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The Killers: Vagabonds and Victims
Brought up in Las Vegas on a diet of rock and synth bands such as The Cure, Oasis, mid-70s David Bowie, Morrissey and classic Depeche Mode among others, The Killers are in fact a very British band. Their rise to fame has been meteoric, inspired and eventful all at once. "Hot Fuss" has sold over 1 million copies, making it into the Top 5 Selling Albums of 2004. The Killers went straight to the top of everyone's Best Bands of the Year lists in 2005 and with the singles continuing to flow and high profile festival performances lined up, they look set to be the first mega-band of the new Millennium. This book charts that rise to fame, interviewing key players along the way as well as placing the band firmly in the context of the predominantly British legacy they are currently mining.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 25, 2019
The Killers: Vagabonds and Victims is the last book I can find about the band The Killers – I’ve now exhausted the supply of reading material available in book format. This book like several others I’ve read, suffers from being quite dated given that fans are now eagerly awaiting titbits about their sixth album. This book covers the first album (Hot Fuss) and the events leading up to the multi-platinum album.
These kinds of unofficial and unauthorised books have faded from the radar likely due to the rise of the internet. Today, I could likely find all the information contained in this book and more and devour it within a couple of hours of typing ‘the killers hot fuss’ into Google. But back in 2005 it was harder – dialup internet, relying on scans of international magazines from fans and not doing anything on the computer for 30-45 minutes while you downloaded the latest bootleg from LimeWire. (Said bootleg would only be one song though). It was a hard life and books like this filled the void for fans. (Saying that, the copy I bought second-hand doesn’t even have the spine cracked so I doubt it’s been read). These are the things I tried to keep in mind as I was reading this book.
Jimmy Ramsay has a good writing style – casual and familiar. For the most part, it looks like he’s done his homework in reading and researching the seminal articles of The Killers at the time and talking to relevant record people. I could have lived without his personal reflections and thoughts of the bands and some of The Killers songs. (Saying you don’t like All These Things That I’ve Done would get a huge social media reaction these days. There are also a couple of references to the gay community which would not pass muster these days). He opens the story with a personal reflection of the Tyson vs Holyfield fight, which is odd for several reasons. One, because this had nothing to do with the band except that the fight occurred in Las Vegas. Two, because The Killers would later be seen with Mike Tyson on screen and their fifth studio album contains the song Tyson vs Douglas. A premonition or just getting lucky?
I can understand that this book would have been put together in a hurry to capitalise on The Killers’ fame but some of the typos are extreme. I had to stop and roll my eyes at the wrong your/you’re and a quote is attributed to bassist ‘Matt’. The bassist who said that is Mark. Victims who know their Killers history will cringe at that even more, as the former drummer in the early days was Matt. Oops. Overall, it’s a good, brief history of a band who didn’t have a lot of history at the time. For the more visually inclined, yes there are pictures but you wouldn’t buy this book on pics alone. They are small and black and white, padded out with pictures of Live 8, The Bravery (remember them?) and Las Vegas. The pictures of the boys are easily available on the internet, in colour and high res.
I’d reserve this book for hard core Victims. For a more recent and detailed review of the band, The Killers: Days & Ages by Mark Beaumont is a good go to.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
These kinds of unofficial and unauthorised books have faded from the radar likely due to the rise of the internet. Today, I could likely find all the information contained in this book and more and devour it within a couple of hours of typing ‘the killers hot fuss’ into Google. But back in 2005 it was harder – dialup internet, relying on scans of international magazines from fans and not doing anything on the computer for 30-45 minutes while you downloaded the latest bootleg from LimeWire. (Said bootleg would only be one song though). It was a hard life and books like this filled the void for fans. (Saying that, the copy I bought second-hand doesn’t even have the spine cracked so I doubt it’s been read). These are the things I tried to keep in mind as I was reading this book.
Jimmy Ramsay has a good writing style – casual and familiar. For the most part, it looks like he’s done his homework in reading and researching the seminal articles of The Killers at the time and talking to relevant record people. I could have lived without his personal reflections and thoughts of the bands and some of The Killers songs. (Saying you don’t like All These Things That I’ve Done would get a huge social media reaction these days. There are also a couple of references to the gay community which would not pass muster these days). He opens the story with a personal reflection of the Tyson vs Holyfield fight, which is odd for several reasons. One, because this had nothing to do with the band except that the fight occurred in Las Vegas. Two, because The Killers would later be seen with Mike Tyson on screen and their fifth studio album contains the song Tyson vs Douglas. A premonition or just getting lucky?
I can understand that this book would have been put together in a hurry to capitalise on The Killers’ fame but some of the typos are extreme. I had to stop and roll my eyes at the wrong your/you’re and a quote is attributed to bassist ‘Matt’. The bassist who said that is Mark. Victims who know their Killers history will cringe at that even more, as the former drummer in the early days was Matt. Oops. Overall, it’s a good, brief history of a band who didn’t have a lot of history at the time. For the more visually inclined, yes there are pictures but you wouldn’t buy this book on pics alone. They are small and black and white, padded out with pictures of Live 8, The Bravery (remember them?) and Las Vegas. The pictures of the boys are easily available on the internet, in colour and high res.
I’d reserve this book for hard core Victims. For a more recent and detailed review of the band, The Killers: Days & Ages by Mark Beaumont is a good go to.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
March 19, 2022
I read /The Killers: Vagabonds and Victims/, by Jimmy Ramsay:
https://samstillreading.wordpress.com...
Reporter: "Have you found any similarities to being in The Killers and working at Banana Republic?"
Dave Keuning: "What a question to ask. None. There are none. Thank God."
https://samstillreading.wordpress.com...
Reporter: "Have you found any similarities to being in The Killers and working at Banana Republic?"
Dave Keuning: "What a question to ask. None. There are none. Thank God."
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews