it's official. sam's town is a better album than hot fuss. for the last year or so i have been listening to brandon flower's band--the killers. this mormon boy from nephi, utah and byu roots has produced two pretty popular albums.
a lot of mormons have tried to make music, but none have been as personally entertaining and non-soporific as brandon's. he's not perfect, but none of us are. flower's mormon upbringing wasn't picture perfect, and oblique references in his songs give a sense of striving, failing, trying, falling and working to find peace. 'all these things that i've done' and 'read my mind' are two of my favorites.
accepting brandon, his music and his quirks, is my way of contributing to a more tolerant, accepting mormon culture. take that for what you will try his music...
26 comments:
aj admirably sold his killers tickets to spend time in branson, missouri. a true sacrifice for family.
i sadly had to work when the killers came to LA and i'm working when the risenmay clan goes to branson--what does that say about me...
um....i think i like flowers. but i don't see how he has byu roots. maybe a byu connection. but definitely not roots.
fair enough. my mind too easily slides from 'byu' to 'church'. i stand corrected.
stevie: do you have a favorite killers song?
in that same vein. does anyone disagree with my album ranks.
Hi Stephen, this is off-topic, but did you have fun at Rusty's blog party? He emailed me to get your bona fides, and I assured him that you were good people.
hi rosalynde. it's great to have you in california:)
I was talking to an English kid on the rugby team last night, and he said that the killers were easily the most popular band in England. I looked it up, and the killers have been topping charts in England for the past couple of years.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., our charts are littered with talents like Justin Timberlake, Pink, and Avril Lavigne. I'm disgusted.
Sams Town is probably one of the better albums put out in the last 10 years. Another great tune is "Why Do I Keep Counting?"
disgusting is right. i won't admit to downloading any justin timberlake or having any of his music on cd--even if you asked me for the next ten years...
i've only had access to sam's town for a week (aside from songs on the radio) and i re-listened to "why do i keep counting" and it is stellar...a great find. hearing that song makes me even sadder we BOTH missed the killers in concert. maybe we could road trip to some concert in iowa or kentucky or something...?
aj: amy lost the name of your recently favorite song. something about molly?
stevie: i've been watching all the jazz games recently and i remember when you and i had that argument about who was the best basketball player...stockton or jordan. i always tend to buy into the trendy and went with jordan while you unrelentingly backed stockton. you had his poster (with the short shorts) in your room while i--who have been to chicago once in my life--had the air jordan 'wings' poster in my room. good memories. thanks for keepin' it real brother.
Now that is something I can respect Stephen! I was the lone Stockton lover growing up, and I never referred to Jordan as "his airness". Jordan may have had fade-a-ways and dunks, but Stockton had unparalleled fundamentals and class.
Deron Williams is blossoming into a great signal caller as well. His quiet and cool demeanor reminds me of #12. He is a bit more athletic than stockton, but nobody will ever run the court quite like him.
Paul, the song is "If I ever leave this world alive" by Flogging Molly. They aren’t my favorite band, but that song is one of my top picks.
paul: i like the killers but not enough to name any songs off-hand. and i will always idolize stockton.
rosalynde: i wanted to go to rusty's web log party. but i guess i just don't have the bloggernacle courage to see some of those people face to face. i enjoy my anonymity too much while lurking around the 'nacle. and btw i agree with the others about the appearance of evil. i guess i can't see any reason to put too much stock into what the neigbours think.
Paul, I was a bulls bandwagoner as well (although our temple was in Chicago, so my connection was reinforced by annual visits to the windy city).
It was Pippen that was my Bulls star, however, and I am impressed how long he stayed competative in the game. Dad would always tell me how terribly ugly he was.
prediction: Jazz 103 Spurs: 95
i like the prediction. if the jazz win they will have scored over 100.
pippen was not as pretty as jordan, but the ugly cake goes to dennis rodman...
AJ... love your change in logo.
rosalynde: have you ever listened to the killers? thoughts? i can send you a few tracks if you'd like.
I heard that Flowers drinks, smokes, takes drugs and is probably gay. But then, I guess we have to cut him a little slack. He is, after all, a Utah Mormon.
halfwit: wikipedia quotes flowers as saying that he has quit smoking, is active, and that he is not gay...but, then again, who are we to judge?
flowers is from nephi...both melinda and amber (wife and sister-in-law) vaguely remember him in high school.
paul: amber said that she's willing to sell her yearbook to you for $200!
a few things...dad risenmay makes his debut on the blog as 'halfwit'. don't let the name fool you though...he likes to keep us honest.
brandon flowers wears eyeliner now and then. he has a few songs that could be construed as 'ambiguous'. wikipedia was forgiving of him in its portrayal of his struggles with substances...he may or may not still use them.
my big question remains how many you own the album? how many of you could name one of the killers songs? how many of you had never heard of the killers before this post? how many of you downloaded his music from itunes since you've read this thread? does he speak to you? in a mormon way? i'm still waiting for peter to tell us all of a rare b-side song that he heard two years ago and remains his favorite...
jonny: is he wearing eyeliner in the yearbook?
Are we still talking about the killers??
Killers were introduced to me by the beneficent Paul Frandsen. "All These Things that I've Done" is still the top track for me. Flowers sings of the things that are taboo to talk about in mormon culture (probably because of Brigham Young's "I don't want to hear about it" remark). However, Flowers doesn't go into detail. He sings about the constant struggle between his own worldly aspirations conflicting with the ideals he has been taught and believes in.
Most of us have been faced with those choices and have come to the honest conclusion that we cannot live our standards and ideals by willpower alone.
I ALWAYS believe everything I read on wikipedia.
ahhhhhh! this is hannah! so thank goodness for blogs, i am half way across the world and i feel right at home, but i needed those pictures so so so much! i love you family! i really really do! i miss you, and those pictures of michael and the twins, wow they are DARLING! dont anyone expcially you stephen say anything about being cheesey!!!!! but i have a limited time on the enternet so i have to go bye!!! love you!
HANNAH so glad you graced us with your presence here on our blog. I think this is your debut. We love you, too. I'll post some pictures soon, just for you... half a world away.
matt: i'm not sure if i noticed your comment about willpower...but i love it. we certainly need grace, forgiveness and compassion to reach the ideal. another conclusion probably sets us up for a fall..?
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