The Killers Band • Page 13

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THIS! It's so...I don't know? Flat? Devoid of passion? Bloated?

 

Gonna join the meh on battleborn camp. I Love "runaways" but most of the album is a snooze.

 

It will take a book. In all seriousness, if I get the time this weekend I will write up some thoughts.

Thought I liked most of Hot Fuss when it came out, Battle Born was the record that made me a die hard Killers fan. I went backwards from there and Hot Fuss greeted me like an old friend. Love all four of their records and find Battle Born to be anything other than passionless and flat. I'll write some more when I have some time to gather my thoughts.

 

Yeah, for the life of me I could not get into Battle Born. At all.

 

While Battle Born has IMO the best ending of any Killers album (Be Still is their best slow song, and going into Battle Born - the song - works really well), it's my least favourite of their albums, although still pretty listenable

Most of the album felt very....I dunno, competent? Fairly pleasant, and it's obviously got all the standard "Killers" elements as people have pointed out, but not the sort of feeling that makes an artist one of your favourites, which the Killers are for me. They surprised me on every other album, which they didn't do on this one

If I had to rank the Killers albums alongside Brandon's solo stuff (apologies, I've not listened to Big Talk or Mark's solo work fully), it'd be:

Sam's Town
Day & Age
The Desired Effect
Hot Fuss
Battle Born
Flamingo

 

To me, Battle Born just feels so much more complete and so much more assured in the songwriting department than Day & Age. I've come around on Day & Age a lot over the years, but it's still an incoherent mess of an album, whereas the songs on Battle Born really hold together well as an album. It's also got their sharpest hook writing since the debut, and is the only Killers record without a dud.

 

My List is one of my favorite Killers songs of all-time, so I'd definitely disagree about Be Still being their best slow song.

I'd also rank Everything Will Be Alright and Goodnight, Travel Well above Be Still as well.

 

I like Battle Born but don't diss Day & Age to sell it. Day & Age has so many amazing songwriting and arrangement choices.

Most bands will never come close to something as compositionally interesting and seamless as "Losing Touch".

 

Day & Age has at least four of their worst songs ever, and isn't cohesive at all. It's got great moments as well, but it deserves to be dissed. Especially in relation to Battle Born, which was the follow up and successfully course corrected in every way.

 

I need this video to be much longer.

 

Sorry...even the Killers dont like Battleborn. Haha.

The Killers ‘unhappy’ about how ‘aimless’ they were making ‘Battle Born’

 

Brandon Flowers has also chosen three of the worst songs he ever wrote as closers, so I don't think he's the best judge of the quality of his music. Dude thought Day & Age was their best album when it came out.

 

He also liked Battle Born when it came out, and it seems he only changed his mind after getting a lot of negative reactions. Mostly from people like "I miss your old sound". So I wouldn't actually take him all that seriously.

 

This does not add up in my brain.

Also to be fair, Brandon has said every album is their best album in some form or another since their releases.

 

This.

 

I just kind of laugh at it at this point. If him not liking Battle Born is a reason for him to push himself that much harder on the new record, then more power to him. I just don't put much stock into what he says about his own art anymore.

"Everything Will Be Alright," "Goodnight Travel Well," and "Swallow It." Probably those, "Joyride," and "Uncle Jonny" would be my picks for the five weakest songs Brandon Flowers has put on records. Incidentally, three are closers.

He's picked the right closer exactly once, with "Battle Born." "Why Do I Keep Counting" is fantastic, but it's not technically the closing track, and "The Way It's Always Been" is good, but "The Desired Effect" would have been my preference as the closer.

 

I somehow missed The Desired Effect b-side, gonna have to check that one out. Agree that often their closers can be somewhat lackluster.

 

Ergh, that's tough. Definitely agree with Swallow It. That song is bad. I never understood why he thought it would be a good idea to have that as a closer over On The Floor. Just baffles me. But on the other hand, I love Everything Will Be Alright and Goodnight, Travel Well. I feel like both of those are the Killers at their most Cure-esque. The former literally borrows a line from A Night Like This, and the latter sounds like an (admirable) attempt at a Disintegration track. I love it. The emotion in both of those songs sell them completely.

I think Joy Ride is a fun song, reminds me of Bones. Like most of Day & Age songs, it's just in the wrong spot. That album has so much wasted potential in B-Sides, bonus tracks, and poor tracklisting.

Uncle Jonny is by far the worst track on Sam's Town, but I can forgive it a little bit. I mean, it kills live. And also I feel like Sawdust is full of songs which are in a similar vein to Uncle Jonny, which also highlights the path they almost took post-Hot Fuss (Move Away, Daddy's Eyes, etc.), and they weren't totally willing to let that vibe go to waste. So they put Uncle Jonny on Sam's Town. It ended up not being the best decision, and the weakest song on an otherwise fantastic album, but still, I get it in that context.

Agreed about "The Desired Effect" being a better closer all the way, and what you said about the other two. But if I really had to choose a bottom five Killers/Flowers tracks, I know it would include Get Trashed (the B-side so bad, they didn't even put it on the B-sides album), Here with Me, Swallow It, and Neon Tiger. Not sure about the fifth. But then again, I'm a fanboy.

 

I don't dislike any Killers or Brandon album and consider them/him to be one of my favorite artists/bands so I understand my judgement is clouded, but I consider Battle Born, as a whole, to be the weakest output of anything Brandon or the Killers has released. I still enjoy pretty much most of the tracks but I tend to think that it lacks a centralized feeling or sound. It reminds me of sawdust in the way that it's just a bunch of songs thrown together, but since this is an album and not a collection, that's not what you're looking for. I think Brandon still comes through as usual with great melodies and some great songwriting but it doesn't sound cohesive. Also, A lot of it reminds me too of stuff he/they have already done such as a Mr. Brightside pt 2 (miss automic bomb) with an instrumental melody very similar to "human". Even "be still" seemed to tread the same waters as "on the floor"... even some of the rootsy stuff sounds so much more like flamingo and not the killers, not that that's horrible, but going in I was hoping for something bolder

 

Also agree on "goodnight travel well", probably one of my least favorite killers songs but I actually love swallow it (love a good chorus in a low register) and uncle johnny, never understood the hate on that one, but then again, I too, am a fanboy.

 

"Swallow It" is so bad. It's such a mess of a song after such a good closing track. I never listen to it, even when I spin the vinyl.

I actually do listen to "Everything Will Be Alright" and "Goodnight Travel Well," but don't care for them much. "Everything" is just such a dull slog for me. I've always thought Hot Fuss was a very exciting album, and then that song just puts me to sleep, haha. I wish that album ended with "Indie Rock and Roll."

I've come around on "Goodnight Travel Well" a bit over the years. I initially thought it was almost painful to sit through. I like it more now, but it makes no sense as the closer on Day & Age to me. The rest of that album is almost silly or cartoonish, and it's so all over the place, and then you have this super dark closing track. It sounds like it belongs on a different album.

There are definitely other songs like "Uncle Jonny" on Sawdust. I just wish they'd put one of those on there instead. I'd take "Move Away" in that slot in an instant.

"Get Trashed" is definitely not good, but I was going by songs that have actually been on albums. Their b-sides are generally more hit or miss for me. I love "Here with Me," though, especially the bridge. "Neon Tiger" isn't great, though. Definitely one of their weaker songs, though I tend to think of it more as mediocre than as something I actively dislike.

 

Daddy's Eyes should have replaced Uncle Jonny

 

I guess I missed that the Sam's Town 10 year vinyl was repressed after that limited run?
The Killers - Sam's Town 10th Anniversary Vinyl 2LP
Also new album preorder:
The Killers - Official Store

 

Is it Flowers who decides all of their album sequences or is it more of a full band decision?

 

I'm still such a huge fan of Hot Fuss. I think I was a sophomore in High School when that came out. I feel like that album was way ahead of its time. Damn album reminds me of high school house parties haha.

Recently started warming up to Battle Born since reading all the love for it in this thread.