I've been reading the Warren Zanes book on Springsteen's Nebraska and revisiting Pressure Machine a lot alongside that one. It's so impressive to me how The Killers made something that had a similar intention but its own feel. Real artistry.
I think I've gotten to the point where I'm comfortable calling Pressure Machine their best album. It's not necessarily the one I reach for most, but I think they really accomplished something special there.
Pressure Machine is 1 and Day & Age and Wonderful Wonderful are 6 and 7. The other four shift around a bit for me.
Battle Born is the one I listen to the least (and is probably at the bottom of my ranking), but I still hopelessly look for a copy to complete my collection every time I'm at the record store.
Sam’s Town Hot Fuss Pressure Machine (probably my real #2 but you know nostalgia) Imploding the Mirage Sawdust Day & Age Battle Born Wonderful Wonderful
killers are a funny band because right now all you need disco wise are the first two and the most recent two lol
I struggle to rank Pressure Machine because it’s so far outside the norm of what I expect from a Killers record. I LOVE IT. But it’s not what I think of when I consider the band. Elite, untouchable: Pressure Machine Sam’s Town Truly great: Hot Fuss Imploding the Mirage Very good: Day & Age Sawdust Battle Born Throwing it at a corpse like Shawn of the Dead: Wonderful, Wonderful (except for Rut)
If we're including Sawdust, drop it at the bottom of my list. I think most of those songs were cut for a reason, and I do not like the re-recordings of "Indie Rock and Roll" and "Under the Gun."
Justice for "Tranquilize," just an insane way to open of a B-sides record. That "Shadowplay" cover goes crazy too. Lots of bangers on Sawdust