Maps of Music

Wonderful Wonderful (2017)

Where the lyrics of Wonderful Wonderful take you, and where it was really made.

Their first Billboard 200 number one came with this album, and its first-week UK sales beat the other top-five albums combined.

Key places

Recording at 11th Street Records (2017)

Recording site 11th Street Records — The album's tracks were recorded at 11th Street Records in Las Vegas, one of three studios credited for the recording. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at The Garage (2017)

Recording site The Garage — Some tracks were recorded at The Garage, placed on the map at the Topanga area's city-center point rather than the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Work at Battle Born Studios (2017)

Recording site Battle Born Studios — The band began working on the album at their own Battle Born Studios in Las Vegas. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Additional production at Tracques LA (2017)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Additional production for Out of My Mind was done at Tracques LA Studio in Los Angeles, shown at the city-center point. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Wonderful Wonderful: fifth studio album by American rock band the Killers
• Released 22 September 2017 by Island Records
• First studio album in five years, after Battle Born (2012)
• Fifth consecutive studio album to top the UK Albums Chart
• First album by the band to top the Billboard 200

Background

• Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning exchanged ideas for the fifth album from May 2015
• The four members reconvened in October 2015, a few months earlier than planned
• The band began work at their own Battle Born Studios and rented houses in Joshua Tree National Park and San Diego
• They briefly recorded with Ryan Tedder and other producers in Los Angeles
• Jacknife Lee, recommended by U2 frontman Bono, produced all tracks alongside the Killers
• Bassist Mark Stoermer took an extended break from touring in May 2016 but kept working on the album
• Flowers said the title came from a storm he saw while in the desert

Recording

• Lee worked with the band between September 2016 and May 2017 at his home studio in Topanga, California, and at National SouthWestern Recording studios in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Additional production by Erol Alkan on "The Man" and Stuart Price on "Out of My Mind"
• Keuning announced a touring hiatus in August 2017, shortly after the recording, while staying with the band

Cover

• Photography by Anton Corbijn
• Art direction and design by Joe Spix and Brandon Flowers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals).
• Mark Stoermer (bass, rhythm guitar, backing vocals) and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. (drums, percussion) joined in 2002, completing the lineup.
• The name comes from a fictional band in the music video for the New Order song "Crystal".

Members

• Brandon Flowers: lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizer.
• Dave Keuning: guitar, backing vocals; on hiatus since 2017, returned in 2020.
• Ronnie Vannucci Jr.: drums, percussion.
• Mark Stoermer: bass, backing vocals; on hiatus 2020–2022.

Career

• Seven studio albums, each topping the UK Albums Chart, from Hot Fuss (2004) to Pressure Machine (2021).
• Sold more than 35 million records worldwide and performed in over 50 countries.
• Annual Christmas singles for Product Red from 2006 to 2016 raised over $1 million for AIDS-related charity.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic average of 71 out of 100, based on 25 reviews from mainstream publications
• Generally positive reviews from music critics
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine saw Flowers as clearly the auteur behind the record, as he was with The Desired Effect
• NME's Barry Nicolson gave four stars and called it the band's best album since Sam's Town (2006)
• The Guardian gave four stars and described the songs as the band's best in a decade
• Rolling Stone gave 3.5 stars, the same rating it gave Hot Fuss and Day & Age
• Q magazine's Niall Doherty called it a glossy indie-pop album
• Pitchfork's Jason Green gave the highest rating any Killers studio album had received from the publication
• Stereogum's Pranav Trewn called it the band's most emphatic embodiment of purposelessness
• The Times' Will Hodgkinson was critical and compared it to U2's grandiosity

Records

• Debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, the band's first chart-topper there, with 118,000 album-equivalent units (111,000 pure album sales)
• Sold 51,756 copies in the UK in its first week, including 2,711 from sales-equivalent streams
• Made The Killers the first international act whose first five studio albums all reached number one in the UK
• First-week UK sales exceeded the combined sales of the rest of the top five albums
• Had sold 182,853 copies in the UK as of August 2020
• Debuted atop the Australian albums chart
• Was Canada's top-selling album in its debut week, but streaming factoring placed it in the top five
• Entertainment Weekly named "Have All the Songs Been Written" the 28th best song of 2017

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits was invited to play a guitar part on "Have All the Songs Been Written?"
• "Have All the Songs Been Written?" started as the subject line of an email Flowers sent to Bono during a bout of writer's block
• The Calling opens with a Bible verse read by actor Woody Harrelson
• "Rut" was inspired by Flowers' wife Tana's struggle with PTSD
• The album's CD edition came in a gatefold cardboard sleeve with a 16-page booklet of artwork, photos, lyrics and credits

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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