Flamingo

Brandon Flowers

Release Date: 6th Sep, 2010
Label: Mercury
Genre: Alternative Rock

For many, the solo album means experimentation, indulging in music that fellow band members would very probably chuck their instruments at. But not for Brandon Flowers. When he and the other Killers decided to take a year off, the group's flamboyant frontman had already started writing their fourth album proper and, instead of pushing it to the back of a drawer while he unleashed his inner jazzman or rapper (god forbid), he carried on writing, with only himself to please. Then he enlisted Stuart Price, who worked on The Killers' last record, 2008's Day & Age, to co-produce; invited their drummer Ronnie Vannucci to play on a couple of tracks; and finally, named the album, like the Springsteen-saluting Sam's Town, after a place in the band's native Las Vegas. (Disappointingly, the title isn't a stunningly self-aware allusion to a strutting, preposterously plumed creature. Shame.)

So is this just a Killers CD to be filed closer to the start of the shelf? Well, opener Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, with its flag-waving, marching-band pomp, and first single Crossfire, which begs for a stadium and thousands of hands in the air, are the sort of rousing anthems that filled Sam's Town and littered Day & Age. Magdalena and Was It Something I Said?, with their tinny synths and hook-heavy 80s pop sensibility, could almost have slid in on a slick of Hot Fuss lip-gloss. And then, like those ill-advised adventures into sax (what are you, Matt Bianco?), on Day & Age, there are songs which should have been muzzled, tied up and shackled to the recording studio walls: a sleep-inducing foray into gospel called On the Floor and the I've-been-listening-to-Transformer-on-loop Swallow It.

But although much of this sounds like fairly standard Killers fare, there's nothing that can quite match Mr Brightside or Read My Mind. Some arrangements are unimaginative, and there's a slight feeling of blandness about the whole. Without his bandmates to rein him in, Flowers has also got a little overexcited with his bible - this, along with the proliferation of gambling metaphors, results in serious imagery fatigue.

Flamingo will keep the fans from growing rabid while The Killers take a break, but if Flowers releases another solo album before reconvening with his colleagues, teeth might well be bared.

Reviewed by Alix Buscovic

About The Artist

Brandon Flowers

Artist Homepage

Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981 - Las Vegas, Nevada) is the vocalist and keyboardist in the American synth rock band The Killers. His older brother Shane, got him into music like The Smiths and Morrissey, The Beatles, The Cure and Queen. Brandon has played with U2, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Bruce Springsteen and other bands of which he is fan. While listening to the radio in his car after his very first college class, Flowers heard the song "Changes" by David Bowie. He fell in love with the piece and realized immediately that he wanted to be part of the music industry. His career in music began when he became a member of Las Vegas band Blush Response (this was where he discovered he could sing), but he was fired after refusing to move to Los Angeles, California, with the rest of the band. After leaving Blush Response, Flowers realised that he still wanted a career in music and came across an ad for guitarist David Keuning. After many short-term bassist and drummers, the pair met Ronnie Vanucci (drums) and Mark Stoermer (bass) and the band has been together since. In 2004 the group released Hot Fuss (after having toured with Morrissey in multiple sold out shows), 2006 - Sam's Town, 2007 - Sawdust, 2008 - Day & Age In April 2010, Flowers announced his first solo album entitled Flamingo, which was produced by a team of legendary producers: Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Neil Young), Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Train), and Stuart Price (Keane, Killers, Madonna, New Order, Scissor Sisters, Seal). A special Bonus Track edition has also been released featuring four additional songs, "The Clock Was Tickin'", "Jacksonville", "I Came Here To Get Over You", and "Right Behind You".. Despite breaking through with strong singles off his first solo release and some high profile tour and TV engagements, Flowers is still committed to his band The Killers, and their new album is expected for 2011. Official solo site: http://www.brandonflowersmusic.com Official twitter: http://twitter.com/brandonflowers Official band site: http://www.thekillersmusic.com

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50 Comments

WilliamLessa 14 May 2012

Brilliant!
bragafrancisco 06 Mar 2012

Já tá na minha lista de álbuns favoritos.
x_thi 07 Nov 2011

Love! Love! ♥ [2]
Franciellen 27 Sep 2011

Love! Love! ♥
breecarpediem 15 Sep 2011

Happy Birthday Flamingo! ♥♥
AndersonLima17 10 Aug 2011

one of the best albums that i ever heard.
mehdispy 29 Jun 2011

2,293,020 plays (120,424 listeners) 251 plays in your library
blueunicorns 29 Jun 2011

Love it :)
RimaMalkavian 19 Apr 2011

beautiful *__* love this
deadgrave 18 Apr 2011

Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts
ra5y 27 Mar 2011

lovely album!
Aartmusic 21 Feb 2011

Why don't you roll your dice, show your cards. Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts!
KunRukan 30 Jan 2011

Brandon Flowers is the best, there's no logical explanation to justify so much talent. <3
iameclectic 19 Jan 2011

Stumbled onto Brandon while listening to Ryan Adams ~ good stuff....
SariRotter 27 Dec 2010

i love it!! (:
save_us 25 Dec 2010

Right Behind You
lilith_s 08 Dec 2010

Jacksonville totally deserve to be in the album and not as a bonus in the deluxe version [3]
Makkelijk 05 Dec 2010

Killers albums had best bonus tracks as well (glamorous indie rock & roll, where the white boys dance, all the pretty faces). So I guess it's a brandon thing ;)
PlutonZg 22 Nov 2010

Jacksonville totally deserve to be in the album and not as a bonus in the deluxe version [2]
MrsBrightside21 21 Nov 2010

what a great singer and songwriter....:-)
gremelieux 20 Nov 2010

great album!
isai_ferdinand 19 Nov 2010

Jacksonville totally deserve to be in the album and not as a bonus in the deluxe version :(
PlotniKK 12 Nov 2010

best album of 2010 [3]
PlutonZg 12 Nov 2010

Sometimes bonus tracks seem to be better than the some "original" album songs. Jacksonvile and The Clock was Tickin' are great.
iooalee 04 Nov 2010

Hard enough !
cavb_28 29 Oct 2010

Nice Album. Playing with fire, Mi favorite!!!
snakedoctor453 29 Oct 2010

Listening to this, whilst in Vegas, with your best friends, on the trip of a lifetime. That is both perfection and absolution.
kdebris 23 Oct 2010

jdgnpoajgvnoasnvi ... i don't quite know how i feel about this.
MorticiaVouk 22 Oct 2010

really awesome!
ButterflyGirll 17 Oct 2010

perfect album is perfect+1
hcornerstone 15 Oct 2010

otaviob29 escreveu: gente, muito amor
MitrofanId4 08 Oct 2010

я ща с торрента скачиваю трололо буду дрочить на этот альбом судя по отзывам
SmoleX 06 Oct 2010

best album of 2010 [2]
Tuuh 06 Oct 2010

HARD ENOUGH ♥
AndersonLima17 04 Oct 2010

best album of 2010
BrunoInTheSky 04 Oct 2010

amazing
m_brinks 30 Sep 2010

only the young <3
bander_az 30 Sep 2010

Брэндон Флауэрс такой Брэндон Флауэрс
otaviob29 25 Sep 2010

gente, muito amor
lafria 24 Sep 2010

ничо так.
LothlorienQueen 24 Sep 2010

ну чо как?
JaczTse 24 Sep 2010

OMG~This album is absolutely awesome, can't stop listening.
Pedrow_7 23 Sep 2010

The Best album!
petelecospoock 22 Sep 2010

awesome album!
fakewords 19 Sep 2010

Hard Enough is beautiful. Very good album, Brandon :)
barcelona_messi 18 Sep 2010

only the young<3
kimballsuxxx 18 Sep 2010

Playing With Fire <3
Imaginationland 16 Sep 2010

Really love this album **
tropcia 15 Sep 2010

This made me feel better. Thanks Brandon.
tempus-autumn 14 Sep 2010

ох, это чудесно!