This year was a big year for Killer's fans. While the Killers decided to go on break lead singer Brandon Flowers recorded a solo album called Flamingo in early September. The Killers are my favorite band and I was excited to hear any new material even if it was only from one of its members. I followed the release very closely finding live versions of many of the songs before the official release. Having a good idea of the main concept of the album I had a good feeling about things to come.
The album drops and to my surprise it was awesome. In terms of how it sounds compared to the Killers it is missing that stadium rocking sound however, the sound and meaning is still present. There are a few songs that sound straight from a Killers album such as Crossfire and Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts. Flowers is responsible for most of the song writing for the Killers anyway so there isn't much of a leap in his solo work. The appeal of the album for me is the lyrics and music produced by Flowers. While many of the songs start off soft and low, they usually build up to a more energetic climax near the end. One in particular, Playing with Fire, is fitting used for Flower's closing song in live performance. A majority of the songs replace that Killers guitar sound with synths and acoustics, but the songs themselves could easily be adapted into the Killer's repertoire. The is also one song that I have to commend for its amazing lyrics. The track entitled Magdalena is a song written by Flowers inspired by a religious pilgrimage in Mexico. If you can a chance I urge you to give the song a listen, and more importantly look up the lyrics. The lyrics are truly dynamic, and if read without music it would sound like something out of a novel. In addition to the 10 tracks the deluxe version of the album contains four bonus songs. The two stand outs are The Clock was Tickin and Right Behind You. The Clock was Tickin is actually the original version of another track on the album called Was it Something I Said or Did. Listening to those two tracks side by side is pretty interesting. Right Behind You has become one of my favorites on the album which is why I included it at the bottom of this post. That track has a more genuine Killer's sound to it, almost as if it could have been released on Hot Fuss their debut album.
Anyway let me get on to the live performance part of this review. I have seen Brandon Flowers live twice now. And I feel it is safe to say that his performances are awesome. I had first seen him play at Highline Ballroom in Manhattan. This was actually before the albums release, which was a little weird because no one knew the lyrics to most of the songs, except for the people like me who studied the YouTube live videos beforehand. The concert was relatively short. especially since there was no opening act. However, he ended the night of nicely with an acoustic version of When You Were Young. After the show I actually got to meet the two female background singers and snagged a picture with them. The highlight of the night, for me at least, was when I got to meet Brandon Flowers and get his autograph. I never thought I would ever get to meet him, or even be within ten feet of him for that matter.
About a week ago I went to see him at another performance in Manhattan this time at Hammerstein Ballroom. I had a much bigger crew with me the second time around I an was anxious to see what the "newcomers" thought about the performance. Now I will admit that I am extremely biased when it comes to anything that has to do with the Killers, but I feel confident in saying that anyone would have enjoyed that concert. The guy played great music and he fun to watch on stage. This second concert was much longer than the first. It included almost all of the material from his album. The highlight of the night was an encore performance of a medley of Read My Mind and Only the Young which then led into Mr . Brightside. Overall the concert was one of the best that I have ever been to, and it only got better when we got some Halal food after the show.
Let me get to the point here because I am getting distracted from watching Dexter. I am not sure how I will be rating albums on here. So at this point let me keep it simple and say that Flamingo is definitely worth listening to. As for the concerts if Flowers ever comes back to New York I highly recommend going to see him live.
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