| Product Summary | | Label: Universal Music Group | | UPC: 00602517872875 | | Release Date: 11/24/2008 | | Buy.com Sku: 209870244 | | Item#: M4GJ7X | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25050 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Losing Touch - (featuring Tommy Marth) ~ The Killers (00s) |  | | 2. Human ~ The Killers (00s) | | | 3. Spaceman ~ The Killers (00s) | | | 4. Joy Ride - (featuring Tommy Marth/Daniel De Los Reyes) ~ The Killers (00s) | | | 5. Dustland Fairytale, A ~ The Killers (00s) | | | 6. This Is Your Life ~ The Killers (00s) | | | 7. I Can't Stay - (featuring Tommy Marth/Daniel De Los Reyes) ~ The Killers (00s) | | | 8. Neon Tiger ~ The Killers (00s) | | | 9. World We Live In, The ~ The Killers (00s) | | | 10. Goodnight, Travel Well ~ The Killers (00s) | |
| Day & Age sees The Killers experimenting with different instruments: "I Can't Stay" has a tropical sound--thank the saxophone and steel drums--and, as the singer says, "could be the most perfect pop song we've ever written." "Losing Touch," meanwhile, is a gorgeous uptempo track with bright horns and grim lyrics ("impending doom, it must be true / I'm losing touch") that lend it an ominous vibe. "Spaceman," an unabashedly arena-sized glam-rock number whose associative lyrics reference, among other themes, alien abduction. "We've been playing it between "Read My Mind" and "Mr. Brightside," and it feels like it's been there forever," lead singer Brandon Flowers says. More than anything, The Killers are excited for their fans to hear what they've been creating, though, says bassist Mark Stoermer. "We're always a little nervous about whether people are going to like it."
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | On their third proper full-length, DAY & AGE, the Killers blend the glitzy glam of their smash debut, HOT FUSS, and the heartland rock of its follow-up, SAM'S TOWN, while throwing some stylistic curveballs along the way. Like HOT FUSS, DAY & AGE focuses on hooks and an energetic, highly polished sound. Yet it still manages to incorporate the experimental ambitions of its predecessor, this time out with a penchant for genre-hopping pastiche. Brazilian, blue-eyed soul, disco, and Afro-beat can be heard, all threaded into the Killers' trademark dance-rock. | | But even while expanding their arrangements with saxophones (on the attention-grabbing opener, "Losing Touch") and steel drums (the tropical and immensely catchy "I Can't Stay), the Killers haven't lost their love of 1980s synth-pop. The anthemic "Human" is a case in point, proving that the New Wave influences that gave the band its initial appeal are still intact. Buffered by gleaming, pristine production, DAY & AGE soars and seduces; it's irrefutable proof that even as the Las Vegas quartet mixes up their sound, the appeal of their button-pushing pop endures. | | 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 fa?ades 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 ? 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 |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 11/24/2008 | | Original Release Date : 2008 | | Catalog ID : B001219702 | | Label : Island Records (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00602517872875 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (p.120)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "When the Killers really push the theatrics, they shine: 'Spaceman' re-imagines New Order's 'Temptation' as an alien-abduction anthem with a great singalong chorus."Spin (p.99)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "They remain fascinated by heartland mythos, but by becoming more comfortable with their glitzy roots, they've actually found the pulse of something more authentic." Entertainment Weekly (p.74)
- "[S]inger Brandon Flowers and the band construct an album that is one-third Duran Duran glam, one-third Bono majestic, and one-third fresh retro." Billboard (p.41)
- "Here the band trades in the slick mega hooks and stadium-sized rockers for steel drums, bongos and a whole lotta sax....This band keeps fans on their toes...' Clash (magazine)
(p.63)
- Ranked #35 in Clash's "The 40 Best Albums of 2008" -- "[A] brave change in direction towards a glorious, glossy pop sound..." |
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| | Bio | | | The Killers Inspiration has never eluded Las Vegas' The Killers, and it's a damn good thing it hasn't, because their newest record, their third studio album entitled Day & Age, is full of their finest songs to date. "I think about moments when we were coming up with "When You Were Young," or, in this case, "Spaceman,"" Flowers says. "If we'd decided at that moment, 'Let's go to the park,' they might not have happened. It's scary. It almost makes me not want to stop because I could be missing out on these wonderful songs. They're out there for the taking--you've just got to grab them." Together with bassist Mark Stoermer, guitarist Dave Keuning, and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Flowers helped to mold the album into 10 songs that work best together as a whole, each individually describing an evolution of the Las Vegas band's sound. "We're always pushing ourselves," says Stoermer, "and there's a lot of diversity here--from anthemic rock to dance songs." Flowers adds: "We felt like Sam's Town was a continuation of Hot Fuss, and we feel like this is a continuation of Sam's Town. But at the same time, Day & Age is totally different from both of them, while still sounding like us. It's kind of looking at Sam's Town from Mars." Those familiar with the band's oeuvre will recognize their signature in the synth-heavy "Human," four minutes of sweeping, epic rock, on which Flowers sings: "My sign is vital / My hands are cold / And I'm on knees, looking for the answer / Are we human, or are we dancer?" He says the lyrics were inspired by a disparaging comment made by Hunter S. Thompson about how America was raising a generation of dancers. But the song also had some help from album producer Stuart Price (aka Jacques LuCont), known for his work with Madonna and Missy Elliot, and who'd previously remixed "Mr. Brightside." "He was the icing on the cake," says Stoermer.
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