Available on 180g Vinyl for the First Time!
It was the summer of 2004, the musical landscape was awash with glitchy electro-pop, disco-fueled punk and slick dance music. Hot Fuss, the major label debut from Vegas synth-indie outfit The Killers, premiered in June of that year in the US, peaking at the No. 7 spot on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 in the UK where it was released a week later. Cutting through the rest of the alt-rock noise that was pulsating at the time, The Killers co-existed as a guitar-driven indie band and a neo-new-wave synth-pop act with a cover-ready frontman in Brandon Flowers.
An ambitious debut to say the least, the album is chock-full of rock anthems that were destined for stadiums. Having grown up singing along to his Brit-rock idols, Flowers' inflected vocals belied his musical leanings and the band was especially adept at distilling their various influences into radio-ready hits for the next generation. As Flowers told Spin in 2009, "Hot Fuss was all based on fantasy. The English influences, the makeup – they were what I imagined rock was."
Lead single, "Mr Brightside," became a hit in the UK. Given their distinct Anglo-American sound, it's not surprising that UK critics and audiences were the first to embrace them. The album stayed in the top 40 UK album chart for 179 weeks – just short of Pink Floyd's 211 weeks in the charts with Dark Side Of The Moon. In addition to the infectiously catchy "Mr Brightside," the 5x Grammy-nominated release also features the gender-bending "Somebody Told Me," the sardonic and synth-driven "Smile Like You Mean It" and "All These Things That I've Done" with backing choir vocals from The Sweet Inspirations.
A2 Mr Brightside
A3 Smile Like You Mean It
A4 Somebody Told Me
A5 All These Things That I've Done
B1 Andy, You're A Star
B2 On Top
B3 Change Your Mind
B4 Believe Me Natalie
B5 Midnight Show
B6 Everything Will Be Alright