In equal parts a homage both to the arena crowds that the group is longing so much for and the forgotten heartland rock gene, the Killers latest album comes through as forceful as the roaring audience on a sports stadium. Imploding the Mirage aims Bruce Springsteen and U2 in what has to be the most energetic arena-pop album of recent times with song after song following the same structure of up-building verses that explodes into raging choruses.
On “Caution”, one of the high marks of the record, Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham turns up and remind us that he still knows how to handle an electric guitar, but things do get a bit overblown as the volume keep increasing. The k.d. lang feature works great as a nostalgic break, but we are soon back to the stadium rockers. As Titanic Rising was my favourite record of 2019, I had high anticipations for Weyes Blood’s feature on ”My God”, but her incredible voice disappears in the overproduction is sadly rather forgettable.
One thing is for sure; this record will sound great on-stage, but heard as a studio album from start to finish, the bombastic presence and its rather repetitive formula comes through as a bit exhausting and reminds us that Springsteen’s Born to Run would not have worked as good if every song sounded like the title track.
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
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