The Killers: Days & Ages

by Mark Beaumont

The Killers have sold 17 million albums worldwide. Their fourth studio album Battle Born was released at the end of 2012. They are touring in 2013/2014. The ultimate story of The Killers’ rise from Las Vegas croupiers to million selling global superstars headlining festivals throughout the world. Featuring interview transcripts with the band as well as new interviews with them and those around them right up to their new album Battle Born. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Music

436 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2014

About the author

A contributor to such titles as The Times, Shortlist, The Guardian and Uncut, Beaumont's writings have predominantly appeared in the NME where he has written numerous reviews and interviews since 1995 and has also functioned as the magazine's letters and singles page editor. Considered by NME editor Conor McNicholas one of the title's "star" writers, Beaumont has frequently been assigned the task of reviewing latest releases and gigs from high-profile artists Arctic Monkeys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Coldplay and Muse.

Reviews

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my recent reading expedition to learn more about my favourite band, I inadvertently saved the best ‘til last. The Killers Days & Ages is the most text dense and picture light of the three books on the band, but for me it was ultimately the most rewarding. If you want to have the musical influences of each of the band members in detail, this is your book. If you want a hard copy of the most quotable B.Flow quotes, this is the book. If you just want a detailed journey of the band from Las Vegas to Wembley, this is the read. And finally…if you want to read some detailed interviews with Mark and Dave, they are there. (Warning: reading these in 2018 will make you at least a little sad).

What really makes The Killers Days & Ages stand out from the pack is the quality of Mark Beaumont’s research and his writing skills. He writes a great narrative that’s interesting and flows well. It’s not simply a collection of interviews cobbled together with a few words but a logical story. (Plus the book has footnotes that mention everything from Bill Gates enjoying a show to what the lyrics of Sam’s Town could be referencing – I did not know that Shockwaves was a hair product that sponsored the NME tour the band was on). The book also has a balanced tone – there’s no calling out Brandon for his youthful bald statements on various bands and the band’s hiatus tells us about what each of the guys did individually. Beaumont also describes potential meanings behind many of the lyrics and while I didn’t agree with all of them (I prefer to snigger like a teenager on reading the track listing for Flamingo) it adds another layer to the next time you listen to each album.

At the end of each chapter (named after one of the band’s songs) there is an interview with Dave, or Mark, or both in 2014. (This book had the support of the band). As they are the quieter ones in the group, I found it really refreshing to hear their thoughts on touring, recording and everything that goes with being part of the best band of this century*. Reading this from 2018, post Wonderful Wonderful was kind of sad for me. I don’t know whether I’m putting my own spin on it, but Mark and Dave seemed fatigued. Honest in their answers, but tired. I’d like to hope that time has refreshed them.

There are of course happy moments – Wembley, secret shows and the buzz of growing more popular. For the fans, there are also two colour sections of photos. There are behind the scenes pics of the Read My Mind video, plus the gold suit – in the Sam’s Town era. Most of these I’d seen before, but they are high quality here. There is also a comprehensive list of references so you can seek out the full interviews. I’m not normally a slow reader, but having all these extras and the internet had me wanting to try to find some of the photos described, check discographies and lyrics and generally reminisce about the band. If you’re a Victim of The Killers, you can’t go past this book.

*IMHO

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been aware of The Killers since “Mr Brightside” and knew most of their songs, even if I wasn’t a committed fan. That all changed, however, when we watched their headline set at Glastonbury in 2019 and I suddenly realised what I’d been missing. Since then, I’ve picked up their back catalogue, have a new favourite band and then discovered this (big) book. Mark Beaumont is a music journalist who not only knows the band but has been writing about them from the start and a note in the acknowledgements makes it clear that although it might not be authorised, the band was very much behind it. Covering everything the Killers has done - and it’s a biography of the band, in that we get the life stories of the four prior to joining it but afterwards, unless it relates directly to the group, it’s only mentioned in passing (such as Brandon getting married) - up until the end of the Battle Born tour in 2013, this is thorough (and includes plenty of quotes from various interviews over the years with a wide variety of publications) and doesn’t shy away from any issues, from Brandon’s early scrapping through the music press to the dissatisfaction over touring and input from Dave and Mark in the later albums. They dropped out of touring after the books timeline, though it was obviously on the cards because Beaumont includes long interviews with both, interspersed through the book. As a read, it’s perfect book for a Killers fan as it charts how these four blokes with little in common clubbed together and took on the world, from the early days in Vegas when they couldn’t get arrested to the satisfaction of playing Wembley (“we’ve come a long way from Dave’s apartment,” as Brandon says). The excitement and enthusiasm from the bandmates is tangible and the fact they all come across as nice blokes just makes it all the better. Told with wit and insight, I loved this and if you like The Killers, I would highly recommend it.

[Clayton Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Within the pages of Mark Beaumont's book is a rock concert. On the drums, keeping the story on track, are the events that unfold for a local Las Vegas band from 2001 until 2013. Helming the guitar are some of the most catchy riffs and popular songs that over the last few decades the world has heard. At bass is a moody behind the music account of the bands origin story, rise to fame and internal conflict that comes naturally with success. Lastly, the singer is a distinguishable frontman whose voice is of someone motivated to be nothing less than great and lyrics reveal him to be a skillful enigma. "Who's playing this show?" you find yourself asking. My response, of course is "The Killers."

This book was a ride. I loved every minute of it. It reminded me of all of The Killers songs that I loved and took me back to the first time I heard them. As each album was discussed in the book, I would go back and listen to it in its entirety, falling in love with a couple new tracks along the way. Hats off to Mark Beaumont whose writing demonstrated great knowledge, research and time spent on the subject. While him being a music journalist largely lent a hand to his expertise of the craft and subject. The thorough recounting of the band's history pieced together from first or second hand interviews, articles and other public resources, was quite impressive.

While I could spend time on All of The Things that each member of the band, and the group overall, has Done. I won't. I want you to read this book. I will though briefly touch on the band's songwriter and frontman, Brandon Flowers, and what left an impression on me the most. Like I mentioned at the start, he is an enigma. When he was Young, a Mormon boy pure of heart, he oddly enough wanted to be a rockstar--really he wanted to be a rock God but for Mormon's there is only one true God. In his youth Somebody Told him about the glistering lights in the desert. He was immediately drawn to the warm weather, Joy Ride and cheap thrills that is Las Vegas but not for the Reasons you think you know. Being Human he could never cast the first stone, but drugs, sex and gambling weren't the cause of his attraction to Las Vegas. It was the energy, the entertainment, the up all night and sleep all day mentality found there that captured his attention and stroked his creative mind. It is the city where his heart would be broken, and he would learn to look at the Brightside of things. A Dustland Fairytale in Nevada, where he would meet the fellow bandmates that would shape his career and course of music history. This all makes the Battle for success that Flower's and the Killer's had as a band so fascinating.

Go read this book, and thank you so much for stopping by and reading this post. Ugh, that's a garbage ending. The Killer's actually say "goodbye" so much better.

"We hoped that you enjoyed your stay/ it's good to have you with us, even if it is just for the day/ outside the sun is shining, seems like heaven ain't far away"

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

...a lifetime's gamble that paid off big.
Now kiss the dice and throw.

I may say The Killers are my favourite band of all time. Crazy statement but admittedly true! I saw this sitting on the library shelf after saying 'I don't need to borrow another book'. I had never heard of it and it kind of stood out to me so yes I did borrow it. I had no idea it existed! Silly of me! I'm waiting for Brandon Flowers to release an autobiography. I need it yesterday!! This is the best we can do for now and it's pretty ok!

It achieved what it set out to do. A very dense history of the band from each band member's background up until 2013. Dense is the key word here. There's a lot of info which I am personally happy to take in. It is not one of those books where the authors inserts himself into the narrative aside from the occasional 'I asked them this in 2003...' etc. In fact, it was very biased towards anything they did, almost too supportive. Take for instance, Brandon's Mormonism (rant incoming). This is Brandon's fatal flaw in my opinion. I don't know where he is at with it now but back in 2013 he was promoting the church a lot. This book is like 'omg guys leave him alone he's just trying to live his life as a 28 year old Mormon rockstar with his three children'. There was a definite change after Sam's Town and that is why I need the BF book. I love everything Brandy writes, I identify a lot with it and I understand where a lot of it comes from. That's a lot of the reason why I am so biased towards him. This book won't make you like him if you already kind of don't like him (@my dad) because he initially comes off as a little entitled and always ready to pick a fight (my bias makes me think this is funny. He always has opinions about music and musicians that pisses people off - I quietly agreed with him most of the time until I caught Daft Punk catching strays! No!) and then he gets into the Mormon stuff. He is a multi-faceted individual who I find truly interesting and I think about him often.

Oh, and another thing that the author did kind of mention which I thought was weird. There were a few mentions of 'omg is Brandon gay?' and Mark Beaumont, the author man, was like 'absolutely not, he has a wife and kids hell no, that is such a silly thought'. And it's just like...why are we even having this conversation and why are you trying to push this agenda of white male straightness in this narrative? I am aware that the band is made up of straight white men but I have always thought there is a lot more depth to that in some of these lyrics. The conversation was maybe just irrelevant or if you think it's relevant, we should be more nuanced about it. Basically, I need to talk to Brandon about this exclusively and ghost write his biography.

Coming away from this, you kind of view The Killers as very focused on success. They go on about how ambition is not a bad thing and they make music (at least now) they think people will love, inspired by music they love - I find this a very unique perspective and one that I do actually respect. By far the chillest guys are Ronnie and Mark. I enjoyed hearing about their solo projects in their hiatus period. I liked hearing about their individual interests and the way they viewed the band. Reading Mark's interview at the end where he talked about Battle Born made me sad though because I've grown to love that album and he feels that instead of the album being a quarter of him, it was only 7% him. This is probably why people leave bands and this is kind of why they function now as Brandon and Ronnie plus mostly Mark plus sometimes Dave. It's interesting the way they were all committed at different levels.

Anyway, if you would like to chat about The Killers or Mormonism LET ME KNOW because there are a million things left for me to say. As a Killers fan, yes I enjoyed this. Despite my rant and character critiques, I do truly love them and will continue to love them because they make music that makes me happy to exist.

[Bavo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very in-depth coverage of one of the biggest bands in the world. Beaumont followed The Killers for years, interviewed them, and used a significant number of existing interviews to shape the member's personalities and track their development. Especially interesting is to read how the bass player Mark Stoermer and guitarist Dave Keuning talk about the band - normally you only hear from Brandon Flowers and to a lesser extent from drummer Ronnie Vanucci. Other highlights are the on-tour struggles and recording sessions of all records until the greatest hits album Direct Hits. This book makes me wonder how the band progressed after the Battle Born album into Wonderful Wonderful and how the latest solo projects came into being (Flowers' The Desired Effect, Keuning's Prismism and Stoermer's Dark Arts and Filthy Apes and Lions).

This book really is for The Victims who want to grasp how it is to be in this larger-than-life rock band. For casual listeners who want to learn something about the band this probably is too extensive and long. My interest in the band has only grown after reading this. Hopefully a future book will trace the band's post-Battle Born adventures that resulted in Wonderful Wonderful and in the upcoming Imploding the Mirage.

[Arnaldo Neto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biografia não oficial de uma das minhas bandas favoritas. Me fez entender porque eles demoram tanto pra lançar discos: os membros são diferentes demais. Não sei como continuam juntos, mas que continuem por muito tempo!