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8.0
46184
8.0 |
Daily Telegraph
Singalong melodies, they construct exciting, catchy songs that draw on the dynamics of stadium rock established by classic bands from the Who to Springsteen and U2
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8.0
46185
8.0 |
BBC
Battle Born is a belter, an album made for bedrooms, stadiums and old-school denim jacket patches alike
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8.0
46186
8.0 |
Evening Standard
Only the stoniest of hearts won’t be moved by these giant choruses. It’s good to have them back
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8.0
46193
8.0 |
The Arts Desk
This is an album that gallops along at such a heady pace one has to hold on to the metaphorical reins for dear life
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8.0
46311
8.0 |
Spin
Although Battle Born acknowledges hard times, it’s ultimately hopeful, and although it may not be in style, it's there when we need it. Like now
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8.0
46190
8.0 |
The Irish Times
At times The Killers nudge towards overwrought, but they probably have points to prove, so you can forgive them their slight over-earnestness. No problems, though, with pulling singles off this fine collection
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8.0
46344
8.0 |
All Music
They're veterans at this game, a group who has been trading in these stylized, glamorized fusions for a decade, and that slightly weathered attitude is now part of the band's appeal
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8.0
46532
8.0 |
Q
A thrilling victory of an album because at its heart it has the same great swirling mass of melancholic energy that drove their debut. Print edition only
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8.0
46630
8.0 |
No Ripcord
Unlike some songs on the last couple records, nothing here comes off as forced
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7.5
46316
7.5 |
A.V. Club
The Killers come off sounding like an excited young band with something to prove. That, in turn, makes it easier to relate to Flowers than to the Bonos of the world
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7.0
46226
7.0 |
NME
If you’ve the stomach to set aside your indie sensibilities and endure the occasional terrifying flashback to ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’, ‘Battle Born’ holds some majestic moments
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7.0
46429
7.0 |
Paste Magazine
Battle Born forges deeper into their distinctive traits and away from the compromises with radio or current trends; thus it’s their first record to lack a widescreen knockout single like “When You Were Young,” “Human” or “Mr. Brightside.”
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6.7
46456
6.7 |
Pretty Much Amazing
It’s almost like Flowers is trying to see how far he can go before The Killers become a parody of themselves. The line may have been crossed somewhere along the way, but with an album this entertaining, does it matter?
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6.5
47090
6.5 |
Prefix
Battle Born may not be their best album or their most original, but not every one can be
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6.0
46358
6.0 |
Rolling Stone
The fourth Killers record might be their wildest neon-Springsteen fever dream yet
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6.0
46192
6.0 |
The Fly
This is a collection of wilfully anthemic synth-rock songs that pilfers liberally from Springsteen and includes the most shameless stadium chorus of the year, in ‘Here With Me’
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6.0
46321
6.0 |
Slant Magazine
A baker's dozen of straightforward rock anthems, produced by the likes of rock vets Steve Lillywhite and Brendan O'Brien, with a heavy emphasis on reverb
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6.0
46188
6.0 |
The Observer
The Killers have ditched the disco and returned to widescreen, wind-machine Americana
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6.0
46189
6.0 |
The Guardian
It's a world away from the gruff, anglophile indie of Mr Brightside or the poetic pomposity of Human, which, love it or hate it, will be remembered for 100 years
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5.0
46331
5.0 |
musicOMH
Battle Born is music played in the past tense. Perfect, imperfect, pluperfect. Mostly imperfect
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4.0
46227
4.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Mostly, these hulking chunks of anthemia surge forward in a directionless push towards mass appeal
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4.0
46238
4.0 |
The Scotsman
Much of the album could have been lifted from the soundtrack to a 1980s romcom – all big hair and shoulderpads or, in musical terms, Fairlight synthesizers and sterile drums
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4.0
46306
4.0 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
See review
Read Review
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4.0
46194
4.0 |
Independent on Sunday
This is a production in search of an album, a massive empty shell, a big expensive nothing
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4.0
46203
4.0 |
State
It’s not the misplaced change of direction of Day & Age, but perhaps the fact that Battle Born falls so short when the band are playing to their supposed strengths is even more worrying
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4.0
46414
4.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
The tragedy of Battle Born is that even when it shouts at the top of its lungs, it never reaches that special place that the band accidentally trips into with their best material
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4.0
46445
4.0 |
Uncut
The Killers have chops to burn, but no sense of proportion. Print edition only
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3.0
46548
3.0 |
PopMatters
A confused mess of an album, drenched in influences but positively overextended in its execution
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3.0
46211
3.0 |
The Digital Fix
The world’s going to hell in a handcart and millionaire musicians lazily shirk the difficult questions and settle for saying what they’ve said a million times before
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