Album Review: The Audacity of Hope? The Killers' Battle Born

After a post-hiatus week of “eyeballing each other” in the studio, Nevada-based band The Killers began work on their fourth studio album, Battle Born.  What makes Battle Born worth your time?  The album deftly combines the Springsteen-esque sound and lyrics of the band’s early work with spacious, effect-heavy guitars and vocals reminiscent of U2 and the synth and conquer techniques that made Day & Age.  Add the influence of Steve Lillywhite and Danny Lanois, and you’ve got yourself a unique, compelling collection that proclaims with gusto that arena rock is alive and well.

The album’s opener, “Flesh and Bone,” begins with an intoxicating synth beep that soon mixes with harpsichord and strings before frontman Brandon Flowers gives voice to the thread that unites the album’s twelve tracks:  “I’ve gone through life white-knuckled in the moments that left me behind…cut from the cloth / of a flag that bears the name ‘Battle Born,’” a reference to Nevada’s flag, which gives the album its name.  This album is about hoping courageously in the face of fear—about being born of struggle.  It’s about asking the questions, “What are you afraid of?  And what are you made of?”  “Flesh and Bone” builds, before finally exploding in a glorious mess of Killers guitars.

Album highlights include “Miss Atomic Bomb,” a mixture of electronica, guitar lines seemingly played by U2’s The Edge, brilliant lyric-writing, and some of Flowers’ best vocals.  Although some find “Here With Me” a bit saccharine—and they might be right—I find the simplicity of images compelling and relevant:  “Don’t want your picture / on my cell phone / I want you here with me…”  As a contrast piece, the rock country vibe of “From Here On Out” demonstrates the depth of the band’s skill, even without the help of synth modification.

It’s hard to think that the album’s content isn’t connected to the suicide of the band’s sideman saxophonist Tommy Marth and to the 2010 death of Flowers’ mother.  The album’s later tracks, especially “Be Still,” seem in light of these events poignant reflections on mortality:  “Don’t break character / You’ve got a lot of heart…Rise up like the sun / Labor till the work is done.”

As for my favorites, I’d vote up two tracks that haven’t received too much critical acclaim.  The first is the album’s mouthwatering concluding anthem, which builds from simple guitar and strings to epic proportions before ending with a mesmerizing synth leadout.  In “Battle Born,” we repeatedly hear, “Remember what I said / boy you was battle born…” a line that captures the struggle gives the album its soul.  Listen carefully to the closing lyrics.  They’re worth careful consideration.

Musically simpler, “Heart of a Girl” is my top choice on the album.  It’s the lyrics that make both these songs work for me.  

But above all, it’s the strange coda of “Heart of a Girl” that best captures the band’s trumpeting of hope in the face of fear:

I believe that we never have to be alone,

Yes, I believe it's just around the bend,

You can hold it in, or you can scream it on a microphone:

"There is no end!  There is no end!"

Deep in my heart, I feel the presence

Of something that was long ago told to me

There is a hand guiding the river

The river to wide open seas

And deep in my heart, in any game,

On any mountain, no I’m not afraid

Standing on stone, you stand beside me

And honor the plans that were made….

Thanks, Killers.

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