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Day & Age is a surging, addictive album that fuses the high-voltage Eighties sound of their debut "Hot Fuss" with the epic American sonic landscape of their second album "Sam's Town". It also includes a few of the kind of quirky, intriguing stories that made "Sawdust" so much fun. The end-result ... Read review
Success came fast for The Killers, maybe too fast. The impossibly hooky Mr Brightside from ... more
their debut, coupled with faultless synth anthem Somebody Told Me, turned them into the most ubiquitous band in the world overnight and had them batting away Gla...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Music Sales Killers Day & Age: for piano, voice and guitar. Songs: A Crippling Blow, A ... more
Dustland Fairytale, Goodnight, Travel Well, Human, I Can't Stay, Joy Ride, Losing Touch, Neon Tiger, Spaceman, The World We Live In, This Is Your Life.
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The 3rd album release from Las Vegan rockers titled 'Day & Age'is sure to please. ... more
Described by frontman Brandon Flowers as acontinuation of the concept from thelast studiorelease'Sam's Town', it is packed full of hits the like the first singleHuman.
Advantages: A surging, addictive masterpiece Disadvantages: Mix of musical styles won't suit everyone
...it again.
Day & Age is a surging, addictive album that fuses the high-voltage Eighties sound of their debut "Hot Fuss" with the epic American sonic landscape of their second album "Sam's Town". It also includes a few of the kind of quirky, intriguing stories that made "Sawdust" so much fun. The end-result is a truly magisterial album that in my view surpasses all three of their previous releases.
... ...the "feel" of an album. Day & Age would not be the same creation without this art.
I bought my CD on Amazon for £7.98 - great value for such a superb album.
The Band
The Killers are of course Las Vegas-based Brandon Flowers (vocals, keyboards), Dave Keuning (guitar, vocals), Mark Stoermer (bass guitar, vocals) and Ronnie Vannucci Jr (percussion, drums). They achieved the dizzy heights of indie ... more
The Killers have done it again.
Day & Age is a surging, addictive album that fuses the high-voltage Eighties sound of their debut "Hot Fuss" with the epic American sonic landscape of their second album "Sam's Town". It also includes a few of the kind of quirky, intriguing stories that made "Sawdust" so much fun. The end-result is a truly magisterial album that in my view surpasses all three of their previous releases.
Day & Age is no longer in the shadow of either the British synthesiser tradition or the Springsteen sound; on this album the Killers have found a unique and powerful voice. This album is weighty, very dark at times and moving at others. It is also highly eclectic, mixing Pet Shop Boys-style electro-romps ("Spaceman"), a few detours into calypso and chanting and several epic, deeply moving tracks. The culmination is the sheer bleak desolation of the tenth track, "Goodnight Travel Well".
This album boasts intelligence, beauty and energy. In some ways it is a slow burner - and it took me three or four listens to realise this really is indispensable music. In a world where words such as "instant classic" and "legend" are thrown around so often to be almost meaningless, it is a real shock to come across the genuine article.
This album is not perfect. Sometime I miss the pure livewire energy of a track like "Mr Brightside" and the lack of a consistent musical theme (e.g. Sam's Town was straight down the line Americana from start to finish). The lyrics are sometimes inscrutable, rather like R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe during his IRS years. Still, wherever I understood the Killers' lyrics, they are unfailingly eloquent, poetic and powerful. The medium is in any case the music, and you will find the hooks, melodies and creative surprises of this album do their job admirably.
1. Losing Touch
The simmering opening chords drag you in like the undertow on a wave. "Console me in your darkest hour". Don't be fooled by the bright, optimistic sound of the horn and Dave Keuning's guitar solo. The lyrics are dark indeed and remind me of Bob Dylan: "But you made your way back home... you sold your soul like a Roman vagabond". This song is all about "rumours of impending doom" - a doom that seems to reach its fulfilment in the tenth track of the album.
2. Human
The first single from the album, this is a thoughtful and beautifully melodic hit. The synthesiser music is clear and vibrant with more hooks than a meat factory. Inspired by Hunter S. Thompson's caustic aside that "we are raising a nation of dancers", Flowers sings a fond farewell to a whole list of classical virtues (grace, virtue, soul, romance etc.) In the video for the single, Flowers, clad in a jacket with owl-feathered epaulettes, gives a mock-salute at this point - the gesture is both ridiculous and moving.
3. Spaceman
This track is an electric energy rush. I felt like I had drunk an especially powerful musical cocktail. This is a dark, paranoid story of alien abduction that nonetheless pulsates with life and energy. The victim tells his story and the lyrics are gripping - "You know that I was hoping, to leave this star-crossed world behind... When they cut me open, I guess I changed my mind".
Listening to this, you almost feel you were up there in the spacecraft with him. You can feel the disorientation and confusion of the alien abductee, when he learns that the Nile used to run from east to west. This song also boasts one of the most searing, soaring music hooks I've heard since Mozart (I'm serious), which kicks in at 50 seconds into the track - "You know that I might have gone too far this time". Then the chorus bursts out like a bomb.
4. Joyride
Jingly, catchy chorus with some and a sax bursting in to add a touch of class. One of my personal favourites on the album.
5. Dustland Fairytale
This is a slower, more thoughtful track - an elegy for doomed love. It's an epic slice of Sixties Americana with dark undertones - a real tragic kingdom. It's "a dustland fairytale beginning, just another white trash county kiss" from a "slick chrome American prince". This is classic Springsteen-esque story of faded love and regrets in a crumbling small town America. Plenty of metaphors here "castles in the sky, the drawbridge is closing... the kingdom's under siege". This track reminded me of those fake medieval castles you see in Vegas.
6. This Is Your Life
Graceland-esque chanting and an electronic hook reminiscent of Depeche Mode but then soaring into crescendo chorus "Wait for something better...". Even better, the lyrics rhyme like old-fashioned poetry. I'll even forgive the slightly cheesy lyrics, "And your sky is full of dreams, but you don't know how to fly". A sure-fire hit.
7. I Can't Stay
A rather incongruous calypso beat and a maddeningly repetitive chorus with a moody sax. A good track, but it is rather out of place with the other musical styles on the album.
8. Neon Tiger
This is a rock classic, a nod to mid-Eighties U2 with an epic, elegiac feel and a few Vietnam references. You'll find the coda to the refrain - "the heat of the South-West sun" - burning itself into your mind for days. This really is a stand-out track on the album - one to remember.
9. The World We Live In
This is an addictive, compelling synth-pop track with nods to Pet Shop Boys ("Please"-era) with a dash of almost Scritti Politti flair thrown into the mix. Personally, I enjoyed this retro slice of pure 1985.
10. Goodnight, Travel Well
This is the song that really lifts this album to greatness. It's a sombre, dark and brooding elegy to a fallen friend. The music hovers like a black storm-cloud and the whole track is a bleak and epic reminder of mortality. Think of Chopin's Funeral March crossed with "Dark Side of the Moon". The lyrics are heavy - "All that stands between the soul's release, this temporary flesh and bone" - but do not come across as overly melodramatic. This song has real power.
11. A Crippling Blow (Bonus Track)
This is another synthesiser-fest with more of an indie rock thrust and a catchy chorus reminiscent of the best of "Sam's Town". This is not a classic track but succeeds in wrapping up the album on a lighter, more upbeat note.
In summary, this album is outstanding.
Album and CD artwork
Paul Normansell is a 30-year old Birmingham-based artist famous for his dot-matrix prints. Here he provides fantastic artwork here is a purple mosaic of a desert landscape, presumably the Killers' native Nevada, with soaring desert skies and stars. The four members of the band are also rendered in mosaic dot-matrix colours like Roman heroes (Brandon is appropriately wearing a garland of "Flowers"). There is of course just room for the one obligatory, moody black and white photograph of the band as an endpiece.
The CD itself is covered with the grey and pink dot-matrix art, which lends a uniquely consistent theme to the disc. It looks rather like a standard test for colour-blindness! I'm an old school music lover who believes that an album's cover art is integral to the "feel" of an album. Day & Age would not be the same creation without this art.
I bought my CD on Amazon for £7.98 - great value for such a superb album.
The Band
The Killers are of course Las Vegas-based Brandon Flowers (vocals, keyboards), Dave Keuning (guitar, vocals), Mark Stoermer (bass guitar, vocals) and Ronnie Vannucci Jr (percussion, drums). They achieved the dizzy heights of indie rock stardom with five Grammy nominations for their debut "Hot Fuss". The Americana-infused second album "Sam's Town" earned them two further Grammy nominations. The Killers are widely considered to be one of the most individualistic, creative and flamboyant alternative rock groups in the world today.
Advantages: Some really stand out tracks, high standard, good cover art Disadvantages: Could be too eclectic for some
...success has continued since. Day & Age has once again taken the band in a slightly different direction, with many of the tracks nothing like The Killers have done before, with some of the album using the normal rock set up, many tracks featuring a good level of synthesizer, whilst other tracks feature saxaphones such as Losing Touch, or the more laid back I Can't Stay, featuring a mix of instruments to creature a more relaxed style that conjures ... ...good! The first single, '''Human''', is one of the albums highlights which many will enjoy, especially those who are a fan of Mr. Brightside from their first album. It's highly catchy, and a classic Killers track that really shows off what they can do. The second single '''Spaceman''' has also become one of my favourites. It's fast paced, highly memorable, and generally a good rock track. The song is about an encounter with an alien, which I find ...
alienduck 17.02.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Day And Age - Killers (The)
Advantages: Some great track and lyrics Disadvantages: Slightly down beat end
...album from the killers - Day & Age, which has 11 tracks on it.
The opening track days and age is typical killers with a good mix of synth, guitar and drum with track having a light feel although when you listen the lyrics there is a slightly darker underlying theme. The next track was the first single to be released from the album, Human, which was very successful, it opens with the catchy synth beat before the drums and guitar gradually come in ... ...hints at the how modern day living can be far from humane.
Track 3, Spaceman, has a lovely quick tempo with a short drum solo in the middle and is another very catchy track which is bizarrely about aliens. This is followed by a 'Joy Ride' which has a funky bass line and talks of looking for spur of the moment excitement.
The 5th tack, 'A Dustland fairytale', starts of as a much slower, quieter sombre track of a love lost which slowly builds in ...
CarlG 16.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Day And Age - Killers (The)
Advantages: Some very catchy songs with good beats, mostly upbeat tracks which I like Disadvantages: Some 'fillers'
...single Human from this album, Day and Age, on the radio. It was also really catchy and up beat and so when I found out about Amazon offering £3 worth of free MP3 downloads on Christmas day and boxing day, I decided I wanted to purchase this album as part of that deal, so I was glad when I found out that it was available for exactly £3.
For £3 its extremely cheap, as it turns out that this is IMO a very good album, with a number of catchy tracks ... ...they become. It is one of those albums where on first listen, it doesn't seem too remarkable but if you stick with it and listen through the tracklisting a few times, the tracks gradually grow on you.
The album consist of 11 tracks and my personal favourites are A Crippling Blow, one of the more uptempo tracks that builds up in pace and features a very catchy beat/tune as well as some nice electronica, the single Human which is just a generally ...
IzzyS 06.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Day And Age - Killers (The)
Advantages: Human, Joy Ride, Losing Touch Disadvantages: They're completely upthemselves
Note - i also review on Dooyoo! as SAJJADALI2008 and i have posted my review on there as well :)
--
Normally i tend to hate rock bands with a passion, but yesterday i found myself re-listening to this. It only came out recently but may i say it is one of the best albums i have heard this year, it went to Number 1 and i know it did well but it deserved success. The Killers have always for some reason despite being an international act done really ... ...all did well especially Hot Fuss and the brillant Sams Town.I tend to find the band members and in particular Brandon Flowers quite up themselves, almost everytime i see them they are moaning on about how they are the new U2 and are going to be the biggest band in the world. At times i think their aim is not to make good music that they like and their fans like but to make music that sells well and they more motivated by sales and becoming the next ...
sajjadali 16.12.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Day And Age - Killers (The)
Advantages: A few catchy tracks, ability for new fans Disadvantages: Too many forgettable tracks, ability to lose fans, short life span
...inclined to compare it to Day and Age. In reality there is no comparison. For a start Day and Age moves completely in a different direction. Leaving behind the likes of 'Indie Rock and Roll' for an electro style 'Spaceman'. The song that caught my attention was 'Human', which at the time I thought was a come back single for Chris De Burgh! That I think says it all.
Day and Age is a album of loose ends, shifting from catchy tunes to simple track ...
targetleon 06.02.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Day And Age - Killers (The)
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Reviews which might be of interest for "Day And Age - Killers (The)"
song the Pet Shop Boys never wrote , sung by a much better singer than Neil Tennant. 'Losing Touch' is classic Killers. 'Spaceman' is a fantastic rollercoaster of fun rock and should be a huge hit when released as a single. It took about eight listens and eventually I came to love every track except for the final one 'Goodnight , Travel Well' , which has well meaning lyrics but it's a case of "spot the tune" ( don't try too hard , there isn't one .. ). When you get over the change in style , the strength of the songwriting here really shines through. I suspect this album will get mixed reviews from many people as there are so many songs that grow on you and not so many that hit you right away. Give it a chance though and I suspect you'll end up loving it as much as I do , there are not many bands in the world as big as this one willing to ...
Product Information for "Day And Age - Killers (The)" »
Product details
Title
Day And Age
Performer
Killers (The)
Genre
Rock & Pop
Sub Genre
Alternative
Release Date
24/11/2008
Original Release Year
2008
Label / Distributor
Vertigo / Universal Music
Engineer
Robert Root
Producer
The Killers, Stuart Price
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Format
Performer
EAN
602517851214
Catalogue Number
1785121
Additional notes
Album Notes
The Killers' third collection of new material, 'Day And Age', is said by frontman Brandon Flowers to be 'a continuation' of the concept used for their second album, 'Sam's Town'. Produced by Stuart Price - who the band came across after he created the 'Thin White Duke' remix of 'Mr Brightside' - this is their first original release in two years. The distinctive Paul Normansell-designed artwork that houses 'Day And Age' has received praise from many critics including MTV, while the album itself includes the single 'Human'.
Titles on disc 1
1.
Losing Touch
2.
Human
3.
Spaceman
4.
Joy Ride
5.
Dustland Fairytale
6.
This Is Your Life
7.
I Can't Stay
8.
Neon Tiger
9.
World We Live In
10.
Goodnight Travel Well
11.
Crippling Blow (bonus track)
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14/10/2008
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