The Killers

WhyGo91

I'm very iffy with The Killers. Some of their songs are good, but they remind me too much of Coldplay or Muse. And there is no problem with that, but they just sound too poppy for my tastes sometimes.

scottstappsucks

WhyGo91 wrote:

I'm very iffy with The Killers. Some of their songs are good, but they remind me too much of Coldplay or Muse. And there is no problem with that, but they just sound too poppy for my tastes sometimes.

I think The Killers have far more artistic integrity than Coldplay, they just make the kind of music they want to make regardless of trends. I think they'll be one of the few bands from the last 5-10 years that are still relevant/have respect in 20 years. I think there's a bit for everybody in their catalog, Sawdust in particular has quite a few of their more hard rocking tracks (Move Away, All The Pretty Faces, Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf).

WhyGo91

scottstappsucks wrote:

WhyGo91 wrote:

I'm very iffy with The Killers. Some of their songs are good, but they remind me too much of Coldplay or Muse. And there is no problem with that, but they just sound too poppy for my tastes sometimes.

I think The Killers have far more artistic integrity than Coldplay, they just make the kind of music they want to make regardless of trends. I think they'll be one of the few bands from the last 5-10 years that are still relevant/have respect in 20 years. I think there's a bit for everybody in their catalog, Sawdust in particular has quite a few of their more hard rocking tracks (Move Away, All The Pretty Faces, Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf).

Yeah I know what you mean, and I love that there are so many people on this forum that love them, that's great! It just doesn't do anything for me haha. I'm more of a Gaslight Anthem and Kings of Leon guy (less of an Arcade Fire and Killers guy). HOWEVER, I do think that their latest album Battle Born is amazing!

thefixer9

Their new tune is starting to grow on me....

I really want to get the Deluxe version of Direct Hits....It includes A Documentary, the album and 5 LPs with all the songs of them....*Drools*

EZ1221C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87cLyBR1JTo

Really into this one lately. Killer (ha) cover

PJ_Soul

EZ1221C wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87cLyBR1JTo

Really into this one lately. Killer (ha) cover

Romeo and Juliet is a great song. So is Tranquilize. IMO, Sawdust was the last time I really liked what they were doing. I don't really like Battle Born at all. I think it's their worst album so far (by far).

thefixer9

I love when the Killers cover songs "Romeo and Juliet", "Four Winds", Shadow Play", "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself". My least favorite Killer's album is Day and Age. I actually really like Battle Born, but my favorite from them by far is Sam's Town.

rangers72

that new song is brutal.remember seeing them in glasgow during the sams town tour and they were at the top of there game.sadly for me the music has lost a lot of its edge.

thefixer9

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/973905/v ... lers.jhtml

The new Killer's song. I like it even less than "Shot at the Night" Lyrically, it's not too bad, but musically, it's not very good at all. They need to go back to Sam's Town/Sawdust era.

eeriepadave

)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xZ3Ezl5-Lk#t=136

PJ_Soul

It's an anti-Santa song. Right on. About time someone called that guy out. )

eeriepadave

for those that still like them, new song that came out a week ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3xcybdis1k

PJ_Soul

It's kind of sad how The Killers suck now. I had such high hopes for them after their first two great albums, and they were really good live (ended up seeing them 4 times over a few years). Then they got lame. I just read some article this morning about how they feel like they were in a bad head space or were acting like dicks back at the beginning.... I found myself wishing they were still in that dickhead era though, since obviously them being that way caused their music to be good, lol.

dpduke69

Really enjoyed their Battle Born album personally. Still listen to Runaways, The Way it Was, Miss Atomic Bomb, and Here on Out quite a bit. Thought their live show back in 2013 was great. Brandon has great pipes live.

PJ_Soul

dpduke69 said:

Really enjoyed their Battle Born album personally. Still listen to Runaways, The Way it Was, Miss Atomic Bomb, and Here on Out quite a bit. Thought their live show back in 2013 was great. Brandon has great pipes live.

Yes indeed - I'm sure they are still a great live show. I didn't like Battle Born at all unfortunately. Anyway, I feel like they really changed in a fundamental way a long time ago, though I don't know why. But I'm glad I can still enjoy Hot Fuss and Sam's Town!

mr bungle

dpduke69 said:

Really enjoyed their Battle Born album personally. Still listen to Runaways, The Way it Was, Miss Atomic Bomb, and Here on Out quite a bit. Thought their live show back in 2013 was great. Brandon has great pipes live.

Runaways might be one of there best songs period IMO.  Still a great band live with a good enough catalog to play a solid 90 minute set without too much filler.

Indifference71

Watched their set from Lollapalooza on the webcast last night....they covered Starlight by Muse and Disarm by the Pumpkins!  Such a fun band to see live  Will definitely check them out on their upcoming tour.

eeriepadave

new album is not too bad.  Only gave it a listen to once though.

ledvedderman

Just saw an article about them covering the song American Slang by Gaslight Anthem the other night. I don't know anything but singles by The Killers, but I love seeing Gaslight getting some news. Maybe it will get the idea to the band that their influence is vast and maybe they're needed. 

PJ_Soul

My full album review (as someone who was a HUGE fan when they first came along with their first two albums, I think I'll always feel a little invested in this band, no matter how many shitty albums they crank out, so a song-by-song analysis still feels like entertainment for me, lol):

- I like the first song, "Wonderful Wonderful". It's pretty cool. Reminds me of Depeche Mode, which is a good thing. Kinda dark, catchy. Not bad at all. I understand why this is their title track.
- Then they suddenly go disco for the second song, "The Man", and not particularly successfully IMO - just another disco-inspired song; heard it before, and done better. I also think I hear a touch of early Michael Jackson in there, but not genius. In order not to be too negative, I do still think it's also fairly catchy.
- And then they go super-auto tune for "Rut". This is an immediate turn off, and they made it worse by also making it sound like some kind of movie theme song or something - I first thought of Working Girl and that Statton Island Ferry scene ... that is actually technically a positive reference because that's a fine film, but... why is it on a Killers album? Weird. (Why in the hell do artists keep doing that shit with the auto tune btw? I felt that FUN. ruined that Some Nights album with auto tune - it would have been a solid album without it).
- Then there is "Life to Come"...  Rather cheezy. Makes me feel a bit like I do when I hear Sirens, lol, but not as bad. But it's also boring because they have several other songs that sound just like this, with varying degrees of success.
- On to "Run for Cover". Again, I feel like I've heard this Killers song before ... and then he hits the line "redemption song" and I'm distracted for the rest of the song thinking about Bob Marley. By the time I came back they'd reached that "let's slow this song down suddenly and then speed it up again" moment, which they've done to death, and I'm out - couldn't even listen to the end of it.
- Track 6 is "Tyson vs Douglas". Intriguing beginning with a sound bite of a Tyson fight. Oh darn, then the song kicks in, lol. I feel no connection between that fight and this music. It just doesn't seem to fit at all. Like, who the hell watches a huge heavy weight boxing match involving Mike Tyson and then feels the way this song sounds? Nobody. Except Brandon Flowers, apparently. Well, he is a Mormon after all.
- 7th track is "Some Kind of Love". Hmm. The piano is more prominent in this one, which I always like. This song is pretty damn soft-rocky, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Not overly dramatic, which I might have expected. Also a good thing. But it still sounds like I've heard it before, decades ago, with kind of that airy feel, and then the child back up vocals kick in, which has been done to death... big fat meh.
- Okay, next is "Out of My Mind"... ugh. The intro has been done how many time by The Killers now? Like 10 times? Seriously, I think these guys must just be clean out of ideas. I mean, they already have a song called Read My Mind, and now Out of my Mind where he actually references romeo and Juliette, another song from the past. This song also has kind of a crappy sounding 80s feel to it at times, not in a good way. P.U.
- Then comes "The Calling".... This begins with a Woody Harrelson monologue of all things. Okay, I'm interested. Then it goes into a reasonably cool, slightly dirty groove with some heavy base. I think they're going for kind of a dark story time sound here, like a German fairy tale, lol. Not great, but not the worst.
- Last song (not a great sign that I'm completely relieved it's over) - "Have All the Songs Been Written?".... Good Lord, are they aware how it comes off to end their album with a song called that?? I mean, I wrote that comment about how they're out of ideas before I even noticed this title or heard it. I suppose if this is their last album ever, this is kind of a hilarious thing to do. I think there is a very good reason for them to be asking this question! As for the song itself.... boring. Sounds exactly like a couple of other songs they've done. How appropriate.

Wow, I guess I don't like this album very much. At least one good song came out of it. "Wonderful Wonderful" is probably one I'll even put on my mp3 player.