The Killers

There's no doubt the Killers are out to rule the rock world. Day & Age is big, odd and ostentatious and whether you care about Brandon Flowers' Bono/Morrissey interpretation and melodramatic, sometimes silly lyrics ("Are we human or are we dancer?"), you can't deny this is one catchy affair. Their devotion to the '80s is nothing new: Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, U2 and Bowie are filtered into the mix. But it's the big sax trills, mighty horns, fall-to-the-knees guitar solos, "Wimoweh"-ish chants and funky Caribbean beats that prove these guys aren't slacking their way to the top.

Like their hometown of Las Vegas, the Killers have a flair for anything supersize, sparkly
and over-the-top: soaring synth-pop operas, multipart arena-rock anthems, "Bohemian
Rhapsody"-style choirs. So it makes sense that, after 2006's massively ambitious Sam's Town,
their third studio album expands their scope even further, adding subtle world-music
accents to their glittery New Wave anthems — fitting for a band bent on internati... More >