Flamingo

Let's hope that Flowers isn't the next Morrissey, putting out one brilliant album for every three duds. At that rate, we only have to suffer two more Flamingos to see what Flowers is capable of producing as a solo artist.

The albums three producers create a gloopy mix of mid-'80s soft rock and air-punching choruses which lack the urgency of the Killers, while the gambling metaphors and religious images quickly irritate. [Oct 2010, p.94]

Flamingo is, for all intents and purpose, the next Killers record. [Oct. 2010, p. 106]

What we have here is a Killers record made without the Killers that sounds like The Killers and is almost as good as The Killers, but not quite. [Oct 2010, p.101]

Many people who have heard Flamingo have said it sounds a lot like a Killers album. Wrong. It is more that The Killers' albums sounded like Brandon Flowers solo albums, with a bit of indie guitar on top to snare those Reading & Leeds headline slots.

It would be laughable if Flowers wasn't 100 percent committed, and if the hooks on Flamingo weren't irresistible. He is, and they are - and you'll be too busy singing along to giggle.

It's clear from Flamingo that Flowers accounts for the lion's share of talent in The Killers, and if they ever go on definite hiatus, their fans can look forward to more consistently good material in the form of Flowers' solo albums.

You have to take the good with the bad. It's probably the case that the good is better than you remember it and the bad is worse.

If Flamingo sounds just like a Killers record, that's because it nearly was.

If the other Killers allow it, Brandon Flowers has brought a few decent additions to their greatest hits set, but cull those three or four tracks and what remains is an occasionally interesting, sometimes unintentionally hilarious mess of a concept album that's about as tasteful as the city that inspired it.

By stepping out on his own while his main project is on the back burner, Flowers has set himself up to be scrutinized in a way that seems potentially disastrous. But to his credit, Flamingo succeeds more than it fails because he doesn't try to do anything beyond his skill set.

Minimized guitar bluster emphasizes his ample vocal assets, but Flowers wilts when the sunny tempos subside, revealing himself to be an AOR softie.

Both Flowers and Flamingo are unmistakably colored by his Vegas origins, but his sound has been worn to a richer patina here.

Flamingo makes a pretty strong case that Flowers doesn't have the best grasp of what it is he does well.

Flowers plays it too safe. For a record about Las Vegas, he sure doesn't gamble much.

What ultimately holds Flamingo together is its consistency; a trait which is not exactly synonymous with The Killers. It could be argued that there is not a single bad song included amongst its ten tracks (although it pays not to closely inspect the four bonus cuts included on the Deluxe Edition of the LP) and all are in some way catchy. It makes for a sound and interesting listen, but one which still leaves listeners a little disappointed.

Flowers feverishly blows up the songs as if they're helium balloons bound for the stratosphere. Any sense of restraint - which, granted, has never been the Killers' specialty - is steamrolled by one bombastic chorus after another.

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.

Pairing synths with Springsteen is a formula that's worked well for The Killers' frontman before, but here the Lanois production begins to grate amongst the constant God imagery and every third line being a cliché.

Like the three Killers albums, Flamingo is patchy, the sound of a vivid talent not living up to its initial promise.

Brandon Flowers has gone on record saying he brought the songs on Flamingo to his fellow bandmates for the next Killers album and was given the brush-off.

Flamingo finds Brandon Flowers exploring big topics (love, religion, the complicated charm of his Las Vegas hometown) over even bigger arrangements.

While Flowers is a bit more reserved in his solo outing, Flamingo still retains a bit the thematic charm of a typical Killers album.