All These Things That I've Done
THE KILLERS
If you asked the average person on the street, they could probably have their own favourite song from the Las Vegas band. Formed in 2002, Brandon Flowers (lead singer, piano), Dave Keuning (guitar, backing vocals), Mark Stoermer (bass, backing vocals), Ronnie Vannucci Jr (drums, percussion) are heavily influenced by 1980 iconic bands such as New Order, David Bowie and Joy Division among others. They have gone from strength to strength by selling out venues such as the legendary Royal Albert Hall and headlining festivals all over the world.
Their first album ‘Hot Fuzz’ was released in 2004 after The Killers agreed to sign for UK label Marrakesh records and US label Island records. The album included the singles ‘Mr Brightside’, ‘Smile Like You Mean It’, ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’. The album itself has been influenced by 80s rock and is regarded by many as one of the best records of the decade with songs released from ‘Hot Fuzz’ being placed respectfully in the top ten of the best songs of the decade. ‘Mr Brightside’ received the accolade for best song of the decade from Xfm. In 2009, young British artists were brought together to form Young Soul Rebels, covered the song ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ to raise money for the charity War Child Group.
Bouncing from the success from ‘Hot Fuzz’, The Killers released their second album ‘Sam’s Town’ in 2006. The album was not as successful as the first and received mixed reviews. However, ‘Sam’s Town’ includes the singles ‘When You Were Young’, ‘Read my Mind’, ‘Bones’ and ‘For Reasons Unknown’ which are hits in their own right. The self titled song on the record was not released as a single to the annoyance of their fans. By the end of the year, The Killers won Best International Group and Best International Album at the BRIT awards. They also headlined Glastonbury festival in 2007.
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A B-side collection of the band was released in 2007 named ‘Sawdust’. The album saw the release of the single ‘Tranquilize’ and saw the legendary Lou Reed collaborate to create the song. The Killers also cover the songs ‘Shadowplay’ (Joy Division), ‘Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town’ (Kenny Rodgers and The First Edition) and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (Dire Straits) as a mark of respect for the bands they admire.
2008 saw The Killers release their third album ‘Day & Age’, produced by Stuart Price, includes the singles ‘The World We Live In’, ‘Spaceman’, ‘A Dustland Fairytale’ and the number one classic ‘Human’.
The Killers are heavily linked to the charity group ‘Project Red’ as they have released a Christmas song every year since 2006 with all of the profits going to the charitable organization. The singles include ‘A Great Big Sled’, ‘Don’t Shoot Me Santa’, ‘Joseph, Better You Than Me’ (collaborated with Elton John) and ‘Happy Birthday Guadalupe’.
The accolades keep coming for the American indie band with NME giving them Best International Band for the years 2005, 2008 and 2009 and they have received seven Grammy nominations.
Recently, the Daily Telegraph reported Brandon Flowers hopes The Killers will be bigger than U2 in the future. If they continue to create more number one albums, it looks like that could be the case.
Albums:
Source: Dean Woodhouse
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