When Eels first broke through in 1996, Mark Oliver Everett's slack-rock style was clearly modelled after the then-ubiquitous Beck. But his irreverent ethos belongs to a grand tradition of classic-rock contrarians: In his emotionally raw moments, Everett channels the broken-down balladry of a young Tom Waits, while Harry Nilsson showed him how to fold bitter sentiment into string-sweetened serenades.