Wonderful Wonderful
by The Killers
  • Record Label: Island
  • Release Date: Sep 22, 2017
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 25
  3. Negative: 1 out of 25
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. Spin
    Oct 2, 2017
    80
    Wonderful Wonderful is the Killers’ strongest statement since 2005, a more than okay affirmation of their power to keep a global audience.
  2. Boston Globe
    Sep 25, 2017
    80
    The knock on them has always been that their albums surround great singles with skip-able filler, but this time out they’ve put together a relatively tight, cohesive record. It’s not without its flaws, but Wonderful Wonderful still might be the best Killers album yet.
  3. DIY Magazine
    Sep 22, 2017
    80
    An album without an obvious theme or concept it may be, but somehow, it’s still quintessentially The Killers. It may not be the all-out stadium epic we’ve come to expect from the band but it’s still wonderful (wonderful).
  5. The Guardian
    Sep 21, 2017
    80
    This is certainly big music, which is all the better for its more intimate, touching soul.
  6. New Musical Express (NME)
    Sep 21, 2017
    80
    [Flowers] bares more on Wonderful Wonderful than ever before, and the result is the band’s best album since 2006’s ‘Sam’s Town’.
  7. AllMusic
    Sep 21, 2017
    80
    The record charms because its ridiculousness is sincere and his sincerity is ridiculous--two qualities that make him and his art messy and quite genuine.
  8. The Line of Best Fit
    Sep 21, 2017
    80
    Wonderful Wonderful is not an about-turn, not an exercise in New Earnestness, but the latest step in becoming the most concise version of themselves--it is true because it concentrates the traces of what they have always been.
  9. Q Magazine
    Sep 19, 2017
    80
    Wonderful Wonderful is a glossy indie-pop album with sonics as slick and glistening as a brand-new Vegas skyscraper. [Oct 2017, p.110]
    All this publication's reviews
  10. Entertainment Weekly
    Sep 22, 2017
    75
    Although the new album doesn’t live up to its effusive title by recapturing the glory of Sam’s Town--there’s no “When You Were Young” here--it affirms that the Killers are far from dead yet.
  11. Consequence
    Sep 19, 2017
    75
    Wonderful Wonderful is likely the most self-conscious Killers album ever.
  12. Paste Magazine
    Sep 22, 2017
    73
    The beauty of The Killers is that you can start at any point. Each album is as good as the last and those that came after it. To that end, Wonderful Wonderful works as a perfect introduction or a delightful continuation.
  13. musicOMH.com
    Oct 9, 2017
    70
    While Wonderful Wonderful certainly isn’t The Killers’ best record--or even their second best--it is a welcome return to form after some time in the wilderness.
  14. Rolling Stone
    Sep 22, 2017
    70
    What's great about Wonderful Wonderful, though, is that they seem in on the joke, doubling down on their hugeness fetish while wink-winking their way to the bank.
  15. Exclaim
    Sep 22, 2017
    70
    Despite its flaws, Wonderful Wonderful is a welcome course correction, a relatively personal record from a too-often facile group.
  16. Slant Magazine
    Sep 20, 2017
    70
    Wonderful Wonderful finds them more comfortable in their own skin: They've managed to condense their operatic impulses into an album of tight, relatively low-key pop songs.
  17. Pitchfork
    Sep 22, 2017
    63
    No tens here—sixes and sevens abound, for sure, a few fives, maybe an eight. Even mired among the sixes, though, you can feel the palpable yearning.

Awards & Rankings

62
#62 Most Discussed Album of 2017
64
#64 Most Shared Album of 2017

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 138 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 121 out of 138
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 138
  3. Negative: 5 out of 138
  1. Noiseblock
    Sep 22, 2017
    7
    Five years have passed since the last studio-album of the Killers. Five years in which the band-members potentially had time to reshape,Five years have passed since the last studio-album of the Killers. Five years in which the band-members potentially had time to reshape, rethink and reevaluate what they wanted to deliver, in which direction they wanted to go. And they definitely had to reshape some things to an extent. Because what exactly are The Killers at this point?

    Since they are such a household name, the Killers seem to have a very consistent style of music which numerous fans enjoy, yet in truth, there seem to be two styles of The Killers, not just one. The Killers from Hot Fuss to Sam´s Town are very different from the Killers from Day & Age to Battleborn and just as varying may be the degree to which a fan of one style can enjoy the other one. So what style did they choose for Wonderful Wondeful? Strangely enough, a little bit of both and somehow it works.

    It is fascinating to see that all the highlights of the album are fundamentally different and could fit inot either of the band´s two phases. The Man is a grooving, sarcastic and plain fun 80-s popsong while Run for Cover is a relentless onslaught of Hot Fuss/Sam´s Town postpunk-reminiscent energy. Still more fascinating, the other highlight, Wonderful Wondeful, is a wholly different, darker approach to their usual repertoire. In that sense, the album is even borderline experimental in changing up the typical Killers-sound to some extent. More sinister tones shine through on said Wonderful Wonderful while The Calling follows this approach, giving the band more room to experiment outside of their usual comfort-zone. And it checks out. Aside from this, Out of mind, Tyson vs Douglas and Life to Come congeal the guitar-driven and 80s-pop sound to a fitting whole and make up the other solid-very good part of the album.

    Yet there are two things which drag this album down a bit. Brandon Flowers has this special charisma oozing from his voice, so why he chooses to not have two ballads, but three on the album, baffles me to some extent. For me, the Killers have always worked best when they embraced this energy and ran with it unapologetically, forging strong narratives while not slowing themselves down musically (see for example: Uncle Jonny, Spaceman) The ballads, while all solidly written, take some of the energy and swagger away from Wonderful Wonderful and push it down a nodge. "Rut" works because the personal message feels genuine and there is an actual story worth telling, yet "Have all the songs been written" drifts off into what feels like a tad tedious, halfbaked reflections on Flowers´s writing-blockage and "Some kind of love" just isn´t terribly interesting. Besides this, while mixing up their style is commendable and it really works on a song-basis, the album does not exactly feel like an "album", it feels more like a compilation of singular songs. Some may say that the album lacks a bit of an identity or at least a common thread thorughout ... and they would not be easily disproven. So the question what the Killers are is left to debate after Wonderful Wonderful. Still, it´s hard to be really upset about this when many of these songs just work this well though.    … Full Review »
  2. inner_bliss
    Sep 24, 2017
    10
    This album is right up there for me, with the best releases of the year. It's a soul-stirring album, where the band is experimenting with someThis album is right up there for me, with the best releases of the year. It's a soul-stirring album, where the band is experimenting with some new sounds and a new approach to their lyrical themes, that are more personal than ever. There are a few The Killers classic anthems in there, too. With this album, Brandon Flowers sets in as one of the most talented singer-songwriters of the music industry today. Either a longtime fan or new to the "Victims" (The Killers' fans) Wonderful Wonderful will not dissapoint.… Full Review »
  3. anama0319
    Sep 22, 2017
    9
    I have been a fan of The killers for many years and I had really low expectations towards this record, however, The Killers never disappoints,I have been a fan of The killers for many years and I had really low expectations towards this record, however, The Killers never disappoints, so much emotion and epicness in every song makes this album the best from the last 3.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »