Released: 2017

Genres: New Wave

The Musiquarium’s Wonderful Wonderful Review Score: 6.5 out of 10

After a 5 year absence since the dreadfully milquetoast Battle Born, Brandon Flowers and The Killers are back with Wonderful Wonderful, which is a huge improvement over its predecessor, though it still falls short of the standard set by Hot Fuss and Sam’s Town all those years ago.

The Man is a silly funk song, but its also one of the most fun singles The Killers have released in over a decade; it portrays modest Mormon Brandon Flowers, as some hot-headed playboy and while it could have easily came off as corny, it manages to be endearing instead.The title track is a fairly epic opener and one of their most sonically-visceral songs, though it’s a little too similar to U2’s Bullet the Blue Sky.

The robotic swagger of The Calling recalls Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus. Run for Cover and Tyson vs. Douglas have the band revisiting their post-punk revival roots. Songs like Rut, Life to Come and Have All the Songs Been Written? fall into the sappy pop ballad category that plagued Battle Born.

Wonderful Wonderful isn’t quite a comeback for The Killers, as only half of the songs here are interesting — it’s a far cry from the peaks of The Killers’ early days, but it’s far more engaging than anything else they’ve released in the past decade and has a handful of excellent tracks.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view The Killers on Discogs.

Back to the 2017 Album Guide or the The Killers Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard