Critical reception
"Wonderful Life" was well received from music critics. Digital Spy gave the song five out of five stars writing:"Over noirishly simmering synths,frontman Theo Hutchcraft tells the story of a suicidal man saved from jumping off the Severn Bridge by the strike of love at first sight. The rest,quite frankly,speaks for itself. Classy video? Check. Haunting vocals? You got 'em. Epic instrumental breakdown two-thirds of the way through? Seriously,it's all here." [2] The Guardian reviewer Paul Lester wrote:"Wonderful Life is a heart-piercing future classic. Close your eyes and you're transported back to 1987,with the pristine production and melodies." [3] Fraser McAlpine of BBC Chart Blog gave the song four out of five stars and described it as a sad song with "bitterly optimistic lyrics". [4] Brent DiCrescenzo from Time Out Chicago gave "Wonderful Life" four out of five stars and called it a "immaculately crafted,melodramatic pop song[s]" [5] Sarah Walters of City Life gave the song three out of five stars. She felt the song was "a product of the 1980s",and wrote,"There are countless debts in here:the sentimental synth of the Pet Shop Boys or Fiction Factory,the dancefloor savvy of The Beloved,the emotional lyrical arch China Crisis or the dashes of saxophone used by Spandau Ballet and Black". [6] (Coincidentally,Black had a hit with a song of the same title). [7] Chris Maguire of AltSounds gave a mixed review:"It isn't ground-breaking by any means but it is a good example of pop music done well. Sure the lyrics aren't the greatest [...] but the chorus is good and will rattle around in your brain for quite a few hours after you have finished listening to it." [8]
In his book 'Albion's Secret History:Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders' Guy Mankowski wrote a chapter about the song,commenting that Hurts 'deftly created a European mythology of their own with their debut video for the single 'Wonderful Life'. Within four minutes they created an evocative visual landscape,rich with reference points,which proved that even in the contemporary era Europe retained a sense mystique for the English.' [9]
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