A Fan’s Perspective on The Killers and their New Album

Story posted September 26, 2017 in CommRadio, Arts & Entertainment by Jenna Minnig

After a five year hiatus, The Killers released their new album, Wonderful Wonderful, on September 22. Spoiler alert: it’s less than wonderful.

Although The Killers did not disappoint fans on their sixth studio album, it is clear they did not exceed any expectations for this album.

The first single released from the record was “The Man.”  When this song was first played, it showed a brand new approach to the pop genre from the band with an obvious effort to maintain their alternative vibes.

Following “The Man,” a new single titled “Run for Cover” was shared with listeners. This was the track that had fans feeling a sense of nostalgia for the old school Killers albums such as Sam’s Town. “Run for Cover” gave avid Killers’ fans a sense of hope for how the rest of the album would sound.

In defense of The Killers, it is very difficult to live up to the popularity of their best records such as Hot Fuss or Day & Age. Those are two classic Killers’ albums which shaped me into the alternative music-loving junkie I am today.

However, after almost five complete years of silence from the band, there was a feeling of hope and an underlying expectation for this album to be just as good as their earlier music. Unfortunately, upon listening to Wonderful Wonderful, it was just a let-down.

On Hot Fuss, The Killers became known for the upbeat song, “Mr. Brightside.” Even if the rest of the songs on this record were not as catchy - which they are - Hot Fuss would remain a memorable album for alt-rock music just because of this iconic single. Wonderful Wonderful does not contain any noteworthy tracks that leave the same wow-factor as “Mr. Brightside” did in 2004.

That is not to say that the new record is entirely bad, just slightly disappointing.

Luckily, there are songs on it that show the classic ‘80s influence in which The Killers are so famously known for. “Out Of My Mind” and “The Calling” are two tracks that will be exciting to see the band perform live. It is easy to imagine lead singer Brandon Flowers dancing and twitching his head back and forth while performing “The Calling.”

The album ends on a rather sad tone with a track titled “Have All The Songs Been Written?” After I finished listening to the entirety of the record, I wondered if this was The Killers’ way of saying goodbye to fans. It is hard to ignore the fact that this could be their final album ever, but this only made me even more disappointed in the outcome of the record.

Wonderful Wonderful could have easily sufficed as a five track EP rather than a full ten track album. The problem with the album is how similar many of the songs sound. Rather than a feeling of excitement with every new track, there is a feeling of boredom as they can easily become repetitious.

As a diehard Killers fan, I will remain hopeful in at least a few more releases from the band. I think they will make a successful comeback that nobody anticipated and that will be their final album. Until that moment arrives, I am going to continue jamming out to the Hot Fuss album.

 

Jenna Minnig is a freshman majoring in journalism. To contact her, email at jkm5756@psu.edu