Flamingo (Brandon Flowers album)

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Flamingo
File:Flamingo cover.jpg
Studio album by Brandon Flowers
Released September 3, 2010 (2010-09-03)
Recorded April 2010
Studio <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Genre
Length 53:05
Label Island
Producer
Brandon Flowers chronology
Flamingo
(2010)		 The Desired Effect
(2015)The Desired Effect2015
Deluxe edition cover
Deluxe edition cover
Singles from Flamingo
  1. "Crossfire"
    Released: June 21, 2010
  2. "Only the Young"
    Released: October 12, 2010
  3. "Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts"
    Released: February 21, 2011[1]

Flamingo is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter and the Killers frontman Brandon Flowers, released on September 3, 2010 by Island Records.[2] It was recorded at Battle Born Studios, Winchester, Nevada, and Henson Recording Studios, Hollywood, California.[3] The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart.[4]

Background

After a mysterious countdown on the Killers official website, Flowers confirmed on April 29, 2010 that he would be releasing a solo album entitled Flamingo.[5] The album is named after Flamingo Road (in Brandon's hometown of Las Vegas), where many pivotal events in his life occurred: Sam's Town Casino is on Flamingo, his first job was at a golf course on that road, and he met his wife in a thrift store on the road as well.a[›][6][7]

Track "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" references the Las Vegas Boulevard ("The Strip"). Track "Was It Something I Said?" references Tropicana Avenue and a job at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas located on the Freemont Street Experience. Track "Magdalena" references a 50 mile pilgrimage from Nogales, Sonora to Magdalena, Sonora in Mexico.

Recording

The album was recorded primarily at Battle Born Studios in Winchester, Nevada. It was produced and mixed by Stuart Price (Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, The Killers), Daniel Lanois (Peter Gabriel, U2, Bob Dylan), and Brendan O'Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, AC/DC).[8] Song "Hard Enough" features a duet with Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis.[8] Song "Fabulous Las Vegas" features Dave Keuning (of The Killers) and songs "Playing with Fire" and "Crossfire" feature Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. (of The Killers).

Promotion

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Main article: Flamingo Road Tour

First single "Crossfire" was premiered in the UK on the Zane Lowe Show on BBC Radio 1 on June 14, 2010. "Crossfire" released soon after on June 21, 2010 in the United States and Canada via iTunes, and on August 23, 2010 in the United Kingdom.[2][15][16] "Swallow It" was released as a promotional track from the album on August 24, 2010, via iTunes.[17] "Only the Young" was released as the next single. A video for "Only the Young" (filmed at Le Rêve at Wynn Las Vegas) premiered online on October 5, 2010 and was directed by Sophie Muller, who worked on the American video for "Mr. Brightside".[18]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 59/100[19]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars[20]
The A.V. Club B−[21]
Billboard 4/5 stars[22]
Entertainment Weekly B[23]
The Guardian 3/5 stars[24]
The Independent 3/5 stars[25]
Mojo 3/5 stars
Q 3/5 stars
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[26]
Spin 5/10[27]

Flamingo received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 59, based on 25 reviews.[19] musicOMH published a positive review stating, "It's clear from Flamingo that Flowers accounts for the lion's share of talent in The Killers, and if they ever go on definite hiatus, their fans can look forward to more consistently good material in the form of Flowers' solo albums."[28] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone described Flowers' penchant for weaving beautiful losers into his songs by stating, "It would be laughable if Flowers wasn't 100 percent committed, and if the hooks on Flamingo weren't irresistible. He is, and they are - and you'll be too busy singing along to giggle."[29] Alix Buscovic of BBC compared tracks "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" and "Crossfire" to stadium albums Sam's Town and Day & Age and tracks "Magdalena" and "Was It Something I Said?" to 80s pop sensibility album Hot Fuss.[30] Ryan Dombal for The Village Voice described Flowers as "a combination of Bono's brassiness, Morrissey's high drama, and Ian Curtis's spasmodic awkwardness, the singer represents an endangered species in 2010: a genuine arena-ready rock-'n'-roll deity who, at 29, isn't yet on blood thinners."[31]

The album was ranked number thirty on Q's list of the 50 Best Albums of 2010.[32]

Commercial performance

On the UK Albums Chart, the album debuted at the number-one spot on September 12 and remained on the chart for fourteen weeks.[33][34] As of May 2015, the album had sold 263,681 copies in the United Kingdom.[35]

On the US Billboard 200, Flamingo debuted at number eight, with 41,000 copies sold and remained on the chart for eight weeks.[36] The album has sold 137,000 copies in the US as of May 2015.[37]

The single "Crossfire" peaked in the top ten on the UK Singles Chart, Irish Singles Chart, Belgium Singles Chart (Flanders), and Billboard Alternative Songs Chart.

Track listing

Standard edition
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas"   Brandon Flowers Brendan O'Brien 4:48
2. "Only the Young"   Flowers Stuart Price 4:19
3. "Hard Enough" (featuring Jenny Lewis) Flowers, Lewis, Daniel Lanois, Benji Lysaght Price, Lanois, Flowers 4:05
4. "Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts"   Flowers, Lanois, Price Price, Lanois, Flowers 4:40
5. "Playing with Fire"   Flowers, Lanois Price, Lanois, Flowers 5:48
6. "Was It Something I Said?"   Flowers, Lanois, Lewis Price, Lanois, Flowers 3:19
7. "Magdalena"   Flowers O'Brien 3:19
8. "Crossfire"   Flowers O'Brien 4:18
9. "On the Floor"   Flowers Price, Lanois, Flowers 3:23
10. "Swallow It"   Flowers Price, Flowers 2:57
Total length:
 40:58

Personnel

Instruments
Production

Charts and certifications

Covers

In 2015, Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) covered "On the Floor" at a benefit with his son in Santa Barbara.[60] Fran Healy (Travis) covered "Crossfire" at The Sun's "Biz Sessions" in October 2010.[61]

Release history

Country Date
Australia September 3, 2010
Germany
Netherlands
Ireland
United Kingdom September 6, 2010
United States September 14, 2010
Canada
Brazil September 21, 2010
France September 27, 2010

Notes

^ a: Although there is also a Flamingo Casino, Flowers has stated that it was not the inspiration for the title.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ This Week's Releases: February 21, 2011 | News | NME.COM
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Brandon Flowers Best Buy Interview about Flamingo". YouTube. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Brandon Flowers’ ‘Flamingo’ Hits No. 1 On The UK Album Charts
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (subscription required)
  36. ↑ Linkin Park and Trey Songz Debut At Nos. 1 & 2 on Billboard 200 Billboard.com Retrieved 2010-09-23
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo". Hung Medien.
  39. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo" (in German). Hung Medien.
  40. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  41. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo" (in French). Hung Medien.
  42. ↑ "Brandon Flowers – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Brandon Flowers.
  43. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo". Hung Medien.
  44. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  45. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo". Hung Medien.
  46. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo". Hung Medien.
  49. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo". Hung Medien.
  50. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo". Hung Medien.
  51. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  52. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo". Hung Medien.
  53. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo". Hung Medien.
  54. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Brandon Flowers – Flamingo". Hung Medien.
  55. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  56. ↑ "Brandon Flowers – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Brandon Flowers.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Flamingo in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  60. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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