The Next 11 Best Songs By The Killers

I've never been of a fan of greatest hits packages.  Ironic, huh?  The problem is most greatest hits packages are never a truly accurate collection of a band's best songs.  Most of the times, they are just a collection of a band's singles.  That's not greatest hits, that's just songs picked for radio promotion.  And "greatest"... that implies that these songs are the best songs of the songs that were picked for radio play.  That means a band would have to have dozens of hits in order to select the greatest ones. And who's to say that they are all hits?  Once a band is past their creative peak, most of their radio songs fail miserably, which would be the opposite of hit.  I'd love to see a label put out a collection of "Greatest Misses," underrated songs that flopped.  That would actually be interesting.  Many bands' best songs are hits...but great bands always have a collection of songs just under the skin that are on par with the best of their hits.

Here are the Next 11 Best Songs By The Killers:

1. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine (Hot Fuss)
2. Bones (Sam's Town)
3. Bling (Sam's Town)
4. A Matter of Time (Battle Born)
5. On Top (Hot Fuss)
6. Deadlines And Commitments (Battle Born)
7. Losing Touch (Day & Age)
8. Under The Gun (Somebody Told Me)
9. Sam's Town (Sam's Town)
10. Shadowplay (Sawdust)
11. All The Pretty Faces (When You Were Young)

Buy The Killers new album, Direct Hits...now!!

The Best Albums of 2012 (23-33):

I dragged my feet on getting the countdown out this year.  The contributions so far have been fairly slim.  I know you all listen to music.  I know you all have your favorites.  So let's hear them.

It's the day before Christmas and I've sat down to spend the next 48 hours watching screeners.  If you guys are good and get your lists in, I'll loan them to you.  You know you want to watch the Hobbit in the comfort of your own home.  So, get shaking.

Here the Best Albums of 2012 (23-33):

23.  Minus The Bear - Infinity Overhead
24.  Bob Dylan - Tempest
25.  Soundgarden - King Animal
26.  The Killers - Battle Born (Bonus Track)
27.  Conor Oberst - One Of My Kind 
28.  Macklemore and Ryan - The Heist
29.  Zedd - Clarity
30.  G.O.O.D. Music - Cruel Summer 
31.  Green Day - Uno/Dos/Tre (Bonus Track)
32.  Cooly G - Playing Me
33.  Big Boi - Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors

Buy these albums and a lot more...now!!

The 11 Best Songs By the Killers

You can't replace quality.  We expect perfection and we expect it all the time.  We never acknowledge that nobody is perfect and imperfection should be expected.  We set our standards for others higher than we set them for ourselves and when they don't perform up to our expectations, we label them as failures.  Even if the imperfection is minor and tolerable...we always expect better.  And instead of choosing our battles, we decide to search for the blue rose. The real problem comes when you try to replace these people we label as failures.  That's when disaster strikes and the real meltdowns occur.  Replacements never match the originals in quality, performance, or reliability.

I'm of course talking about the NFL referees.  Now, I may be the only one who doesn't necessarily disagree with the final call by the refs.  There is a rule that says if two players come down with the ball at the same time, then possession is awarded to the offense.  Position is not established until both feet are on the ground. And even though the Green Bay player has possession of the ball first...by the time his feet touched the ground, the Seattle receiver had also grabbed the ball and established position.  I'm not saying this means it should have been a touchdown...but there is reasonable doubt that the refs weren't completely off base.  This call wasn't the issue.  This wasn't the worst call in the game.  This wasn't even the worst call on the same play. There was an offensive pass interference foul and a late hit on the QB.  Neither called.  The touchdown call was not the worst call...it was the straw that broke the camel's back.  And not just of this game...but of the poorly officiated season thus far.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Killers:

1. Jenny Was a Friend of Mine (Hot Fuss)
2. Somebody Told Me (Hot Fuss)
3. Bones (Sam's Town)
4. When You Were Young (Sam's Town)
5. Spaceman (Day & Age)
6. Losing Touch (Day & Age)
7. Mr. Brightside (Hot Fuss)
8. Midnight Show (Hot Fuss)
9. Tranqulize (Sawdust)
10. Bling (Sam's Town)
11. For Reason's Unknown (Sam's Town)

Buy the Killers new albums...now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By The Killers

Brandon Flowers is douche bad.  The guy called Green Day anti-Americans for performing American Idiot in England.  That honestly doesn't even make sense, especially coming from a guy sporting a Hitler moustache.  Being a douche bag is a common trait for lead singers...so I guess I can forgive it as long as he keeps making good music.

Against better judgement, I went and bought the new CD at Best Buy (yes, I paid money for a CD). And I'm horribly disappointed.  But it's not disappointment in the CD.  Musically, I'm satisfied.  Flowers did a great job.  I think the album is quite good.  I'm disappointed in Best Buy's music selection.  They've reduced the music racks to two racks.  One rack is new releases...the rest are an uncategorized mess.  With giant gaps of empty space.  I was upset.  I usually browse the section, maybe pick up a good deal.  Not this time.  This time I didn't even want to bother.  I was so upset, I complained.

The employee at the store said he too was disappointed, but according to him, Best Buy is planning to get rid of all CDs by January.  What the hell?  MP3 files suck.  They're fine for listening on ipods and such...but the quality is piss.  CDs were a good compliment.  Doesn't the music industry realize when you buy a CD, you're buying the whole album.  When you go digital...you only buy one song.  You want to save CD sales...stop selling digital singles.  If you stop selling albums, your sales will plummet.

Yet another stupid mistake by the record industry. 


Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Killers:

1. Jenny Was A Friend (Hot Fuss)

2. Somebody Told Me (Hot Fuss)
3. Bones (Sam's Town)
4. Midnight Show (Hot Fuss)
5. Sam's Town (Sam's Town)
6. When You Were Young (Sam's Town)
7. Tranquilize (Sawdust)
8. Spaceman (Day & Age)
9. For Reason's Unknown (Sam's Town)
10. Mr. Brightside (Hot Fuss)
11. I Can't Stay (Day & Age)

Buy Brandon Flowers new solo album, Flamingo, now!!!  Also check out Linkin Park and Weezer's new albums for only $6.99.
 

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (23-33)

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (23-33):

23. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World (2001)
- Did you see Garden State? Enough said.

24. Outkast - Stankonia (2000)
- The only bad thing about this album is that it wasn't a double album.

25. The Killers - Hot Fuss (2004)
- Hands down the hardest rocking Mormons to ever come out of Las Vegas.

26. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (2007)
- Album number 2 is louder, faster, stronger, bigger, braver, and better.
(New York I Love You)

27. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
- A concept album that isn't a concept album. Would expect something from the Flaming Lips to make sense?
(Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)

28. The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)
- Don't side projects usually suck?
(This Place Is a Prison)

29. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (2008)
- Just because you're short and ugly doesn't mean you can't make good music.

30. Kanye West - Late Registration (2005)
- Just because you're loud and obnoxious doesn't mean you can't make good music.

31. Spoon - Gimme Fiction (2005)
- Do these guy know how to make bad music? (Sister Jack)

32. Johnny Cash - American IV: Man Comes Around (2002)
- F.U. Trent Reznor.

33. Norah Jones - Come Away With Me (2002)
- Who ever thought sappy piano ballads could be so good?

Buy these albums now.

The 11 Best Albums of 2008 (Part 3)

Maybe I'll just make this a trend...every day I'll screw up my list a little bit further adding another new entry to the list. Today finds Peasant (#24) slipping in after downloading the album off Emusic last night. Check out their session on Daytrotter...his bare bones style is quite mesmerizing.

The 11 Best Albums of 2008 (Part 3):

23. Kings of Leon - Only By the Night (Use Somebody - SNL)
24. Bloc Party - Intimacy

24. Peasant - On The Ground
25. Ezra Furman & The Harpoons - Inside The Human Body
26. Cold War Kids - Loyalty To Loyalty

27. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
28. The Killers - Day & Age
29. Tapes N Tapes - Walk It Off (Hang Them All - Daytrotter)
30. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology
31. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
32. Travis - Ode To J. Smith
33. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Another reminder to visit my Amazon Store...I get a percentage...a very small one. but if I can make enough off it...I'll invest in a better archiving site than savefile...so we all benefit.

The 11 Best Songs by the Killers

How long is the proper amount of time to work on an album? Kayne West and Jack White are on the one-per-year pace and both are doing quite well. Ryan Adams was doing a new album on the first Tuesday of every month for a spell. Tool and Bob Dylan take about 4-5 years. Dr. Dre is more in the 8-10 year range. All of these artists have a very different pace but they all continue to put out quality material. I think it's like anything creative. Each person is different. Each person creates at their own leisure. Stephen King puts out new books every week while JD Salinger is working on the 50-year cycle. And in literary circles...who is considered the more respected one? It's been ten years since the last James Cameron film...while Judd Apatow has made 10 movies in the past 2 years. Who has more Oscars? So to answer my question...how long is the proper amount of time to work on an album...it's however long the artist feels like it. Sure it's frustrating to fans...but if you rush creativity...you get Nickelback.

Here are the 11 Best Songs by the Killers:

1. Jenny Was A Friend (Hot Fuss)

2. Somebody Told Me (Hot Fuss)

3. Bones (Sam's Town)

4. Midnight Show (Hot Fuss)

5. Sam's Town (Sam's Town)

6. When You Were Young (Sam's Town)

7. Daddy's Eyes (Sawdust)

8. Mr. Brightside (Hot Fuss)

9. For Reason's Unknown (Sam's Town)

10. Bling (Sam's Town)

11. Tranquilize (Sawdust)

Buy the Killers new album Day & Age. It's only $3.99 at amazon!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. And most of us have something to be thankful for...

If you're reading this, then you have to be thankful for your eye sight.

If you like music, then you have to be thankful for all the music blogs. And probably your hearing.

And if you're Duran Duran, then you have to be thankful that 25 years down the road...that you still have a sustainable music career. Buy their new album (Red Carpet Massacre) here.

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran:

1. Jenny Was A Friend of Mine (Hot Fuss)
2. Somebody Told Me (Hot Fuss)
3. Bones (Sam's Town)
4. All the Pretty Faces (Sam's Town Bonus Track)
5. Midnight Show (Hot Fuss)
6. Bling (Sam's Town)
7. When You Were Young (Sam's Town)
8. For Reason's Unknown (Sam's Town)
9. Mr. Brightside (Hot Fuss)
10. Under The Gun (Somebody Told Me B-Side)
11. Daddy's eyes (Sam's Town Bonus Track)

The 11 Best Songs By The Killers

Here's the deal. There's one key to staying relevant in the music world. Keep releasing music. It never surprises me how certain bands will release a debut album to great success, then spend the next 3 years making their follow-up, only to have it released to mediocre reviews and lukewarm sales. The reason why this happens...EVERY...SINGLE...TIME: people forget.

A band's shelf life is 18 months. If you don't release something within 18 months of your last release (or single), the band expires and the world of music moves on. Perfect example: the White Stripes. They've released 6 albums in 8 years...and what's the result? They're considered one of the biggest rock bands of the generation. On the flip side, anyone remember Hot Hot Heat? They had a huge break-out album in 2002...then took 3 years to put out a even better follow-up. But it didn't matter, by then, it was too late. People forgot about them. Linkin Park is a good example of how to take time in between releases but to stay relevant. Release a "Tide Over" album. That's an album that a band releases to "tide over" its fans until it's next big release. Linkin Park released a Live album, a remix album and a mash-up album, and each of their big releases kept the band at the top of the game.

The Killers have taken a page out of this playbook with the release of their new B-Side album, entitled Sawdust. What's kind of sad about this release, is that I think I like it better than the last "official" release. Regardless of what anyone thinks, the Killers are all over the place, even though they're merely re-issuing old tracks sprinkled with a few new ones. It's a smart move and look out for them when they release album number #3.

Here are the 11 Best Songs by The Killers:

1. Rio (Rio)
2. A View To A Kill (Decade)
3. Save A Prayer (Rio)
4. Anyone Out There (Duran Duran)
5. Hungry Like the Wolf (Rio)
6. Union of the Snake (Seven and The Ragged Tiger)
7. Of Crimes and Passion (Seven and The Ragged Tiger)
8. Girls On Film (Duran Duran)
9. Come Undone (The Wedding Album)
10. Reach Up For the Sunrise (Astronaut)
11. Ordinary World (The Wedding Album)

Buy Sawdust here.