Album Review: The Killers - Day & Age

Do you remember when The Killers self-debut album Hot Fuss was released? The band caught on like wildfire, becoming one of the most popular bands of 2004. I loved this album and was addicted to it. The first 9 tracks were brilliant and the cd was hardly ever taken out of my car stereo.

Because of my addiction to Hot Fuss I was very excited when Sam's Town was released in 2006. While there were great songs on this album I was disappointed that they moved away from their "dirty" sound; with less keyboards, electronic music, guitar, and replaced with a more generic sound.

The Killers became an anomaly to me. While most bands become more complex the longer they play together Sam's Town and the B-Side album Sawdust indicated that the band's sound was becoming simpler. Some may appreciate this, but I missed the days of Hot Fuss.

While listening to their new release Day & Age I was even more perplexed. The album was even simpler than Sam's Town. There is a lot of keyboard on the album, but very little bass and guitar. The sweet beats that I loved on Hot Fuss are completely gone.

Maybe it is a good album, and my longing for their original sound prevents me from truly appreciating it.

Vocals - 80%

Brandon Flowers is a good singer. There is no doubt about this. However, his voice is the main contributor to The Killers evolution to a simpler sound. On Hot Fuss Flowers talked, sang, screamed, etc. But on Day & Age his voice is very straightforward and unchanging.

Instrumentation - 70%

I like keyboards. I don't like songs in which simple keyboard is the main instrument. What happened to the guitar, bass and drums of The Killers?

Creativity - 70%

Again, maybe I'm just not appreciating it because I want something else. But the songs are too simple to score them high on creativity.

Melody - 80%

While simple, there are still some really great melodies on this album.

Production - 90%

The production of the album is extremely clean.

Overall - 78%

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