2-7 of WW is great, you're right. I don't mind the title track and the others but the last track is another absolute junker
Wonderful Wonderful is an album I appreciate thematically as a whole, but have really cooled on. Half of it is really strong, but then there are some songs that really just feel like Killers-on-autopilot to me, especially knowing in retrospect that Brandon was coming off the heels of some severe writer's block around this time. His least imaginative album, lyrically, by a sizable margin.
"Rut" is one of their 5 best songs though. The sound of a guy who always sounds like he's soaring through the sky digging himself out of a hole.
I don’t know if it’s his least imaginative album lyrically. The songwriting on stuff like “Some Kind of Love” and “Tyson vs Douglas” has always been super interesting to me. The latter especially is taking a big swing, in terms of what it’s grappling with and how it gets there. There are some definite autopilot moments on there, though.
I have pretty fond memories of WW after seeing them play most of it live, but yeah I’d still rank it at the bottom
1. Sam’s Town 2. Flamingo 3. Battleborn 4. Imploding The Mirage 5. Day & Age 6. Hot Fuss 7. The Desired Effect 8. Wonderful, Wonderful
battle born is my favorite killers record but if i add the desired effect and flamingo in it’s something like the desired effect battle born sam’s town imploding the mirage sawdust hot fuss day & age flamingo wonderful wonderful
1) Sam's Town 2) Hot Fuss 3) The Desired Effect 4) Battle Born and 5) Imploding The Mirage - TIED 6) Flamingo 7) Day and Age 8) Wonderful Wonderful I can't rate Sawdust as part of this but it is worthy and I'm glad we have it.
I was thinking of Tyson vs. Douglas when I wrote that, haha. The second verse/second pre-chorus, in particular. Obviously it's completely subjective, but that stretch of the song just comes across as so "Intro to Creative Writing." Just doesn't work for me. Again, I don't think Wonderful Wonderful is a bad album at all, and I will defend it quite extensively, because across the board the subject matter and themes are arguably the most intriguing of their career. But these moments flare up throughout this album, more than any of their others, where I wish he dug a little deeper just in how he was saying things.
Desired Effect is top notch. In the top (3) for me too if we're looking at it from a 'Brandon Flowers' work" perspective. Flamingo is as low as BB for me.
Some of the songs he included on that album instead…I honestly do not get it. I penalize that album a bit for not having that song. Haha, well fair enough! I think I appreciated that he was trying something new.
every song on the desired effect is awesome, even without the title track... which yes, i love and think should've been on there lol
This release is so curious. It is releasing so soon after an announcement, no single (so far), and the tour is till being called the imploding into the Mirage tour. Plus, the teasers make it seem like there will be a video media component of this release.
The great thing about Itunes is that you can make your own album, so The Desired Effect is and has always been Track 12 on that album to me
I think they’ve mentioned that some songs from the ITM sessions will make their way onto TK8 and not this album. I think they just wanted to do a low key concept album that won’t have the standard big singles you associate with a Killers album but I could be wrong
I have it this way digitally too, but I’m always disappointed when it isn’t there at the end of the vinyl.
For all of their albums aside from Hot Fuss I've swapped out songs that I don't like as much and added the b-sides from that era that I really think should have made the cut, and usually dropped some of the weaker tracks. I know this annoys the fuck out of a lot of people, but for me, Sam's Town is an album that starts off god-tier but then I only like one song after Track 7, and there are a handful of really awesome b-sides, including one that I consider one of the band's greatest songs and absolutely one of their quintessential tracks, "Sweet Talk". If I were to rank their discography, I'd be including songs like "Sweet Talk", "Tidal Wave" and "Peace of Mind". Even songs that I don't really think are masterpieces, like "Carry Me Home" and "Money On Straight", make their respective and weaker for the band albums better with their inclusion. All of that being said: 1. Hot Fuss 2. Sam's Town 3. The Desired Effect / Day & Age / Imploding The Mirage 4. Battle Born 5. Flamingo 6. Wonderful Wonderful