The Killers - Direct Hits (Vinyl)

  • Sale
  • Regular price €35,00
Tax included.


Direct Hits is a greatest hits album by American rock band the Killers. It was released on November 11, 2013, by Island Records. The album includes tracks from the band's first four studio albums and features two new tracks—"Shot at the Night" and "Just Another Girl", produced by Anthony Gonzalez of M83 and Stuart Price, respectively.

Regarding the album's release, vocalist Brandon Flowers noted, "This record feels like a great way to clean everything up and move onto the next thing."

According to Flowers, Direct Hits was originally entitled Cream. He notes, "The initial idea, which maybe was better, was Cream. It was my idea. It was a play on the fact that we put out a B-sides compilation called Sawdust. And so it made sense to call the ones that were our best Cream." Flowers' original idea for the album sleeve featured the Hoover Dam and a reservoir of cream.

Direct Hits does not include the singles "Bones", "The World We Live In" or "Here With Me", nor does it include b-side compilation promotional singles, "Tranquilize", "Shadowplay" or the popular and critically acclaimed non-single from the band's debut album, Hot Fuss, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine". Battle Born album track, "The Way It Was", however, is included on the track listing, and was not released as a single. Regarding its inclusion, Flowers noted, "With 20/20 hindsight, this song probably should've been a single. That'll probably be what's written on its headstone! When we play it live and Dave's riff starts, it's magic. We all love that song, so that's why it's on here."




Direct Hits represents The Killers in four phases chronologically. First up is a watered down, completely safe version of The Strokes. "Mr. Brightside" and "Somebody Told Me" are annoying and the words are bafflingly bad. "Smile Like You Mean It" and "All These Things That I've Done" are really fun guilty pleasure tunes.

Next, we have the only two tracks the band should really count as accomplishments, "When You Were Young" and "Read My Mind." These are terrific songs from the otherwise putrid Sam's Town. The next one on this compilation, "For Reasons Unknown" is a total mess and represents what the rest of that album sounds like.

Then, we have The Killers as a completely bland, radio-friendly, all-synth who-cares glob of boring. Everything after "Spaceman" sounds like they were trying to recapture the glory of "When You Were Young" thematically and musically. However, whatever fleeting songwriting ability Brandon Flowers had completely vanished at this point. The stories are all of young love and hard times that he has obviously never experienced. They're just cliche representations his head has choked out of books he's read, movies he's seen or Springsteen albums he's heard over time. These songs are so sappy, they would make Michael Bolton throw up a little.

Finally, there are two new songs from The Killers, just in case you were clamoring for more boring, melodramatic-yet-soulless tunes from them. Almost anything on here could have been replaced by the only quasi-edgy song the band recorded, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine", from their first album. It's a shame it wasn't included.

Okay, I get why people like these guys. They're upbeat, inoffensive and they get your foot tapping if you don't try to think too hard. They sound like The Cars if The Cars were unable to sing or write decent lyrics (some examples: "Are we human or are we Wal-Mart greeter" from Human; "I've got a hole but I'm not a holster / I've got a hole but I'm not a holster" from All These Things That I've Done; "Now she's taking a poop / Now he's getting a whiff / Now she's shutting the lid / Now he's getting her drift / Now she's washing her hands / Now she's drying her hands / He rolls up his pants... now / She puts on her hairnet... now / Now now now now now now now / Nownownow nownow nownownownow now" from Mr. Brightside).

By: kepp


A1 Mr. Brightside
A2 Somebody Told Me
A3 Smile Like You Mean It
A4 All These Things That I've Done
B1 When You Were Young
B2 Read My Mind
B3 For Reasons Unknown
B4 Human
C1 Spaceman
C2 A Dustland Fairytale
C3 Runaways
C4 Miss Atomic Bomb
D1 The Way It Was
D2 Shot At The Night
D3 Just Another Girl
D4 Be Still




A&R – David Massey, Evan Lipschutz
Art Direction – Warren Fu
Design – Andy West (3)
Layout – Andy West (3)
Management – Robert Reynolds
Mastered By – Emily Lazar
Photography By – Colin Lane (2), Torey Mundkowsky, Williams + Hirakawa, Wyatt Boswell
First time on vinyl.
Barcode (Scanned): 602557342772
Barcode (Printed): 6 02557 34277 2