Battle Born

By the end of 2008, The Killers had released three albums, each one great in its own way. Personally, I've always prefered their sophomore effort to the unbalanced debut. With the excessive amount of massive hooks and infectious choruses, the springsteenesque Sam's Town still remains to be a shining example of a near perfect album to me. Where Hot Fuss loses its breath, Sam's Town shifts  to the second gear and continues to serve one gem after another.

Day & Age, on the other hand, felt at first like a complete misstep. The Killers tossed the guitar-band image away and became a full-time pop act. Many fans were repulsed by the new electronic sound as well as the famously ridiculous "Are we dancer?" line in the lead single, Human. Against all odds, however, Day & Age proved to be a relentless grower of an album and even went on to receive its fair share of well-deserved rehabilitation. Or at least from some people. And with Battle Born, it might be a similar case.

This is a serious contender for the artwork of the year.

Preceding the release, The Killers had promised no small things. They announced a return of rock'n'roll to their music along with the Sam's Town era sound. If that alone hadn't set the expectations incredibly high among their fans, the lead single, Runaways, certainly did. But the band never rests in one place and never makes the same album twice. Thus, anyone expecting Sam's Town Part II will be vastly disappointed. Rather, this is a logical follow-up to Brandon Flowers' solo stuff. The songs might just as well have been taken out of Flamingo and given a full-band treatment. The result sounds bigger and better than ever before.

Every guitar riff, every breakdown, every sound effect, every echo just falls into the right place. As a whole, the record might be the most cohesive work The Killers have ever created. Which is a rather surprising fact, considering how many producers participated in the final product. Furthermore, if it's somehow possible for Brandon Flowers' voice to get even better with time, then it certainly hits its all time high on Battle Born.

Without a doubt, The Killers had a clear vision of what they wanted to say and how they wanted to say it, and released one of the best albums of the year. Battle Born carries a sufficient amount of huge choruses for big stadiums and is still subtle enough for long winter evenings. It's no easy task to pick just a few best songs out of the whole bunch, because every single one of them is captivating in its own distinctive way. With that being said, Battle Born is easily one of the best closing tracks you'll hear this year.

I've spun the album approximately thirty times by now, and still can't get enough of it. That speaks for something.

Best tracks: Runaways, Deadlines and Commitments, Battle Born

The Very Best Of The Byrds

Although I've been a huge fan of The Byrds for over a year, it wasn't until recently, that I have finally "acquired" all of the band's studio albums. This whole time, I was spinning their 1997 best of compilation almost constantly, and it gradually became one of my all time favourite CDs.

Notice the trademark glasses of the frontman Roger McGuinn :)

I haven't grown tired of the band's versions of the Dylan's classics, for which they became famous in the first place, such as their first single ever Mr. Tambourine Man, or Pete Seeger's adaptation of the Book of Ecclesiastes Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) featured prominently on the Forrest Gump soundtrack. The Byrds crafted some of the best covers in the history of rock music. With richer intrumentation and Roger McGuinn's distinctive vocals, they had the ability to take those already brilliant songs to a whole new level. Not to speak about their originals, such as I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better, Chestnut Mare or perhaps the first proper psychedelic rock anthem Eight Miles High.

Not unlike The Beatles, The Byrds introduced a unique amount of talent in each of its members. Most of whom found new success in their subsequent careers and inspired countless musicians of the generations that followed. Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby (of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) or Gram Parsons were all highly influential personas in the genres of psychedelic rock, country rock and folk.

The band's unmistakable sound owed a lot to Roger McGuinn's jangly guitar, the twelve-string Rickenbacker. The main reason I was hooked instantly, though, were the ethereal melodies. The Byrds were masters at crafting them, and were true equals to their contemporaries, The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

The CD is a selection of 27 songs from the first five years of the band's career (1965 to 1970) and really doesn't miss anything essential. Although the band's style changed significantly over the course of the years, from blending the folk revival and Beatlesque rock to psychedelia and country, the whole compilation still feels like a cohesive album. I'd even go as far and say that The Very Best of The Byrds is what "1" was to The Beatles. The ultimate collection. I'd strongly recommend it to anyone with at least a vague interest in the '60s music. (Or anyone, who still thinks today's indie folk rock bands do something special.)

Well, I had to get this out of my system. Since the first time I heard Turn! Turn! Turn! to this day, my love and respect for The Byrds have been only growing. They are one of the reasons why the music of the '60s was the best. And that's not an opinion, it's a fact.