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| This critically acclaimed third album from the Vegas band rocks the dance-pop party. Hit Human, plus Spaceman, A Dustland Fairy Tale, Neon Tiger, Losing Touch, etc. |
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| 1 Losing Touch |
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| 2 Human |
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| 3 Spaceman |
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| 4 Joy Ride |
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| 5 A Dustland Fairytale |
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| 6 This Is Your Life |
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| 7 I Can't Stay |
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| 8 Neon Tiger |
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| 9 The World We Live In |
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| 10 Goodnight, Travel Well |
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Album Review
The Killers' great gift is that they -- and in particular their frontman, Brandon Flowers -- have utterly no recognition of the ridiculous. More than that, they're drawn to the ridiculous, piecing together sounds that don't belong together, reaching far beyond their grasp, aiming for profundity and slipping into silliness. All this weighed the band down mightily on "Sam's Town", their convoluted Americana theme park of a sophomore album, all false façades and paper-thin pretension, but on its 2008 sequel, "Day & Age", the Killers shrink the canvas and brighten their palette, opting for a big sound over big themes. Since the Killers are at their core poseurs and not prophets, style over substance is the right move and "Day & Age" has style for miles and miles, exceeding even their debut, "Hot Fuss", in its stainless steel gleam. If anything, "Hot Fuss" was a little too monochromatic in its obsession with '80s synth rock, a criticism that can hardly be leveled at "Day & Age", a record that stitches together sounds with an almost blissfully idiotic abandon. Anchored in dance-rock though they may be, the Killers no longer sound like mere disciples of New Order and Duran Duran: emboldened by the left turns of "Sam's Town", no matter how misguided they may have been, the Killers will try anything, goosing "Losing Touch" with growling saxophones, creating a Strokes disco for "Joy Ride," flirting with worldbeat à la Vampire Weekend on "This Is Your Life," dancing the bossa nova on "I Can'T Stay," and riding a tight soulful rock & roll groove on "The World We Live In," bringing it close to a mad fusion of Steve Miller's "Abracadabra" and Hall & Oates' "Private Eyes." Like before, it's impossible to tell if such improbable juxtapositions are intentional or accidental, but given the overall tightness of "Day & Age", it feels as if the Killers do indeed mean to create these odd, often pleasing, pop pastiches. And the emphasis damn well should be on the sound and melody, for Flowers remains a downright goofy lyricist, whether he's misinterpreting Hunter S. Thompson on "Human" or recounting an alien abduction on "Spaceman." Ridiculousness is much harder to stomach in words than it is in music, but the nice thing about "Day & Age" is that not only is Flowers' voice relatively buried, the Killers are unwittingly comfortable with their ludicrous, outsized pop, which turns the album into terrifically trashy pop. Not the serious rock they yearn to be by any means, but these fashionable threads fit them better anyway. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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• Biography
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Other albums by: The Killers |
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