The Killers - Battle Born

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I really enjoyed it, HOWEVER, I don't get why they had Bruce sing the line off sync a few times. It reminded me of some of those really bad live collaborations that happen, specifically this one:

 
I really love what Bruce is doing, basically going around collabing with those who followed in his footsteps. Not those who are cool or hip or relevant. I wish U2 would do this. Though, if U2 want the best of both worlds, Jack Antonoff is their answer.
 
I really enjoyed it, HOWEVER, I don't get why they had Bruce sing the line off sync a few times. It reminded me of some of those really bad live collaborations that happen, specifically this one:



:huh: bob looks confused about how he ended up there doing a terrible cover of his own song.
 
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What is the story behind this?

Bruce sounds fucking awful in the first part of the song.

Yeah Bruce doesn't sound great on that first verse.

Brandon posted this on their FB account about how it came together:
February 29, 2020
JFK terminal 2
Destination: Salt Lake City, Utah

I’m a little more anxious than usual about tonight’s flight. Universal just sent out an umbrella email to all artists: “Continue promotion AT YOUR OWN RISK.” There’s a new virus going around, and it’s shutting down the promotional run for our latest and greatest — Imploding the Mirage. We’re dead proud of the record and can’t wait for the world to get a load of it. But what was meant to be a rocket launch, stadium shaking, saliva-inducing tour run was about to come to a screeching halt. There’s plenty of time before boarding, so I get a burger at Wendy’s and call Tana. She’s excited to get her husband home early. And I have to be honest, I’m a little relieved to be getting home early myself.

Around the time I find my gate, I start getting some texts from a number I don’t have marked in my phone. “Watching Glastonbury. You guys have become one hellacious live band my brother! Love the gold suit! We gotta do Dustland one day.” Signed off with: “Bruce.”

Now I’ve got 3 options here:
1. Some cold-blooded monster is playing a cruel trick on me.
2. It’s Bruce Hornsby. But I haven’t talked with him since 2015ish.
Or
3. It really is Bruce Springsteen (I forgot to put both Bruce’s numbers in that phone).

So I google the area code. It’s from Freehold, New Jersey, and I’m still not convinced. So I text Evan (Bruce and Patti’s son who has become a buddy of mine) and get verification that the number really is coming from his old man.
And then, Covid Happened. We were sorry that we didn’t get to tour it, but genuinely happy that we were able to release Imploding the Mirage as some sort of consolation. This is what we do, and this is what we have to offer. A joyful record about unity and perseverance. Our interpretation of that promised light that lives just beyond the boundary of sorrow.

I have always sought to find and reflect that elusive light in my songs. It’s a trait I inherited from my mother Jean. She died from a brain tumor back in 2010 at the age of 64… Sixty Four! I’m turning 40 next week and I’m starting to realize just how young that is. Too young. She was married to my father Terry for 44 of those years. Dustland was written in the middle of her battle with cancer. It was an attempt to better understand my dad, who is sometimes a mystery to me. To grieve for my mother. To acknowledge their sacrifices and maybe even catch a glimpse of just how strong love needs to be to make it in this world. It was my therapy. It was cathartic.

That’s where Bruce comes in. Before I really became a fan of his, I was in the business of stadium-size everything. Larger than life EVERYTHING. Certainly larger than the lives of Jeannie and Terry Flowers. But Bruce has written a lot about people like my parents and found a whole lot of beauty in otherwise invisible people’s hopes and dreams. Their struggles, and their losses.
I’m grateful to him for opening this door for me. I’m grateful to my parents for their example to me. Now go find something new out about your dad, give your mom a big hug, and for god’s sake listen to Bruce Springsteen.
 
Very cool and wholesome story. I do feel for them, not being able to capitalise on that record last year with live shows. I never listened to it.
 
It’s a fantastic record and great recovery for the killers imo. Kinda were slowly on the fade.

Love this collab with Bruce. Doesn’t matter how he sounds honestly, just love seeing my favorite artists like each other and appreciate each other. One of my top-3 killers songs, too.
 
Yeah Bruce doesn't sound great on that first verse.

Brandon posted this on their FB account about how it came together:


Oh man, thank you for sharing. That gave me some chills.



Very cool and wholesome story. I do feel for them, not being able to capitalise on that record last year with live shows. I never listened to it.


You really should. A lot of people who haven't enjoyed their stuff in years really seemed to have a strong liking for it.
 
Very cool and wholesome story. I do feel for them, not being able to capitalise on that record last year with live shows. I never listened to it.

Best album since Sam's Town, I reckon. I have elevated it from my original ranking of being behind Battle Born and Day & Age. Those two albums meant more to me at the time, but I was somewhat blinded by my love for the band as well.

As an album though, Imploding the Mirage just hangs together so fucking well. And the euphoric moments feel so effortless throughout.

I genuinely think that what Brandon and Ronnie are doing – along with their unwillingness to buy into marketing themselves as anything they're not (see: Coldplay's current whoring of Higher Power) is seeing them tap into a rich vein of form and I think history is going to look back fondly on the career of The Killers.

Listen to the album.
 
Imploding the Mirage is comfortably top 3-4 Killers. I think they've been on a hot streak since their greatest hits release, as if they have a better idea now of what they want to accomplish as a band.
 
Fire in Bone sounds like a song that would come out of a generator for songs made for you ;)
Funny enough, that's one of the songs I'm not as fond of :lol:. It's got a fun chorus, though.

I'm not actually the biggest fan of Imploding the Mirage. I like it, but it's near the bottom of the rankings for me. I've also never been able to get over feeling like the best track on the album (Lightning Fields) is too much like "Red Rain" by Peter Gabriel. This is what happened with the last Wild Nothing album and me, as well. The best song on the album was a blatant cop off of another song (can't think of which ATM) and I was never able to look past it. I am weird.
 
That said we're talking about one of my five favorite bands. Even an album I'm "not the biggest fan of" is still something I love more than most other music.
 
Funny enough, that's one of the songs I'm not as fond of :lol:. It's got a fun chorus, though.

I'm not actually the biggest fan of Imploding the Mirage. I like it, but it's near the bottom of the rankings for me. I've also never been able to get over feeling like the best track on the album (Lightning Fields) is too much like "Red Rain" by Peter Gabriel. This is what happened with the last Wild Nothing album and me, as well. The best song on the album was a blatant cop off of another song (can't think of which ATM) and I was never able to look past it. I am weird.

Interesting. As mentioned, I love ITM, but Lightning Fields and Running Towards a Place are my two least favourite moments on the album.
 
I heard Brandon give some insight into the lyrics for Lightning Fields: He said they were playing a card game at Thanksgiving and his dad got one which asked: What moment in life would you want to relive again? and his dad's response was something like: To relive falling in love with your mother again (who died in 2010).

And so the lyrics of Lightning Fields is Brandon imagining that his dad got that chance to do that and wanting to get back to her as fast as he could.
 
I heard Brandon give some insight into the lyrics for Lightning Fields: He said they were playing a card game at Thanksgiving and his dad got one which asked: What moment in life would you want to relive again? and his dad's response was something like: To relive falling in love with your mother again (who died in 2010).

And so the lyrics of Lightning Fields is Brandon imagining that his dad got that chance to do that and wanting to get back to her as fast as he could.
I miss when I used to read a lot more stories like this. Thank you for sharing. And the one you shared the other day.



COBL, you were right, I do like Fire in Bone, not sure what I was remembering.
 
OK, here's the thing with this album that always throws me off. It just starts so slow. Once you get to "Caution" it's great all the way through the end, but it's almost a chore for me to get there.

Also, "My God" is actually the best song on the album.
 
I miss when I used to read a lot more stories like this. Thank you for sharing. And the one you shared the other day.

You're welcome. I thought both were pretty cool explanations.

It might be obvious but he also said Flesh In Bone lyrics are based partly on the prodigal son parable.

OK, here's the thing with this album that always throws me off. It just starts so slow. Once you get to "Caution" it's great all the way through the end, but it's almost a chore for me to get there.

Also, "My God" is actually the best song on the album.

Blowback is probably my least fav on the album, but I like My Own Soul's Warning and Dying Breed quite a bit. "My God" is good, and I've heard several others (and read several reviews) saying it was the best on the album as well.

Overall I'm happy with the album...and interested what the new one will sound like. It's supposedly coming out in August.
 
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Yay. I’m so glad they still make good music. I always thought Battle Born was going to be goodbye, so here’s to hoping they keep proving me wrong with better music.
 
Oooft, I bloody love Blowback! Everything about it, the production, the vocals, the melody… in fact, my only criticism of the track is that the musical climax of the song doesn’t continue on for long enough, but I’m okay with being left wanting more. Especially when other tracks really hit that button hard, with particular emphasis on Dying Breed, My God and my personal favourite, When the Dreams Run Dry.

It’s such a banging album and I’m enjoying the different perspectives in this thread.
 
Had some time off this week and, among other things, listened to each album, some for the first time in a while (hello, Sam's Town and Day & Age), and Imploding The Mirage slides into the #2 position in my own rankings.

Hot Fuss
Imploding The Mirage
Battle Born
Sam's Town
Wonderful Wonderful
Day & Age

Reviewing other lists, both here and elsewhere, it's quite apparent I appreciate Battle Born more than most. I find it to be an extremely consistent record; the only major clunker on there is Here With Me, and I just replace it with Carry Me Home. I may have a soft spot for it because my older daughter also likes it and did a solo dance number to Be Still last year.

My listen to Sam's Town this week made me appreciate it a bit more, although there's still a few things on there I don't care for. Day & Age has a couple of my favorite Killers songs (Spaceman, Dustland), but the second half isn't very good. And I wasn't too fond of the direction they took with Wonderful Wonderful - although again, still really enjoy several songs on there, most notably the 1-2 punch of Run For Cover and Tyson vs. Douglas.

As someone else said, there really isn't a horrendous Killers album. Each one has some major highlights, but I feel they raised the bar with Imploding The Mirage, so I'm looking forward to what's next.
 
I'll respond to this when I finish my own relisten to the discography I've been doing since we had this conversation a couple weeks ago.

But I will say that relistening to Battle Born today, I definitely don't DISlike that album.
 
Good to see the original four members all playing together again!

 
Gave me an opportunity to put that song up front again. I sort of feel now more than ever that it’s somewhat of a unique masterpiece. Sonically complete. Made top 40, sounds fresh and creative and amazing, and the lyrics are just so controversially “what?” But perhaps that’s part of why it was so successful. It got people talking about the lyrics. Outside of the questionable line that to most makes no sense at all (unless you go digging), it’s well written lyrically. Like, really well.

Day & Age doesn’t get nearly enough love, but I see that album 100% as an amazing band that did a huge change-up and still managed to be uniquely themselves at the same time.
 
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