtənæni/ is the fifth studio album by American indie pop band Eels, released in 2003 by record label DreamWorks.

Recording

The album was recorded in November 2002 live in the studio, with minimal production.

Content

The album's name comes from a neologism coined by Eels front-man Mark Oliver Everett for "a social gathering at which participants engage in folk singing and sometimes dancing [a hootenanny], but mostly the shooting of guns."

Release

"Saturday Morning" was released as a promotional single with the B-sides "Her", "Waltz of the Naked Clowns", and "Sad Foot Sign".

Shootenanny! was released on June 3, 2003 by record label DreamWorks. The album peaked at number 145 on the Billboard 200.

Critical reception

Shootenanny! received a generally favorable response, though some critics were divided.

Greg Kot of Entertainment Weekly called the album "downright moving at its best". A negative review came from Chris Dahlen of Pitchfork, who wrote: "Musically and lyrically, E is spent – out of ideas, out of innovation, unable to cough up anything but by-the-numbers pop in the fourteen originals he wrote for this disc." Dom Passantino of Stylus opined that the album "suffers from a lack of identity".

Eels (band)

Eels (often typeset as eels or EELS) is an American alternative rock band, formed in California in 1995 by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Oliver Everett, known by the stage name E. Band members have changed across the years, both in the studio and on stage, making Everett the only official member for most of the band's work. Eels' music is often filled with themes about family, death and lost love. Since 1996, Eels has released eleven studio albums, seven of which charted in the Billboard 200.

History

E solo records

In 1992, Polydor released A Man Called E under the name E. The single "Hello Cruel World" was a minor success. Touring to support the album, E opened for Tori Amos. A Man Called E was followed by Broken Toy Shop in 1993. This year also marked the beginning of E's collaboration with drummer Jonathan "Butch" Norton. After Broken Toy Shop, E was released from his record deal with Polydor. E himself has recovered two of the songs ('The Only Thing I Care About' and 'Manchester Girl') from Broken Toy Shop for his own live shows with the Eels.

Saturday Morning

Saturday Morning may refer to:

See also

Eel

An eel is any fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (/æŋˌɡwɪlᵻˈfɔːrmiːz/), which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and about 800 species. Most eels are predators. The term "eel" (originally referring to the European eel) is also used for some other similarly shaped fish, such as electric eels and spiny eels, but these are not members of the Anguilliformes order.

Description

Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from 5 cm (2.0 in) in the one-jawed eel (Monognathus ahlstromi) to 4 m (13 ft) in the slender giant moray. Adults range in weight from 30 g (1.1 oz) to well over 25 kg (55 lb). They possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are fused with the caudal fin, forming a single ribbon running along much of the length of the animal. Eels swim by generating body waves which travel the length of their bodies. They can swim backwards by reversing the direction of the wave.

Most eels live in the shallow waters of the ocean and burrow into sand, mud, or amongst rocks. A majority of eel species are nocturnal, thus are rarely seen. Sometimes, they are seen living together in holes, or "eel pits". Some species of eels also live in deeper water on the continental shelves and over the slopes deep as 4,000 m (13,000 ft). Only members of the Anguilla regularly inhabit fresh water, but they, too, return to the sea to breed.