by The Eels
Knowing E’s dark sense of humour it’s no surprise that Wonderful Glorious is not all the uplifting tome this album’s title might suggest, but it does get there in the end. This, Eels tenth studio album is no more celebratory than End Times was in 2010 or Beautiful Freak was in 1996, but it’s every bit as Eels in sound. It’s a vibrant and dynamic journey in troubadour songwriting with many tracks coming from the point of a view of a man who has found himself at a crossroads in life. It’s no coincidence that this album came out of a time when Everett had just released his biography Things The Grandchildren Should Know. This album is reflective in many ways and downright ominous in others. The trials of a man fighting for his life, his sanity and the search for meaning. He found it in sharing the songwriting on this album with his four bandmates on Wonderful Glorious. In the end, hope does win out on this record.
“Either you don’t try and just let life go by, or you give it a shot and let the bombs drop and try to put a positive spin on it, all while hoping for the best. Every day you’ve got a choice.” - Mark Everett
Claire Stuchbery – Firewater
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