The popular rock band known as The Killers released a new album after nearly two years of being on hiatus. The band consists of Brandon Flowers (lead vocals), Dave Keuning (lead guitar), Ronnie Vannucci Jr. (drums) and Mark Stoermer (bass guitar).
Their beginnings date back to 2002 when they started to record in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After their surprising hit, “Day & Age,” each member decided to try their shots at solo careers but no one’s took off as well as they had hoped. Lead singer, Brandon Flowers, had the best solo career with his album “Flamingo” but not nearly as much success as the band acquires together.
After taking a year and a half break, the band reunited and released their most current album, “Battle Born.” The band chose “Runaways” as their first single.
While many may believe this was the right song to release as the single, a better decision would have been the title track “Battle Born.” “Runaways” does not highlight their deep lyrics or the way they mix music as much as “Battle Born” does.
Unlike their other albums, The Killers seem to be adapting to the music around them instead of creating their own original sound. This can especially be heard in their first track, “Flesh and Bone,” which sounds like it was inspired by up and coming techno music.
Another song that sounds like it should be as a mainstream hit from a California band instead of The Killers is “The Rising Tide.” The lyrics and music in this song are very bland.
While some songs do not uphold The Killers image, most of the album is very well put together and unique. The songs from “Battle Born” that best represent the band’s music are “A Matter of Time” and “Be Still.”
“A Matter of Time” has The Killer’s usual mellow tone, verses and an upbeat chorus with the vocals fading out in the end of each chorus. “Be Still” seems like it could be pulled directly off their B-side compilation album called “Sawdust.” The only thing missing from the song would be a more upbeat chorus after the first slow verse.
Perhaps the best song The Killers have recorded on “Battle Born” is “Here With Me.” This song is the love ballad of the album. It opens with the lyrics “Wheels are turning, I remember when you were mine,” and continues to go on about how he misses a girl. It would have been nice if The Killers had decided to add this song as an addition to “The Murder Trilogy” and mention Jenny’s name.
“The Murder Trilogy” is a corpus of three songs from three different albums. It begins with “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine,” then moves to the “Midnight Show,” and ends with “Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf.”
Overall, it was apparent the band was trying to promote a new sound. Besides the songs mentioned, the album strayed away from focusing on Flowers’ unique delivery and decided to go with tunes that mirror popular modern genres.
Obviously most of the country likes the new sound since their tour tickets went on sale earlier this week and almost every show is sold out. “Battle Born” provides a great transition for The Killers if they wish to proceed with this new rhythm and the album is a must have for any Killers’ fan.
