The Eels, led by Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E, celebrate a decade’s worth of music by releasing Meet the Eels, a best-of collection to introduce themselves to new listeners, and the incorrectly titled Useless Trinkets, a collection of 50 rare tracks and a DVD of their 2006 Lollapalooza performance.

The great thing about The Eels is the wonderful adventures they take the listener on. There’s no telling what sounds and stories are going to take place one track to the next or even within a song. There are beautiful piano ballads and dirty electric rockers, lyrics about dealing with the loss of a loved one and the plight of field mice. One moment E will show you life is funny, but just as quickly it turns out it’s “not ha ha funny” as he makes clear on “3 Speed.” Sometimes the music perfectly fits the mood like the raucous vibe on “Souljacker part 1” reflecting Johnny’s anger, yet E is more than willing to juxtapose beautiful arrangements with unhappy lyrics of frustrated and failed relationships during “Your Lucky Day in Hell” and “It’s a Motherfucker,” the latter of which E used the same piano Neil Young played on After the Gold Rush. The only limitations are E’s imagination.

The first track is “Novocaine for the Soul,” probably the best-known Eels’ song, from the debut Beautiful Freak. It begins with the gloriously familiar sound of the static created by a needle dropping onto a record. The remaining 23 tracks offer a fair sampling of the band’s six albums and an insight into what was taking place in E’s life over the years. As an artist, he opens himself up and reveals his growing pains, particularly in relationships. He shares moments we can identify, from heartbreak of “Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)” when you “cry your guts out 'til you got no more/…'bout someone that you're never gonna get to touch” to the awareness of “I'm Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart.”

People who think they are new to the band might be more aware of them then they realize because Hollywood loves The Eels, using many of their songs in films and television. “My Beloved Monster” and “I Need Some Sleep” were in the first two Shreks respectively; “Fresh Feeling” was in the television show Scrubs; and “Souljacker” was used in Hot Fuzz and The Condemned. The most frequent song used is “Mr. E's Beautiful Blues,” appearing in Road Trip, Charlie Bartlett, and A Guy Thing. The song has an interesting history because it almost didn’t appear on Daises of the Galaxy. The label wanted it, but E didn’t think it fit the album. A compromise was reached and it was included as a bonus track. At the time E stated, “You can think of it as buying the album and getting a bonus track, or buying the single and getting a bonus album.”