New Release: Brandon Flowers - Flamingo

Release Date: September 14, 2010
Label: Island Def Jam Music Group 
  

For some reason, I decided to start this blog with the album I just listened to today, Brandon Flowers' new album, Flamingo.  It may not be the best choice, owing to the fact that I have never been a fan of The Killers—actually, I hate The Killers.  The whole throwback 80s U2 bombast thing never really appealed to me.  Every song sounded the same to me.  However, I decided to give it a chance, thinking that perhaps Brandon Flowers branching out on his own would free him.  Maybe it was The Rest of The Killers who were responsible for a style which I did not particularly care for.  With that in mind, I may not be the most objective reviewer for Flowers' new album, but I think I can honestly say that I gave it a fair chance.  I wanted to like it.

Here is the track list:

1	Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas	4:49
2	Only the Young	4:19
3	Hard Enough	4:06
4	Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts	4:43
5	Playing with Fire	5:49
6	Was It Something I Said?	3:21
7	Magdalena	3:19
8	Crossfire	4:18
9	On the Floor	3:25
10	Swallow It	2:56

I do have to say, standing alone, each track is probably OK.  No track stood out as being particularly terrible.  Crossfire, the first single, sounds pretty much just like a Killers song.  Playing with Fire was a pretty enjoyable track, and Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts was, dare I say, good.  The problem lies in the fact that the album has texture, but no dynamics or rhythm.  After six or seven songs that sound more or less the same, I went from wanting to hear something I haven't heard before—a new contribution, if you will—to just wanting this thing to end.  I gave up half way through on anything groundbreaking happening.

If an album is not groundbreaking, it might still be decent.  It can be a three star record.  But if it's not groundbreaking, and it is also boring and repetitive, it's a recipe for failure.  You can only take so much pomp before you say, "I just want some peace and quiet!"

My recommendation is that you listen to each track individually, and pick and choose the ones you might not mind stumbling across when you press "Shuffle."  The three bolded tracks above are my recommendations.  Because it is not a total loss, it still earns one star.

★☆☆☆