Flamingo (Brandon Flowers album)

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. 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.

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 Fremont Street Experience. Track "Magdalena" references a 60-mile pilgrimage from Nogales to Magdalena in Sonora, 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). Song "Hard Enough" features a duet with Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis. 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

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. "Swallow It" was released as a promotional track from the album on August 24, 2010, via iTunes. "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".

Critical reception

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. 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." 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." 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. 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."

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

Commercial performance

On the UK Albums Chart, the album debuted at the number-one spot on September 12 and remained on the chart for 14 weeks. As of May 2015, the album had sold 263,681 copies in the United Kingdom.

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

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.

Covers

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

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the deluxe edition of Flamingo.