The opening track began… and it ended. The same — and not much else — can be said of the remainder of the new Killers album, “Battle Born” which left many fans, myself included, beyond disappointed.
After their 18 month hiatus leading up to “Battle Born,” many wondered if the band was “washed up”, that they had lost the “it factor” that made them a hit under albums, “Hot Fuss,” and “Sam’s Town.”
This was nearly the case on their 2009 LP, “Day & Age,” an album teetering on the edge of the musical jumble the band has now gotten themselves into. After a few listens, however, “Day & Age,” became bearable, enjoyable even on songs such as ‘Losing Touch’ and ‘I Can’t Stay’. The same cannot be said for “Battle Born.”
“Was that Abba?”
I might be reaching when I say this question (asked by fellow staff reporter Dylan Gerding after a song passed by on our first listen) wasn’t exactly the reception that the band was looking for after their most recent musical effort.
I heavily stress the word effort. I’m hard pressed to find any, but hey, who needs effort and deep philosophical meaning in their music when they can get a simple 4/4 beat and C chord under lyrics such as,
“Don’t want your picture,
on my cell phone.
I want you here,
with me.”
Sometimes I wonder if the band even listened to half of the electronica, 80’s glam pop crap they managed to compile before sending it off to be mastered. Simply put, it is utterly astounding to see a band go from the moving melodies of “Hot Fuss” to the raw rock feel of “Sam’s Town” to their indescribable current state.
The band hails from Las Vegas, Nevada, and as much as I hate to say it, “Battle Born” sounds like the beginnings of the band suiting up in white tuxedos to play a set of “Forever Young” and “YMCA” covers for the middle aged connoisseurs of any given hole in the wall. But once again, that’s just me.
Have your own horror story when you first heard “Battle Born”? Be sure to email me at [email protected] or tweet @thehippestcat. And if you absolutely refuse to believe that the entire album is trash-worthy, the only glimmer of hope I can discern is the — ironically fitting — track, “The Way It Was.” Enjoy!
