The Killers - Imploding the Mirage (August 21, 2020) Album • Page 29

man i love "here with me," i don't give a shit. battle born is an amazing record

 

the coda of "a matter of time" is the best part of the entire killers discography, change my mind (you can't)

 

But the “whoa oh oh’s” in the verses are one of my least favorite parts in their discography. But the chorus and ending are good

 

I think Battleborn is really great still but definitely not in my top 3 killers albums. I think that alternate track list seems like it would help. I always wished they went with one producer for it because it always sounded so tonally inconsistent to me. I’d also cut Miss Atomic Bomb though. Probably my least fav single from them

 

Battle Born is a very professional, well-made rock album. It’s also my least favourite Killers album. Yes, there’s a lot of similarities to Imploding the Mirage in terms of feel, so it might seem strange to rate them differently - I just find there’s stronger choruses, more interesting instrumental/production quirks, more passionate vocals from Brandon (see Dying Breed/MOSW for obvious examples), and it doesn’t outstay it’s welcome. There’s also the return of big synth lines as main hooks like in early Killers, something that’s pretty much absent from Battle Born.

I basically agree with SerenityNow’s album order, might even put Imploding the Mirage on a par with Hot Fuss but that’s probably just because I’m listening to it a lot right now.

 

Man, of all the criticisms I’ve heard of Battle Born, I never expected Flowers’ vocals would be one of the targets. To me, that’s handily his best album vocally. Just out of this world performances on songs that are generally quite difficult to sing.

 

I’ve always ranked their records so that their new one was my new top, that they get better with each with WW being the exception (though I still enjoy it quite a bit). Battle Born has been my favorite since it’s release, but ITM feels like it’s gonna top it for me.

It’s interesting to hear so many others least favorites from BB I love. Deadlines for instance. I love that tempo and groove on drums (it’s one of my favorites to play and hits the perfect spot for me groove wise). The synths and piano really do it for me and I find a lot of his melodies to be really compelling on that one. Plus the drums and bass dueling solo in the bridge is legitimately one of my favorite moments from them.

I get it tho, different tastes and all. Just had to voice my Battle Born/D&C love.

 

I went back and kinda sampled the songs on Battle Born for my comment earlier because it had been awhile, and the song that has been completely stuck inside my head since doing so is Deadlines and Commitments.

 

I am up there higher than most in defending Battle Born, however funny enough, this is the one track I skip lol

I’ll have to revisit that specific track soon!

 

I've always liked it so I'm biased. As bodkins said, it has a great groove and cool drumming.

 

Great interview with Brandon and Andy Greenwald on this week’s episode of the Watch:
‎The Watch on Apple Podcasts

 

BF doesn’t sing the word “cell phone” once on Mirage, so it’s automatically the better album imo.

 

True I hate how he references something nobody has anymore, album is already dated 8 years later

 

It dates the music in the opposite way. Also he sounds like a teenager that’s trying to be deep & emotional for the first time in their life but in the end just comes off shallow & melodramatic.

I still vividly remember the first time I spun BB and heard that. I laughed out loud.

 

Agreed that it’s probably the best technical vocal performance on Battle Born, I think I just slightly prefer when Brandon gets a bit desperate and shouty at times. For me Imploding the Mirage is a great balance of the more mature voice control of Battle Born and the raw passion of Sam’s Town.

For what it’s worth, my Battle Born edit is:

Flesh and Bone
Runaways
The Way It Was
A Matter Of Time
Deadlines and Commitments
Carry Me Home
The Rising Tide
From Here On Out
Be Still
Battle Born

 

I have no idea what that criticism means, for any band, but especially in the context of the Killers, a thoroughly modern band who tend to write about plenty of modern things.

 

I love that we can all agree that Carry Me Home is awesome and should have made the album proper.

 

Battle Born is trash. “From Here on Out” is excellent though.

Sam’s Town
Imploding the Mirage
Hot Fuss
Day & Age





Battle Born
Wonderful Wonderful

 

It's just too much cheese for me. plus, for a band that lives to chase the sound of springsteen and other 80's acts, talking about a cell phone is an anachronism.

 

100% this.

 

I personally think it's more impressive when he can sing with the restraint and control of something like "Be Still," though I love him really going for it on "My Own Soul's Warning" and a bunch of the other songs on Mirage.

Cutting "Miss Atomic Bomb" is a hot take I cannot agree on at all, though.

 

Also, 100% this.

 

Sorry, but this is a wildly dumb take. Making music with classic rock influences means you can't write about anything modern? I don't even really like "Here with Me" that much, but it is not an anachronism to write about cell phones in a song that came out in 2012 just because you like Bruce Springsteen.

 

Also, if you don't like "cheese," I really don't know how you ever liked The Killers in the first place. Like, how did you not jump off the train at "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier"?

 

Think about it, do you really want to hear Bruce wailing about spending too much time on the internet?

also, I said too much cheese. I can stomach some, which is why I like the Killers & love that soul line.