Wonderful, Glorious may just be an extension of the great trilogy of Eels albums that preceded it. It is closest in attitude to Tomorrow Morning from those three records but leaves less of a permanent stamp on your ear drums than that album did.

The fuzz guitar on songs like “New Alphabet” coat the album and only accent E’s great songwriting skills. The machine-like drums of “Bombs Away” draw you in as the opening songs builds to a loose and wild climax. The echoey drums on “Peach Blossom” sound like they are coming from a long hallway made out of tin before the songs shifts in and out of softer moments. Where Wonderful, Glorious comes up short of the high mark left by Tomorrow Morning is on the slower ballads. “True Original” fails to keep from falling into the corny lyrics category and “Accident Prone” just doesn’t have the punch of many of the Eels slower tunes. The exception is the beautiful slower song “On The Ropes” that works as an optimistic mantra of sorts.

The Eels appear to have found their wheel house and are making the most consistent records of their career at this point. The guitar fuzz and fragile lyrics have formed a sound that belongs almost solely to the Eels. The album is a solid listen and well worth the time; although it doesn’t quite measure up to Tomorrow Morning and especially Hombre Lobo.

Key Tracks: “New Alphabet” “On The Ropes” “Kinda Fuzzy”