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AllMusic
The Boston Phoenix
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Entertainment Weekly	B
The Guardian
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NME	5/10
Q
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Select	5/5

Beautiful Freak is the debut album by American alternative rock band Eels. It was released on 13 August 1996 and is the first album released by record label DreamWorks.

Beautiful Freak is largely the solo work of musician Mark Oliver Everett. It is his first album using the full band 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". The album is produced by E, Jon Brion, Mark Goldenberg and Michael Simpson.

"Novocaine for the Soul" contains samples of "Let the Four Winds Blow" by Fats Domino; "Susan's House" contains a sample of "Love Finds Its Own Way" by Gladys Knight & the Pips; "Guest List" contains a sample of "I Like It" by The Emotions; and "Flower" contains sample of "I'm Glad You're Mine" by Al Green.

Everett had suggested having a little girl with big eyes on the cover. The girl that came in to have her picture taken, Elle Brosh, incidentally looked "like a miniature Susan" to Everett, a girlfriend of his a few years before and the subject of the song "Susan's House".

Beautiful Freak was released on August 13, 1996, by record label DreamWorks, the first album released on the label. The album peaked at number 5 on the UK Albums Chart.

Four singles were released to promote the album: "Novocaine for the Soul" in February 1996, "Susan's House" in May, "Your Lucky Day in Hell" in September, and the title track the following year. "My Beloved Monster" would later appear on the soundtrack of the DreamWorks animated movie Shrek five years later.

The April 1997 German release of the album included a bonus live EP from a BBC recording session.

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