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Battle Born / [Deluxe Edition] [Extra Tracks] Reviews
First let me say that I am a huge, diehard Killers fan. Sometimes that may make it hard for me to be objective, so let that be a warning to anyone that reads this. As with all Killers' fans (Victims), I had huge hopes for this album. This was the album that I hoped would end the debate on which Killers' album is the best. This was the album that I hoped would bring The Killers the attention and respect that they deserve in America. This was the album that I hoped would bring back a rock revolution and put a damper on the teen pop that has a chokehold on today's radio. So when I got in my car, cranked the volume, pressed play and started with Flesh and Bone and didn't stop or skip all the way to the end.......guess what I heard? The album that would just do what I'd hoped. Battle Born totally blew away all of my expectations. Upon first listen, I enjoyed every single song. I cannot say that about any prior Killers' album. On past albums, it would take several listens for many of the songs to grow on me. Eventually something would "click" with me, a line, a riff, something that I missed on all of my prior listens and then I would feel like an idiot for not liking or "getting" the song to begin with. That was not the case with Battle Born at all. So after my excitement of hearing what I thought was the best Killers album ever, you can imagine my disappointment as I started reading the reviews. I started with reading professional reviews. Of course all of them were just brutal. "Well the critics have never liked The Killers," I thought. Why would I think Battle Born would win them over? So, then I checked out what the "people" were saying about this album. It was even worse. Rolling Stone, which has always been hyper-critical of The Killers, gave a better review than most posts I've seen on Amazon and Itunes. Have I lost all sense of what is "good music"? Or am I listening to a different album than everyone else??? I will take some time to explore what I've seen as the most common complaints about Battle Born and give my opinion. Once again, maybe I have just gone off the deep end, but if you've snubbed Battle Born for one of these reasons below, I believe you need to give it another listen. 1. "Battle Boring, No Energy, Too Many Ballads"-----By my count there are 3 ballads on this album, "Here With Me", "Heart of a Girl", and "Be Still". Which I will say that is a lot for a Killers' album. Now, I define a ballad based on the tempo of the song. All of the other songs on Battle Born, in my opinion, are either mid-tempo or upbeat. "Miss Atomic Bomb" may start off slow, but by the 2nd verse it sounds like it has hit the same beats per minute as "Human". If you define a ballad based on the subject matter of a song; busted up relationships, the state of the world today, the trials and tribulations of your faith or the music industry, then yes Battle Born has a lot of ballads. In fact every single song would be considered a ballad by that definition. Actually, every single song The Killers have ever written would be a ballad. My thoughts on the ballads: "Here With Me" is a classic 80's Journey/Reo Speedwagon power ballad. You will either love it or hate it. "Heart of a Girl" is a gospel-tinged song that reminds me of "Romeo and Juliet" meets "On the Floor". I don't think Brandon ever gets too preachy with his lyrics, and as a person of faith I certainly appreciate that he incorporates that into his writing, but if it's not your thing then this song may turn you off. "Be Still" is my least favorite song on the album, but still resonates with me more than "Everything Will Be Alright" or "My List" from previous albums. I don't know how others are measuring "energy", but if it is by tempo of song, this album has energy. If people are referring to the energy that The Killers play with, then I would say YouTube any of their performances of "Runaways" or "Miss Atomic Bomb". Clearly to me, the guys "believe" in these songs as much as anything they've done before. And as someone who has seen them live recently, I was blown away by their energy and excitement when they played their new songs. 2. "It sounds like Flamingo 2.0"----This is a puzzling critique to me. Primarily, because when Flamingo came out, all I can remember people saying is that it sounded too much like The Killers. Given that Brandon is the voice and lyricist of The Killers of course you are going to hear similarities between the two. This is why I feel that lead singers should not release solo albums, but that is another story. 3. "I wish they would just go back to their Hot Fuss sound"----I hate to say this people, but Hot Fuss 2.0 will probably never be produced. And if it ever was to be made, everyone would complain about how they just copied themselves and were not original enough. Each album The Killers have released manages to show a different side, but yet still kind of sound like The Killers. I'm still amazed that everyone else continues to be surprised by this phenomenon. It's just what they do. However, with Battle Born I didn't hear any curve balls. No saxophones or disco, just pieces of all of their work before. From Hot Fuss to Flamingo, all of those ingredients are used to create Battle Born. 4. "No Guitars"----Really??? Really?? You can't hear Dave? Does he crank out a solo at the end of every song? No. Can we at least agree that there are more guitars on Battle Born than on Day & Age? Yes. The guitars are certainly more prominent on Sam's Town, but I couldn't argue that there are more or less guitars on Battle Born than Hot Fuss. If Hot Fuss is the gold standard, then everyone should be happy with the level of guitar work put in by Mr. Keuning. 5. "Bad Lyrics"----This is the band that gave us "Somebody told me you had a..........", "Are we Human or are we Dancer?", or "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier". Brandon's lyrics have always been up for debate - this is not new to Battle Born. "I don't want your picture on my cell phone" will probably be this album's most picked on lyric. To me, The Killers have never been about coming up with the best prose in 4 minutes, but being able to create an emotion or paint a picture that is somehow connected to your life but yet still seems like a scene from a movie. I will say Brandon's lyrics are more linear on this album than past. I don't think that is a good or bad thing. In the lyrics I hear stories and I hear some ambiguity on Battle Born. Just like all the other albums. 6. "All the songs sound the same/blend together"----You can't have it both ways. Either their sound is constantly evolving or it isn't. There are too many ballads or there is not enough. Regardless of what they do, people never seem to be happy. I'm frustrated as hell about this, and I didn't even make this music. I can't imagine how Brandon, Dave, Mark or Ronnie would feel. I guess they are just used to it by now. To me this album is a must-own for any Killers' fan. If you are not a fan already, I don't know if this album will change your mind about them, but hey give it a shot. I will end by saying this: Don't be too surprised when the next Killers' album is released if you read people complaining that it doesn't sound enough like Battle Born.. this is my
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Battle Born / [Deluxe Edition] [Extra Tracks] Specs
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- This item: Battle Born / [Deluxe Edition] ~ The Killers Audio CD $16.99
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8 out of 10 based on 71 ratings
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