After an extended sabbatical The Killers are back with their highly anticipated fourth studio album, Battle Born. Following the Las Vegas quartet’s highly criticized ‘misstep’ that was 2008’s Day & Age, Flowers et al work hard to recapture their roots and early swagger.
Every chorus, guitar solo, and lyric is immaculately composed and delivered with stadium-style ammo and eagerness. The album, which gets its title from the legend on the corner of the Nevada state flag, has been described as “Neon-Springsteen” by many reviewers. This is due to its theme of small-town dreamers breaking out of the norm on their journey to glory. Throughout Battle Born, The Killers show their ability to evoke picture-perfect images of an idealised American landscape.
However unlike Hot Fuss – the band’s 2004 debut, Battle Born lacks immediacy. There is a ‘Mr Brightside’ shaped hole that is only just about plugged by crowd swaying anthems, ‘Here With Me’ and ‘Miss Atomic Bomb’. The album requires perseverance for these arena anthems to achieve lift-off.
However there is no doubt that Battle Born contains some real crowd pleasers and the fans will be kept satisfied with classic Killers-style tracks ‘Runaways’ and ‘From Here On Out’. Despite abandoning artistic progress and instead returning brazenly to base, The Killers are bound to delight. As the saying goes, if it’s not broke…
Rating: 3.5/5
Megan Ecock is our Deputy Flux Editor
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