Wonderful, Glorious

留着浓密的落腮胡，拥有一副沙哑嗓音的唱作人Mark Oliver Everett（简称E）所领军的Eels，无疑是加州独立摇滚乐队中的品质保证。打从2009年至2010年所发表的三部曲概念作品《Hombre Lobo》、《End Times》、《Tomorrow Morning》之後，睽违三年，交出了他们第十张创作大碟《Wonderful, Glorious》。

本张专辑的特别之处在於录音地点移师至加州Los Feliz，也就是E所新设立的自家录音室The Compound，堪称为宅录的最高境界。而整张专辑更在没有任何拘束与计划下，与乐队成员包括两位吉它手The Chet和P-Boo、贝斯手Koool G Murder以及鼓手Knuckles共同Jam出。「如果录音室中的任何人有不错的想法提出，我们都会尝试去做」E如是说。於是乎《Wonderful, Glorious》便成为充满高度即兴和玩趣的产物。

专辑开场曲〈Bombs Away〉以强有力的鼓击袭来，与E宣泄式的歌声相辅相成。随後〈Kinda Fuzzy〉与专辑首支单曲〈Peach Blossom〉则大刀阔斧地展现摇滚架势，皆为节奏鲜明且律动感十足之作，尤其是那模糊贝斯声线加上错落有致的阵阵鼓声，听来甚是痛快！除了上述让人摇头晃脑的摇滚曲外，〈Accident Prone〉、〈The Turnaround〉、〈True Original〉则是散发同是天涯沦落人的悲伤苦情。即将作为专辑第二波主打单曲的〈New Alphabet〉，换上怪怪独立摇滚曲式，搭配MV一同享用，只得绝配二字来形容。负责结尾的专辑同名曲〈Wonderful, Glorious〉在丰富的编曲与E的演唱中，展现愉悦情怀，是一完美句点。

时而疯巅愤怒、时而颓废悲伤，多年功力练就的收放自若，在《Wonderful, Glorious》里更见完整美好。Eels果真不俗！

by Gregory Heaney

On his tenth album under the Eels moniker, Mark "E" Everett continues to follow his musical muse wherever it'll take him with Wonderful, Glorious. After so many records it seems like E would be well past the point of any new firsts, but this is the first album to be recorded in his expansive new studio, mysteriously named The Compound, as well as the first album written in collaboration with the rest of the band. This more open, organic process comes through on the songs, providing E and company with a refreshing amount of creative freedom after the relative confinement of doing a conceptual three-album trilogy (2009's Hombre Lobo and 2010's End Times and Tomorrow Morning). While this process and studio have made their impact musically, Eels fans can rest assured that E's melancholic, beaten-down lyricism remains intact. Proclaiming "Every time I find myself in this old bind, watching the death of all my hopes/In the ring so long gonna prove 'em wrong, I'm not knocked out but I'm on the ropes" during the sad yet hopeful "On the Ropes," the album finds Everett in a more grounded and, relatively, positive place. This feeling is reinforced on "New Alphabet," where Everett lets us know "It's looking good, I dug my way out/I'm changing up what the story's about," making it clear that this new way of making music is working for him both artistically and personally, and though there's plenty of evidence that E is still out there suffering for his art, it seems that his days are a little less dark than usual.