The Killers Band • Page 5

Holy shit, what a weekend. Best show I've ever been to. I'll probably post more detailed thoughts later on, but man they crushed it. Got a "This River Is Wild" tattoo, also.

Also, Ronnie just revealed that they're in the studio with Jacknife Lee as a producer, with most of the album written. Sounds promising, hope it pans out.

Ten Years Later, The Killers' 'Sam's Town' Has Aged Better Than America Itself - Noisey

 

Here's my 10-year write-up. I combined it with my write-up for The Hold Steady's Boys & Girls in America, since they released on the same day.

The Killers' 'Sam's Town' and The Hold Steady's 'Boys and Girls in America,' 10 Years Later • chorus.fm

 

What a great article, man. Really enjoyed it.

 

I second that - another fantastic article Craig. That was another really great read.

Also, talking about The Killers made me kinda go back through their albums, and I'll be damned if I don't really, really enjoy every single one. A lot. They are another band though whose b-sides I enjoy a lot more than some of the songs that make it onto the albums. To me, every one of their albums has at least one and up to a couple real stinkers, but every album of theirs has incredible b-sides.

 

Love it. I'll have to check out that album by The Hold Steady now.

 

I'll never forget the AP review of Day and Age.

 

I've been listening to Sam's Town almost on repeat for the last few days. Fucking brilliant. All of it. My favorite Killers' record, no question.

Also, Tranquilize is such a damn good track. Similar to Jimmy Eat World, this band has some an extensive b-sides collection. Sawdust is solid from front to back. If you're a fan of The Killers and you haven't listened to Sawdust, please do.

 

Thanks! They've got some great b-sides. I think the first three albums all have at least one track I would cut. I wouldn't cut anything off Battle Born though.

Oh hell yeah, do that. Highly recommended.

@Blake Solomon's finest.

 

Tranquilize is a top 10 Killers song for me. Sam's Town has never clicked really strongly with me honestly. Battle Born I think is easily their best. I honestly like Brandon's most recent solo album more than every other Killer's album though.

 

Day and Age/Battle Born are my two favorites. And Brandon's solo stuff is so good. I think I agree on that one.

 

no love for Sam's Town or Hot Fuss?

 

I love them both. I never said I didn't like them. :P

The Killers are much like Relient K, Anberlin, and Copeland for me - I love nearly everything they've done, I just like some things more than others.

 

Haha I can understand that concept. I'm just surprised I guess to see so many people with one Battle Born or Day & Age as their favorite. They're great albums, but I think I just have such a strong connection to Sam's Town and even Hot Fuss to like any of the other stuff more.

 

Yeah, I get that. Battle Born came at a time of huge transition in my life, and it was the first tour I was able to finally see. I have a lot of memories with that one, but also Day and Age (college, really got back into music and one of my best friends reminded me that they existed with this album).

 

I actually hate Day and Age outside of two or three songs (mainly Dustland Fairytale, that is also a top 10 Killers song). Haha But yeah. Also, love Copeland, Anberlin and Relient k. Though I think Relient k's first two albums and Collapsible Lung are pretty bad. Anberlin is my second favorite band (Circa Survive is first) and all of their album outside of Blueprints have been important in my life the same it seems Sam's Town is for others.

 

Day & Age has grown on me a lot recently. I still think it could have been their best album had they been a little smarter about the track selection.

They recorded about twenty songs for that album. If I recall, it was almost a double album. And all of the bonus tracks/B-Sides/leftovers from that era are better than at least a few tracks that actually made the album.

Still, it's pretty enjoyable.

 

The biggest problem with Day & Age is that it's basically incoherent as an album.

 

I can see that. Goodnight, Travel Well is one of my all time favorites from that one. RK's first two are more nostalgic for me than anything else, since that was the stuff I was listening to in jr/high school. I didn't get super into Anberlin until they were recording New Surrender, but most of the songs hold a lot of meaning anyway.

It's crazy how music works that way, honestly. It's fascinating. One of my favorite things about the experience, too.

 

I usually listen to albums on shuffle after the first run through, so that didn't matter to me as much. I totally see it, though.

 

whyyyyyyyyyyy tho????

 

Essentially. It's always been frustrating to me. I think there's a great album in there about loss and alienation, but there are tracks (that they recorded!) that better serve that theme than songs like Neon Tiger and The World We Live In.

And again, I think those songs are fine. I like all of the songs on the album standing on their own. But a much more cohesive collection could have easily been put together.

 

Because I'm a monster. And I usually listen to an album and then toss it in my "I like this" playlist and then it gets shuffled with everything else. Or I get the urge to listen to one song and that leads to selectively listening to the album in a weird order.

 

a monster indeed!

 

Barresi, I'm curious what your ideal track listing for Day & Age looks like...?

This is something I end up doing for all Killers albums, but I know it's something a lot of people think is a sacrilege, to mess with how bands put the album together.

 

I would personally drop the last two songs, which I think are the album's weakest, and then have:

Losing Touch
Spaceman
Tidal Wave
Human
A Dustland Fairytale
A Crippling Blow
Neon Tiger
Joyride
Forget About What I Said
I Can't Stay
This Is Your Life