The Killers - Pressure Machine (8.13.21) Album • Page 11

Jenny bass line one of the GOATs

 

I know rearranging tracklists on albums pisses a lot of people off on here, so usually try not to talk about it too too much. I do think it makes sense for certain albums that just don't really work yet still contain good songs, though. But swapping out a bad song for an awesome b-side or bonus track makes perfect sense.

To stick with The Killers / Brandon Flowers theme - it doesn't make any fucking sense at all to me that he left the title track off of The Desired Effect. It's an amazing song, it fits in perfectly well stylistically with all of the other songs, it has the same name as the damn album, and that's not a very long album with a ton of songs as it is. Why not slot the song somewhere into the tracklist where it makes sense? In general I like listening to the closer last, so just slapping an extra song onto the end of an album sucks.

Or with a different artist, take Brain Fallon / TGA and a song like "Blue Dahlia" - he has straight up said it was a mistake to not have it on Handwritten and that he wishes it had been. "Mae" into "National Anthem" closes that album perfectly, so I don't really want to then blast "Blue Dahlia" right after that. But if there were a weaker song towards the back half of that album, like, I don't know, say track 9 or something, especially a song that is kinda stylistically similar to "Blue Dahlia" only not nearly as good, why not slot "Blue Dahlia" in right there and still have the album flow almost exactly the same but now with a much, much, much better song instead of a clunker…???

 

Pressure Machine (official track listing)

1. West Hills
2. Quiet Town
3. Terrible Thing
4. Cody
5. Sleepwalker
6. Runaway Horses (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
7. In the Car Outside
8. In Another Life
9. Desperate Things
10. Pressure Machine
11. The Getting By


Phoebe!!!!

 

So I’m predestined to like 8 & 11 just off track titles alone. Got it.

 

Every single little tidbit we have heard from this has been so good. I am really hoping there are no singles or anything and it's just an album drop and we all get to listen to this whole thing.

 

I think we talked about it in a Killers thread before, but here's where I ended up. I don't believe I have ever heard "Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf", but I also don't think "Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll" sonically belongs on the album.

Is the tracklist officially out yet?

edit: oh there it is. reallllly depends on my mood to be honest but right now it's "Desperate Things", which is pure "Highway Patrolman" but with some great soundscape-y things from Everett and Rado
edit2: i take it back, the title track is just too good. does exactly what you want a title track to do -- slots the whole album into context

 

I do think Hot Fuss should be listened to as-is, but if I were to change it in any way, it would look like this -->

1. Jenny Was A Friend of Mine
2. Mr. Brightside
3. Smile Like You Mean It
4. Somebody Told Me
5. All These Things That I've Done
6. Under The Gun
7. On Top
8. Change Your Mind
9. Believe Me Natalie
10. Midnight Show
11. The Ballad of Michael Valentine

I respect "Andy, You're a Star" more than I actually enjoy it, but "Everything Will Be Alright" is pretty bad.

 

If you’re slotting “Under the Gun” in, you’ve got to put it after “On Top.” Those two songs pair incredibly well together.

“Indie Rock and Roll” works well between “Midnight Show” and “Everything Will Be Alright.” The brightness of it makes me appreciate the darkness of “Everything Will Be Alright” more.

 

Yeah, that would work fine too. I literally just swapped it in for Andy.

Indie Rock & Roll really doesn't fit the whole overall sound of the album, in my opinion. I'm kinda surprised it was the bonus track they picked to add to the UK version. Also, I just don't think it's that great of a song.

 

I mean, it sounds like “Change Your Mind.” It’s not really that big of a leap to put it on the album. Are you listening to the original version, or the Sawdust re-record?

 

The Sawdust version is the only one I've ever heard. I didn't even know it was re-recorded. That's kind of a bummer. I always figured those Sawdust tracks were from the same recording sessions.

 

That makes more sense to me, then. The Sawdust version sounds nothing like Hot Fuss because they re-recorded it after Sam's Town and Brandon had adopted a completely different way of singing by then, so it sounds more like Sam's Town era than Hot Fuss era. They definitely re-recorded "Under the Gun," too. Interestingly, I think the version of "Michael Valentine" on there is actually the Hot Fuss sessions version.

The original versions of "Indie Rock and Roll" and "Under the Gun" have that dirtier Hot Fuss sound and Brandon's rougher vocals, which suits the songs and makes them fit with the rest of the album a lot better. They were circulating on P2P sites when Hot Fuss came out, which is when I got my hands on them originally, and then the band released an expanded version of the album at some point that had those original versions on there.

Here are the originals:

 

Actually, the wiki page for Sawdust notes which ones they re-recorded.

Sawdust (album) - Wikipedia

Looks like "Under the Gun," "Indie Rock and Roll," "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf," and "Sweet Talk" all got re-recorded in '07.

 

This thread made me realize my vinyl copy of Hot Fuss has GIR&R on it and I'm bummed because I really dig Change Your Mind. Didn't even realize there were two different tracklistings.

 

had no idea about any of this detail and now i love these versions way more than the sawdust versions

 

Yeah, this has been hugely informative. I'm glad to know all of this. Can't believe I had no idea.

That version of Indie Rock & Roll sounds much more like a part of Hot Fuss. I'm not usually that attuned to sonic differences, like differences in the recording or mixing or mastering of the music, but there was a marked and hugely noticeable change in Brandon's singing style. The Sawdust version of Indie Rock & Roll sounds so different than anything on Hot Fuss, I was always kinda flabbergasted by that decision. It all makes more sense now.

 

Yeah the Sawdust version of Glamorous is kind of lame, the original version just fits so much better.

 

Yeah, I genuinely don’t understand why they re-recorded those songs. The Sawdust versions are just completely wrong for the mood and feel of the songwriting. The Hot Fuss sessions versions are so much better.

 

The Killers Couldn't Tour Last Year. So They Wrote an Ambitious New Concept Album

 

Any fan club presale codes floating out there?

 

I'd also love one after you get yours!

 

I’m a little worried about the interviews being on every song. Hoping it will still be enjoyable

 

Whoa this sounds dope. description made me think of a softer pop rock version of Titus Andronicus - the Monitor for some reason.

 

It sounds like they are at the beginning of every song.

 

The Killers On 'Pressure Machine,' Bruce Springsteen, Phoebe Bridgers, & What's Next

Cool to know they saw that boygenius cover of “Read My Mind.”