The Killers are a famous rock band from Las Vegas. There are 4 members – Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. They’ve been around for quite a long time, and some of their most well-known hits include Mr. Brightside, Human, and Somebody Told Me. But what is the secret to their success? How have they managed to remain popular, whilst many other bands have faded into insignificance? Their music is technically “rock” music, but it has elements of pop and dance too, meaning it can appeal to everyone.
Every band has a story of trials and tribulations, successes and failures, before they hit the big time. The Killers are no different. Lead singer Brandon Flowers found his true calling was to be a rock star when he went to an Oasis concert at the Hard Rock Hotel, in Las Vegas. He began searching for people who shared his vision. Eventually, he found the other 3 members of the current line-up, and their story began. They started to build up a small fan base on their local Las Vegas music scene, and got noticed by someone working for a record label in the US. This didn’t turn out so well, but by doing this, somebody from the same record label in the UK heard their music and signed them to the label. This might explain why The Killers first became big over here in Britain, and later the US.
The Killers released their first album, Hot Fuss, in 2003. The single “Mr. Brightside” was played on Radio 1, and their popularity soared. They started touring as the main act in 2004, a tour that started in the UK. Hot Fuss also contained the hit song “Somebody Told Me”, and both songs still get played a lot on the radio today. The album became a number 1 in January 2005, and was in the UK charts for 173 weeks, longer than any other album between 2000 and 2005. Impressive!
Second and third albums can be difficult, as it’s hard to follow the success and the hype of the first album. The Killers’ second album was called Sam’s Town, named after a casino in Las Vegas. Although some critics (for instance Rolling Stone magazine) hated the new style of music, fans still loved it. The song “When You Were Young” was probably the most popular song on the new album.
The third album “Day and Age” was equally well-received by fans. The song “Human” (released in 2008) was a little bit more influenced by dance music than most other Killers songs, but this was one of its strengths. When it came out, it was played constantly on the TV and radio. However, the lyric “are we human, or are we dancer?” has confused many listeners, and some mock the Killers for using such strange words.
Their most recent album, Battle Born, came out in 2013. It was their fourth consecutive number 1 album. It also contained the “sequel” to their most famous song, Mr. Brightside. Brandon Flowers has also had a successful solo career, with releases like “Crossfire” and the new song “I Can Change” creeping into the UK charts at the moment. His most recent album was released on May 18th, 2015. It’ll be interesting to see what the Killers do next. How can they keep their massive worldwide success? Quite easily – by simply continuing to produce some of the best music of our generation.
Image from: http://feelgrafix.com/904476-the-killers.html
0 Comment:
Be the first one to comment on this article.