''Wonderful, Glorious'' is the tenth studio album by American
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band
Eels
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...
, released in 2013 by record labels
Vagrant
Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...
and
E Works. The album was produced by band leader
Mark Oliver "E" Everett. A worldwide tour accompanied the album release.
Recording
The songs were recorded in band leader Mark Oliver Everett's home studio in
Los Feliz, Los Angeles
Los Feliz (; Spanish for "The Féliz (family)", ) is a hillside neighborhood in the greater Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, abutting Hollywood and encompassing part of the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood is named after the ...
,
which was built for this album, after his previous home studio became too cramped for effectively recording.
In an unusual choice for an Eels album, Everett decided to work on the songs by
jamming with fellow Eels members
and composing at home, only drawing upon sparse lyrics from his notebooks.
He got the idea of collaborating with these musicians in particular after his last two tours and three albums featured a relatively stable line-up to the Eels musical collective.
Release
''Wonderful, Glorious'' was released on February 4, 2013 by record labels Vagrant and E Works.
Reception
''
The Skinny''s Stu Lewis gave the album four out of five stars, praising the harder rock sound of the album, calling it "work few contemporary indie rock bands could better,"
and Eric Magnuson's review in ''
American Songwriter
''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
History
The ''American Songwri ...
'' writes that the lyrics are demanding "like
veretthas a knife to your throat, creating a wonderful paradox".
Jude Clarke of
BBC Music
BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke.
Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...
summarizes her review by saying the album "continues the band's long-running, idiosyncratic and distinctively creative career path."
Maddy Costa of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' also praised the album's hard rock sound, noting that the lyrics are "delivered in a growl so jittery and aggressive that gentleness is obliterated."
About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...
's review by Tim Grierson emphasizes the diversity in songwriting, stating that ''Wonderful, Glorious'' "offer
variations on familiar styles and delivering a few delightful curve balls in the process."
Several reviewers have noted the positive and uplifting themes of the lyrics, such as ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
''s Phil Mongredien
and Jon Clark of
Drowned in Sound whose review stated that "the negativity often present in Eels records is less noticeable here; in fact the record contains many optimistic, if particularly frank and defiant, testimonials."
Michael Gallucci of
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
writes that the lyrics express E's relief after Eels' concept album trilogy.
Writing for ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'', Kevin E. G. Perry contrasts the optimism of the lyrics with E's personal tragedies, concluding that "part of the triumph of this record is just how upbeat he sounds while talking about everything from love and loss to mortality itself."
''
Paste
Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to:
Science and technology
* Adhesive or paste
** Wallpaper paste
** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water
* Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...
''s Ryan Reed considers the positivity "awkwardly forced" leading to an album of "lifeless non-revelations married to engrossing tunes".
Track listing
All songs written by
E, except where noted
#"Bombs Away" (E, Koool G Murder, The Chet) – 5:23
#"Kinda Fuzzy" (E, Koool G Murder, The Chet, P-Boo) – 3:38
#"Accident Prone" (E, P-Boo) – 2:48
#"Peach Blossom" (E, Koool G Murder, The Chet) – 4:05
#"On the Ropes" (E, Koool G Murder, The Chet) – 3:10
#"The Turnaround" (E, Koool G Murder, The Chet) – 4:49
#"New Alphabet" (E, Koool G Murder, The Chet) – 4:08
#"Stick Together" (E, Koool G Murder, The Chet, P-Boo, Knuckles) – 3:42
#"True Original" – 3:48
#"Open My Present" (E, P-Boo) – 3:09
#"You're My Friend" (E, Kool G Murder) – 3:47
#"I Am Building a Shrine" (E, P-Boo) – 3:35
#"Wonderful, Glorious" (E, Knuckles, Koool G Murder, The Chet) – 3:43
Deluxe edition bonus disc
#"Hold On to Your Hat" – 0:46
#"Your Mama Warned You" (E, P-Boo) – 3:09
#"I'm Your Brave Little Soldier" – 2:51
#"There's Something Strange" (E, The Chet, Koool G Murder) – 3:13
#"Happy Hour (We're Gonna Rock)" (E, John Parish, Koool G Murder) – 3:50
#"That's Not Really Funny" (Live 2011) (E, John Parish) – 4:55
#"In My Dreams" (Live 2010) (E, Koool G Murder) – 3:07
#"Prizefighter" (Live 2010) (E, Koool G Murder) – 3:01
#"Looking Up" (Live 2011) – 5:06
#"What I Have to Offer" (Live at
KEXP
KEXP-FM (90.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a non-commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station in Seattle, Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in indie music programmed by its disc jockeys. KEXP's studios are located at the Seattle Cent ...
) – 2:56
#"I Like the Way This Is Going" (Live at KEXP) – 2:13
#"Spectacular Girl" (Live at KEXP) – 3:32
#"
Summer in the City" (Live at KEXP) (John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, Steve Boone) – 2:12
Personnel
Eels
* The Chet – guitar
*
E – vocals, guitar,
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stat ...
* Knuckles – drums
* Koool G Murder – bass guitar
* P-Boo – guitar
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
External links
Eels' homepage on ''Wonderful, Glorious''
{{Authority control
2013 albums
Eels (band) albums
Albums produced by Mark Oliver Everett
Vagrant Records albums