Imploding the Mirage
The Killers 2020
Our favorite band, The Killers, released a new album, called “Imploding the Mirage” today, so you know I had to write about it.
But before we get to my thoughts on the new offerings, let me backup for a minute…
Outside of me and Summer, our friend, Gray, is the biggest Killers’ fan I know. Gray and I both love The Killers, but we each love them in completely different ways. Last week, Gray asked me to rank the band’s previous discography based on my personal preference and he ranked them as well.
Gray’s top 5 albums before Imploding the Mirage:
Day and Age
Hot Fuss
Sam’s Town
Battle Born
Wonderful Wonderful
Mine:
Sam’s Town
Battle Born
Day and Age
Hot Fuss
Wonderful Wonderful
And that right there is the beauty of The Killers.
They have their synth/techo fans (as represented by Gray’s order) and their Americana/heartland rock fans (as represented by mine).
And we’re both supremely happy with our lists.
It’s amazing to me that two people can enjoy the same band so much with such different tastes and interests.
One thing we both agree on is that their “Wonderful Wonderful” album from 2017 is our least favorite. There are a bunch of songs I like on that album, one even made it into my original Top 40. But it was an odd, somewhat lifeless compilation overall. One of the tracks was even called “Have All the Songs Been Written?” and I couldn’t help but wonder at the time if that was the truth for this group.
The band has even said “Wonderful Wondeful” was done with somewhat cheeky and ironic intent and that checks out. The Killers are best when they are singing from their heart and “Wonderful Wonderful” wasn’t that.
So we had no idea what to expect when a new album was announced for 2020.
Back in the winter, news spread that the new album would be called “Imploding the Mirage” and was scheduled for release in May. Then the world turned upside down and the band decided to delay the full release until today.
What happened in the meantime has been kind of fun; every few months, they’ve released a new single, so it’s been really cool to get a new song every every so often to process and enjoy - especially during the dumpster fire that has been 2020.
And then a VERY SCARY thing started happening.
As we got closer to today’s release date, the reviews of the album started rolling in. Not only could I not find a negative review, I haven’t been able to track down a less than stellar recap.
If you are just meeting me, that’s my worst case scenario. I need low expectations so that I can be pleasantly surprised.
Positive hype terrifies me.
Some of my favorite reviews so far:
Sheer, unabashed stadium sonics delivered with a heart of gold, ‘Imploding The Mirage’ finds The Killers providing one of the biggest – in both a sonic and emotional sense – albums of their career. It’s a propulsive achievement, pushing their songwriting to the limit in a thrilling, Devil-may-care manner. Irony-free and infused with feeling until it bursts, ‘Imploding The Mirage’ is the counterpoint to quarantine claustrophobia – it’s the sound of countless doors being opened, with The Killers stepping away from their limitations in a blast of undiluted ambitions.
And then this:
In continuing ‘Wonderful Wonderful’’s atmospheric experimentation with canyon rock enormity, The Killers have made another dazzling statement of ultra-modern pomp, and one arguably even more in step with new generations of alt-rock. It’s a musical DeLorean: rooted in mainstream Americana but speeding into adventurous horizons.
Now we’re using “Back to the Future” references?!
THAT feels like a personal troll.
But as I’m making my way through the album so far today, I really can’t disagree. It’s pretty solid throughout. I refuse to officially rank it among the other five yet but I have to believe it will eventually land somewhere before or after Battle Born, which currently resides at #2 overall.
One last, quick thought - Most of the Killers band members are my age, so it’s been interesting to grow up with them and now grow older with them. Maybe that’s why this group resonates so well with me? We are experiencing life together at the same time and pace. If “Wonderful Wonderful” felt a bit like winding down, “Imploding the Mirage” is a realization that we are just getting started.
Here are some quick take-aways from a few of the songs so far (still chewing on some of the other tracks). Would love to hear your thoughts as well.
(Also - feel free to click on the title of each song to listen to it!)
Sweet mercy, I love this song. What a way to lead off. There have been multiple reviews calling “Imploding the Mirage” the best Bruce Springsteen album to come out in decades (I thought the same thing about “Sam’s Town” but we’ve already covered that). If this is true, then “My Own Soul’s Warning” is THE driving force of that comparison. It is a Clarence Clemons saxophone solo away from being pure Boss.
(PS - I love the western motif music video that The Killers released for this song yesterday).
During lockdown and quarantine The Killers played an acoustic version of this song a few times on some TV shows, so we had heard it already but not the fully formed, produced cut. I felt like the acoustic version was a bit sloggy and slow but I love this track with complete instrumental accompaniment. I mentioned the Bruce Springsteen vibes on “My Soul’s Own Warning” above and this one feels like The Boss + Tom Petty in all the best ways.
This song was released the day before our anniversary last week and I mentioned then that it felt fitting for our favorite band to release their first overt “love song” for the occasion. Most of their songs are more about images and themes, so definitely nothing as specific as this. I don’t know if this makes sense but that is legit taking some getting used to… but not in a bad way. I keep wanting this song to break open (like it eventually does) but I can’t tell if I enjoy the waiting yet or not.
The first single that was released and still my favorite. This song embodies every inch of The Killers’ journey perfectly. All 16 years of their work dovetails together in this track and then shoots out soaring, like a muscle car rocketing through the desert night. I can’t stand when people put something that’s only been out a few months or years on their “all time favorites” list, but I’m close to committing that sin with “Caution.” This song came out at the perfect time of my life so it already has roots and a backstory - it has been my anthem during 2020. We only get one run at this life, I’m not going to spend it stuck inside or afraid of what could happen. I’m throwing caution...
Of all the songs we hadn’t heard before the full album release, this one is by far my favorite and completely worth the delayed wait. I get such a Pete Townshend “Let My Love Open the Door” vibe on this one. Feels like the very end of a fun 80’s teen movie: the guy and girl finally kiss, the girl walks away and the guy just starts smiling as this track begins playing. This track hammers home one final nail into the Holy Trinity of this album’s entire message: listen to your gut (“My Own Soul’s Warning”), live life to its fullest (“Caution”), and blow up the bullshit of a mediocre and mundane life (“Imploding the Mirage”). Those have always been tenets of my personal credo, so it’s awesome to now have mantra anthems to go along with each one.
Like I said before: The Killers aren’t my favorite band because I just happen to like the sound or lyrics of a few of their songs. They’re my favorite band because they bring sound and lyrics to the thoughts, images, and yearnings of my soul.
And they’ve done it once again with “Imploding the Mirage.”
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