The Killers Band • Page 21

See, I feel the exact opposite. I've always found "Joyride" to be fun and think "I Can't Stay" is atrocious. But I did just go back and listen to them both now and "Joyride" is rougher than I remember.

"White Demon Love Song" has them both beat.

 

The Desired Effect never really clicked for me, I'll have to give it another listen soon.

Flamingo is my 2nd favorite after Sam's Town.

 

“Still Want You” is fun.

Both of those Day & Age songs are okay.

“White Demon Love Song” is one of their better songs. Maybe their most underrated.

“Get Trashed” is by far the worst Killers song, but as far as album tracks go I’d say it might be “Here with Me.” I’ve tried so hard to make that song work for me in some context, I just cannot.

“Swallow It” is definitely Brandon’s worst solo track.

 

I really did not like Day & Age at first. I've come around on it--actually writing something for the 10-year--but "Joyride" is the song that has never clicked for me. It's just a trainwreck, for me.

I forgot "White Demon Love Song" was a thing. Yep, not great.

Get out of here, "Here with Me" is fantastic!

"Swallow It" is definitely bad. Brandon was not very good at picking closers for a long time.

 

No way. The worst Brandon song is any last track on a killers album after Sam's Town. The band consistently misses hard on closing strong.

 

Even Battle Born??? That song is phenomenal and a fantastic closer to that album!

 

"Battle Born" is the second best Brandon closer period. First if you consider "Exitlude" the closer on Sam's Town, instead of "Why Do I Keep Counting?" Otherwise, yeah, the closers are pretty consistently among my least favorite tracks in his discography. I like "The Way It's Always Been," I just think "The Desired Effect" would have been a better capper.

 

Yes. I actually disregard BB entirely. Nothing on it grabs me.

 

Debating grabbing this

 

Wish I would’ve not been a dumbass and preordered the Don’t Waste Your Wishes vinyl last year.

 

Yea, I really want that Christmas album. Can see myself overpaying for it at some point in the future.

 

I wrote about Day & Age for its 10-year anniversary, which was yesterday.

The Killers - Day & Age • chorus.fm

 

Excellent write up as usual, Craig. I can't believe it's been ten years.

I agree with almost every single point you make about the album here, but even still this might actually be the Killers album that I listen to the most. I would never argue that it's their best album, but I'll be damned if I don't enjoy the hell out of it. Granted, my verison drops two tracks out and adds three of the b-sides back in, but it's not like they are songs that make it any more cohesive, I just think they are better songs.

I did the exact same thing with the closer "Goodnight, Travel Well" where I had skipped it so much I finally deleted it altogether, but I've come around on it in recent years and grown to appreciate it.

 

What’s your alternate tracklist? I never cared much for any of the b-sides, but I’m curious how you tweaked everything.

 

I swap out 'Joyride' for 'A Crippling Blow' and 'I Can't Stay' for 'Forget About What I Said' and then add in 'Tidal Wave' for an 11 track album.

The only one out of those three that I would argue is legitmately a really good song is 'Tidal Wave' but I think both of those two are leagues better than those two album songs. I had 'Tidal Wave' as my closer for a long time but like I said, I've come around on 'Goodnigh, Travel Well' in a big way lately.

I wish Brandon Flowers didn't let the critics get to him as much as he seems to. To me, Battle Born might be their greatest album and it's a damn epic beast even if I do listen to this weird album much more. The alternate timeline of a Brandon-led Killers who don't care at all what critics is insane to even think about.

 

I'll have to try that. I like "I Can't Stay," even though it feels more like it should have been on a Brandon solo record. It has a very pleasant melody. "Joyride" is a pure dud, though. Nothing I like about that song.

Those first three records followed a "once every two years" schedule. If they'd continued with that, we would have gotten five Killers records in the 10 years since Day & Age, instead of just two. Instead I guess we got two solo records, but I still kind of wonder what those would have been like as band records.

 

I would have loved to have seen all the albums have been Killers albums. As much as I like "The Desired Effect", and I love that album, I think it would have been even better as a Killers album. "Flamingo" there's no question in my mind would have been better. I don't think that's a very good album.

 

The Desired Effect is the one I think would probably have been great either way. I don't necessarily think you need the band on there, but they probably would have added to the weaker tracks like "Digging up the Heart." I like Flamingo a lot. I think the songwriting is very strong (especially on stuff like "Jilted Lovers" and "Hard Enough"), but also think the arrangements/production are lacking character. The muscle of the band would have made that a really great record.

 

I love Day & Age, and The World We Live In would be my first choice to swap out for a B-side. Their worst ever single choice IMO, plus Tidal Wave and A Crippling Blow are so much better

 

I just re-listened to Day & Age and Wonderful Wonderful on my drive in to work today. I even put on the actual albums, not my tweaked tracklists, but I did listen to the b-sides at the end. I still cannot stand "I Can't Stay" to this day, its like nails on a chalkboard for me. "Joyride" I do enjoy a little bit more but think it's very dumb and I like it less and less every time I hear it. "A Dustland Fairytale" has got to be the best song on here and feels like it just dropped in from a vastly superior Killers album. As others have mentioned, that song on Battle Born would have been amazing. I absolutely love Neon Tiger and have since the very first time I heard that drum intro. I can't even argue with any of the criticisms I have heard of the song but for me its like 100% pure bliss being piped into my eardrums.

Wonderful Wonderful is a solid album, but looking back I feel like it was the one that suffered from such close proximity to The Desired Effect, which is a damn masterpiece. I agree with Craig in that I do think a few of the weaker tracks on TDE would have been a little better with The Killers playing as the band, but it doesn't make or break the album - but I don't know to what degree WW even is a 'Killers' album anyway. I know the party line is that it's a full band album and that 50% of the band just sat out the touring, but when I listen to it I only hear the whole band on a few of the tracks. It sounds to me like a Brandon solo album with Ronnie drumming on every song and the other two dropping in for guest spots on a few of the songs. I don't know if that's just what The Killers are now, because a lot of the stuff I see is just Brandon and Ronnie anyway. My favorite song of the whole bunch ("Money On Straight") didn't even make the actual album, and I was massively let down by the closer "Have All The Songs Been Written" after getting so hyped up at the thought of a Killers/Mark Knopfler collab.

 

The Killers - Don't Waste Your Wishes 180-Gram Vinyl LP

Wont be here until January, but I already ordered. Not gonna be a dumbass two years in a row.

 

Thank you for sharing! I did not know this was happening and have been kicking myself for missing the opportunity to order this last year.

 

Weren't the christmas songs on spotify at some point? Wanted to listen to Boots yesterday and none of them are there and Don't Waste Your Wishes isn't either?

 

On Apple Music, they’re under a “compilations” section. Maybe it’s the same on Spotify?


EDIT: just checked, is not :(