THE KILLERS//DAY & AGE
You think I would like this album. You really would. I got hooked on The Killers with Hot Fuss, their amazing techo-Brit-pop infused debut, and fell completely in love with them with Sam’s Town and their B-side CD, Sawdust. Both had lyrics that broke your heart and made you listen, no matter what. Sam’s Town is potentially my favorite album of all time. So you can imagine my excitement for Day & Age...and my disappointment.
Day & Age had the potential to be a fantastic mix of the pop techno of Hot Fuss and the lyrical beauty and Vegas soul of Sam's Town, and it just flopped. The songs don’t have a set direction and are all over the place as far as genre goes. I don’t know what was in the water when they were making this, but I was shocked some of the songs even came from The Killers. If it hadn’t been for the previous two albums, this one would be pretty good. But in comparison to the amazing music they’ve produced before, The Killers just didn’t up the ante on this one.
I do my reviews song-by-song, instead of just a vague paragraph of me stating what the album was about. I go from the song I liked the most to the song I liked the least, mostly because the more I hate it, the more entertaining I become. I rank songs under Positive (+), Neutral (/) and Negative (-). Let’s begin, shall we?
++++ “Spaceman”
This. This is what the entire album should have been. It has the amazing lyrics of Sam’s Town (“The song maker says it ain’t so bad; the dream maker’s gonna make you mad.”) with the catchy techno of Hot Fuss. You can’t go wrong. I can’t think of anything wrong with this song. By far my favorite of the album. The fact that it is a single makes me kind of worried, because my favorite Killers songs are never singles. Uh-oh.
+++ “Human”
The grammar nazi in me cringes at “Are we human, or are we dancer?” but the song is great. The song is classic Killers. Nice hook, nice lyrics, and nice synth backup. You’ve heard it all over the radio, I need not say more.
+”This Is Your Life”
This is a good life, I’ll tell you. This might be my favorite track on the album, lyrically. “Candy talks to strangers/thinks her life’s in danger…” Okay, tell me how that isn’t amazing. Just tell me. It’s a very good song, and is very “them” I think. It sort of reminds me of Hot Fuss’s “Believe Me Natalie”, only with a backing vocal of white boys trying to be an African choral group. Oh yes, I’m serious.
+ “Joy Ride”
Okay, so it kind of sounds like The Killers visited the Copacabana on this song, but it is genuinely catchy. It tells a great, taboo story of what goes on in Vegas and the feelings involved. I like how upbeat it is and the saxophone backup is a nice little addition.
+ ”A Dustland Fairytale”
It’s a little slow for me and sounds like a ballad, but the lyrics are amazing and the story is great. The melody is good and the piano in the background is impeccable.
/ “The World We Live In”
It has a good melody to it and the synth isn’t overkill on it. It’s a song I’d like to rock out to. It’s a good little song about life, and inspires the album title. Can’t say too much more other than “ it’s good”.
/”I Can’t Stay”
If it wasn’t for Brandon Flowers’ amazing voice, I would hate this song. I’m not too happy with the lyrics, nor the little maraca things going on in the background. And they just randomly add in a steel drum for shits and giggles. It was like they just stood there like “what can we add here?”. But, oh Brandon Flowers...I’ll listen to him sing anything.
/”Losing Touch”
The chorus is pretty good, but the rest of the song is overboard on background music and is put at wayyy too high of a sound. Really. And it’s kind of a whiny song, too. Which is never good.
/”A Crippling Blow”
Oh, Killers, what is this? It’s far too choppy of a song and really doesn’t go anywhere. The song is two-faced. It goes from sweet acoustic guitar to ROCK ROCK ROCK in about two seconds flat. Don’t make me even start.
/“Neon Tiger”
It gains a neutral just for the name. Yes, I know it’s a metaphor, but it still rocks. However, the song seems kinda amateur-ish. It just doesn’t flow correctly and there are awkward pauses in the music like they didn’t know what to put there. The middle is pretty decent, with fast lyrics and good melody, but the rest is just like…what?
---“Goodnight, Travel Well”
I…I…I hate this song. I’ve never hated a song by The Killers before. Ever. But now I do.
I can’t even listen to the whole song. The entire song is slow, slow, slow and goes nowhere fast. Even Brandon Flowers’ voice doesn’t save this song because he’s at too low of an octave to rock. There are weird little clock noises and what sounds like goddamn whale sounds in the background. And it’s like SIX MINUTES. OF NOTHING BUT SLOW. PORQUE!? Oh, this song. What the hell. I don’t even like the lyrics, either. So yeah, this is the worst of anything The Killers have ever done, in my opinion.
//Final Ruling//
A decent album in general--I've heard much worse--but not good on The Killers' rating scale. Too much genre hopping going on and just simply too many things happening for a good album to emerge. A few songs are standouts, but too many just fade into the distance of all the other decent songs on your iPod. Unfortunately, mediocre is the only way to describe Day & Age, and that breaks my heart as a die-hard Killers fan. Hopefully they release another B-side CD of all the good songs.
Buy, Borrow, or Stay Away From: Borrow. Hit your friend until she plays it for you. This is even more fun if she's one of the fans who can't admit the faults of the album. Heh.
And that's that.
Posts
Hey, it's Melissa. Thought I'd throw you a comment on your new blog. :)
ReplyDeleteA Crippling Blow? My iTunes download didn't have that, weird. It came with bonus tracks Tidal Wave and Forget About What I Said (which I recommend), along with the video for Human and a PDF of the cover insert booklet.
I honestly love Goodnight, Travel Well. Maybe because the first time I heard it I was driving in the country during a storm-cloud twilight and it just really fit the mood. I think it almost perfectly describes the pain of having someone die, to the point where it's hard to listen to.
Day & Age is sort of all over the place, and it's not as good as Sam's Town (my personal favorite album too) or Sawdust, but I enjoyed it. Spaceman and Human are fantastic, and I love the chanting at the beginning of This Is Your Life.
Heyy! Thanks for the first comment, girl. :]
ReplyDeleteThat's really weird. I haven't been able to get my hands on the iTunes extras quite yet, but I'll work on it. Isn't the video for Human AMAZING?
Yeah, I think "Goodnight, Travel Well" might have fit well in the context that you listened to it, but sitting in front of my computer and having it on...no, didn't work.
It is sort of all over, but the songs you mentioned are the good ones. Here's to hoping that the next album is more on the level!