Ok guys this is going to be a little different from my last new album post, which was The Strokes' "The New Abnormal". This is mainly because I know more about the background of how that album was made and the band members. Here, I'm gonna admit I'm a bit new to The Killers' discography. Of course everybody knows "Mr. Brightside", so I thought they were just a one-hit-wonder. One day I was like, "Hmmmm, that riff on "Mr. Brightside" is really memorable and I've never checked out their full debut." So I listened to it. And I LOVED it. "Hot Fuss" is up there with "Is This It" and "Turn On The Bright Lights" (which you can check out my post I made on it to see why it's such a great debut album) for me. And y'know I checked out "Sam's Town" and it was the same "Room on Fire" and "Antics" situation for me with it. They are all great sophomore albums but they never touch back down on the original "kitschy-ness" of the debuts. Obviously it's because all those bands got super famous after their debut but still. I know some people who like "Antics" better than "Turn On The Bright Lights", and I can't blame them. But even they admit something's missing from it but they still love it anyways, whether that be because of nostalgia or just the step-up in production.
Gonna talk about my experience with the rest of their discography here, skip if you just wanna see what I think about their new album
After "Sam's Town" came "Sawdust", which I think is an underrated album in their discography compared to their later stuff. There's a duet with LOU REED on there for god's sake, it can't be that bad. It also includes some songs that were meant to be on "Hot Fuss" that didn't make it, like the song "Leave The Bourbon on The Shelf". Solid stuff on here, my fave has got to be "Under the Gun" though. Next up is "Day and Age" in 2008 and then "Battle Born" in 2012, which I'll admit I'm not a big fan of either of 'em. It's not their sound or their production value, it's just not for me. I love two songs on both of them, but I honestly don't like anything else on 'em. "Battle Born" is mainly made up of arena rockers with a little synth sprinkled in there, but they don't rely on the synth as much as they did on "Hot Fuss". It feels over saturated to me, there's no breaks in between the heavy hitting power ballads. It's like 13 "get pumped!" songs, but there's no payoff. There's nothing to get pumped for if the album takes it away. "Miss Atomic Bomb" is a great song lyrically however, the story Brandon tries to weave in there is great and the music video they made for it makes it so much better. "From Here On Out" sounds country but it isn't, it's great and that's why I listen to it."Day and Age" was great though, "Joy Ride" has a killer bassline and I mean KILLER. "Forget About What I Said" is a bonus track but man it's my fav from the album. The other songs on "Day and Age" just didn't click with me. I honestly don't know why, I think it might be because I don't hear or see a theme anywhere. It's just "here are some well-produced songs with good lyrics no story to tell and every song is a bit different from each other ok bye!!!!" But now we arrive at "Wonderful Wonderful", which came out in 2017. Again, same thing, but this time I love 3 songs from this album. This is the album where I think they rely too MUCH on synth. The title track doesn't fit the album. I'm putting that out there now. It's so bizarre, it sounds like some Trent Reznor shit or something. "Rut" is also a but weird, Brandon uses a robotic filter for the first part of the song, which is an instant turnoff for me. "Tyson v. Douglas" is a good song, just not my thing. "The Calling" has this beat that sounds like "Strobelite" from Gorillaz and god it doesn't fit them. A regular drum track would've been just fine, but I think they wanted to go along with the synth and make it electronic. "Some Kind of Love" and "Have All The Songs Been Written" sound like they're trying too hard to be "Everything Will Be Alright" and "All These Things That I've Done". I would also like to point out that they tried an electronic drum beat on "Everything Will Be Alright" but it worked there since he had a filter on his voice the whole time (the sorta filter on Julian's voice on "Is This It") and the synth wasn't being used as an active riff but was actually being used in the background as atmosphere. Now I'll gush about my favorite songs on "Wonderful Wonderful". "The Man" is a contender for one of the best sings for 2017. The way Brandon delivers the line "Baby I'm gifted/See what I mean?/USDA certified lean" makes it such a memorable lyric for me. "Run For Cover" sounds like it should've been on "Day and Age" but I think they touched it up a little with crisper drums and bass. My personal favorite hype track from them. "Out Of My Mind" is a good example of a synth riff they've done right. They put it at the beginning to establish it's the main riff and not after some weird isolated vocal filter. I also think it's a good love song, but of course that's subjective. Now before I start talking about their new album I just wanted to talk about the reason I liked "Hot Fuss" so much. Synth. Just the synth. They took their cues from New Wave bands and repurposed it into a new type of digestible pop-rock. "Hot Fuss" and "Sam's Town" had the perfect amount of synth. They didn't fully rely on it, and they didn't use it too much. "Day and Age" and "Battle Born" didn't use enough synth and instead had to rely on guitar hooks and riffs, which came after some weird intro gimmick. "Wonderful Wonderful" was packed and shipped with too much synth. It's like Goldilocks. Too hot, too cold, just right y'know? I will tell you right now, the reason "Imploding The Mirage" manages to be so good is because not only does it have the right amount of synth, it knows where to USE it. Unlike "The New Abnormal" where I argued that that album wasn't a return to form for them but instead they aged like fine wine, The Killers have pretty much made a perfect return to form here.
Alright boys track by track review time!!!
1: "My Own Soul's Warning"
So I'm gonna come out and say this right now: this is probably the best opener for an album this year. Yes, it tops "The New Abnormal" for me. I even said in my "The New Abnormal" review that the only competition for that album was this one. Anyway, the bass is consistently catchy and while it isn't a killer bassline like "Joy Ride" it does a damn good job. The bells/chimes in this song is SUCH A GOOD CHOICE. I cannot overstate how atmospheric and moody those bells make this song. I gotta be honest here, this and "Caution" are the best arena rockers they've made since "Somebody Told Me" and "Mr. Brightside".
2: "Blowback"
The droning intro synth on this track sounds so Human League/Joy Division-y and oh man they're just as good. It leans on that intro synth to create this laid-back and nostalgic feel the whole song. The acoustic riff right after the intro sounds a lot like old school country and the guitar that reaches into the chorus reminds me of Queens of The Stone Age. The background vocals during the outro are beautiful. This is THE song they play at Cracker Barrel, and I'm not complaining.
3: "Dying Breed"
God, what a good, hard-hitting love song. Probably their best love song along with "Out of My Mind" and "Miss Atomic Bomb". It reminds me of a song that would play during the makeup scene in a movie right before the big show. The synths even sound like a perfected 80s rom-com climax scene. This is the best song on the album for sure: emotional, passionate, and nostalgic. Rivals my favorite song from this year "Ode to The Mets", even thought they couldn't be more different tone-wise.
4: "Caution"
So this was the first single and I don't know if you remember that dreary March day, but everybody flipped their shit when this dropped. It was on the cover of all of the alternative playlists on Apple Music. It was so left-field but so, so appreciated in this happiness-deprived period. I swear, I got chills when the drums kicked in. Some people complained that the intro was too long and unnecessary but I argue the opposite. It fits really well with this "calm before the storm" vibe. The catchy beat and accompanying riff starts right after the atmospheric intro which is EXACTLY what I look for. SO many of their songs are hidden behind this long, mulling intro until it gets to the good part but this song gets right into it! And you wanna know who's on this track supplying background vocals and that AMAZING guitar solo near the outro? LINDSEY. BUCKINGHAM. I cannot BELIEVE they got him. I also cannot BELIEVE that it turned out this good. Brandon and Lindsey go hard in this song, and boy does it pay off. The ending lyric "I'm ready now" ends the song on a perfect note.
5: "Lightning Fields" (ft. k.d. lang)
So here we find another Human League/Joy Division-y intro but this time there is this poignant piano to add this much needed emotion to another great love song. I have neglected to mention to Brandon's vocals because honestly his vocals have never been bad. Throughout their whole discography, his voice has been unwavering and genuine. Cannot think of a better example of his amazing voice than this song. Sure, "Caution" and "My Own Soul's Warning" are power ballads and he does do them a great service. Here, his lyrics scream of wanting, but his voice is hushed, layered and more meaningful than ever before. I have absolutely no clue who k.d. lang is, but they KILL their lines with bravado. And the fade-out outro isn't forced!!
6: "Fire In Bone"
So usually I have first listen notes I write to albums I want to write a post about. For this song I wrote (and I quote): "drown me in those david byrne vocals!!!!" And I cannot think of a better description. Another killer bassline on this track, it rivals "Joy Ride" for me. I have no clue what guitar pedal is being used here but the dreamy feel is utilized to the fullest, gives me flashbacks to the first time I listened to "Selfless" off of "The New Abnormal." This would definitely play on a cruise lounge. The outro being an echo of Brandon's voice saying "Here I am" is such a compelling statement I can't help but hit repeat.
7: "Running Towards A Place" (ft. Weyes Blood)
The Bruce Springsteen influence is very strong here, but it is improved upon with SYNTHS!! This is another not-too-gaudy 80s rom-com feel that still manages to be different than "Dying Breed". The hushed vocals near the outro are astoundingly passionate. Listening to this in a bath would probably be a religious experience for me.
8: "My God"
Xylophone is an interesting choice for sure, but like every other instrument on this album it fits so well. Weyes sounds so pretty here, I can't imagine somebody listening to this and NOT checking her songs out. However, there is this weird chord change that's a little off-putting for me and the drum during the chorus is really loud. Do I care? No, because Weyes and Brandon sound so good together and I can't get enough of it.
9: "When The Dreams Run Dry"
Another strange parallel: The intro here sounds eerily similar to "80s Comedown Machine" from The Strokes. But this is a slow pace ballad... WITH EXTRA SYNTH!!!! The intro was a little weak but oh man everything else on here was great. Another excellent use of bells/chimes near the end. The outro sounds so New Order-y it hurts.
10: "Imploding the Mirage"
I have no clue where the intro is sampled from or if its's just a girl's voice pitched up but it's a good hook I'll give 'em that. This reminds me of an intro song to an 80s rom-com. There are a couple moments here and there where it sounds like "Jump" from Van Halen but more optimistic and dreamier. The lyric "I wasn't locked in a collage/ I was imploding the mirage" is now stuck in my head and will be hard to get out. This song has this unexplainable happiness to it, and I am not complaining. My only complaint is that it ends so abruptly and I can't fully embrace it. It's no "Ode to The Mets", but it's probably up there with the best closers of this year.
Now some of you may be asking: "Niyam, why did you compare The Killers so much to The Strokes??? This is a Killers review???" And to that I say: exactly. Brandon has said in so many past interviews that hearing The Strokes' first EP and subsequent debut record was the major influence on his decision to make a band. I'm gonna put a quote here from an interview he did that's in the book I'm reading:
Brandon: "I felt like The Strokes were kindred spirits even though I'd never met them. It was exciting that someone was doing it, and it was depressing because they were doing it so well. But that feeling didn't set in until "Is This It" came out. At first, I was like, "Okay, I've heard their first offering on this EP, but I'll buy the record and it'll be whatever." The record destroyed the EP. I was depressed for months."
I find this dynamic so interesting. Brandon has always said he never wanted to be a part of the New York indie rock revival happening in the early 2000s, but he has always said that it's what he always wanted to do, even though he was stuck in Vegas. Nick Valensi (lead guitarist of The Strokes) was asked on his thoughts about The Killers and had this to say:
Nick: "We had similar influences, but they took a certain group of those influences and wore it on their sleeve a lot clearer than we ever wanted to. More sparkly and less subtle."
That last line from Nick is another accurate description of what The Killers are. They take their influences in stride and make something so digestible that it is still considered pop in this rap/trap age of pop. The effort they put into meshing all of this influences together to make this sparkly new product is so admirable and clearly takes a lot of time to get right, considering their "Battle Born" and "Wonderful Wonderful" stunt. This album I feel would resonate a lot more with people who haven't listened to The Killers since "Hot Fuss". Again, this is the pure definition of a return to form and while I had no expectations walking into this album, it sure did implode all those mirages.
Thanks for reading!! Here's the Spotify link to the album, highly reccommend:
AND here is my playlist of the best Killers songs if you wanna check it out (imo)
Comments