About two to three years ago, I was re-introduced to the infamous band who sang the chart-topping hit, “Mr. Brightside.” Ever since then, The Killers have found themselves at the number two spot on my favorite bands list.
My Review
The album I will be reviewing is The Killers fifth studio album and 2017 release, Wonderful Wonderful. The band’s frontman, Brandon Flowers, explained that this album is to makeup for their previous album, Battle Born, which Flowers described to NME as below par and “aimless.” This means The Killers set up Wonderful Wonderful to be the most self-aware album they have made.
The band kicks off the album with the title track “Wonderful Wonderful,” which is vastly different from the rest. It begins with a horn, distant drumming and a soft beeping and humming noise. The Killers have mastered obscure songs and have succeeded multiple times, but this song seems to kick off the album in an interesting way that makes the listener curious to how the rest of the tracks will sound. The band also uses this track as the intro and beginning to all of their concerts during their Wonderful Wonderful tour.
The second notable song happens to be the second track on the album entitled “The Man.” The 4:10 minute track is The Killers essentially making fun of themselves. Flowers explains to NME that he regrets his arrogance during the Hot Fuss era of the band. It’s catchy lyrics capture an earlier sound they had and helps give off the arrogant energy the diss track is about. “The Man” seems to be the most fun to listen to in the album. It is one of my go-to tracks from the album and always has me dancing and singing and is even better in concert.
My last favorite song from this album has to be “The Calling.” It begins with a Woody Harrelson spoken word but shortly after leads into Flowers grunting “I walked into town with a message for my old man / I got the last two chapters of Matthew in my hand.” This song had originally been one where I always loved the keyboard driven groove and never payed attention to the lyrics. I found the simple but funky groove was so fun to blast in the car or power walk to. It’s swing has also often been compared to a Depeche Mode, which in this case in a compliment in my book.
It is obvious that Flowers has spent more time writing personal songs for this album with many of them focusing anywhere from faith to past experiences and even his wife’s struggles with PTSD like in the third track “Rut”. Furthermore, this might be The Killers most personal album and leads me to wonder where they will go with their upcoming spring of 2020 release of Imploding the Mirage.
Music Hall of Fame 