and the last two before some newer additions

The Killers - Day & Age

This came out around Thanksgiving last year and hit its chart peak immediately. This record took repeated spins through the car stereo and the ipod, probably netting it the most plays of anything I've listed so far. It's every bit as good as Hot Fuss; over-the-top pop songs, some quite danceable, all ultimately catchy. "Are we Human or are we Dancer"(...wha wha what?!?) is a great dance track that should be in clubs everywhere. "The World We Live In" has smash hit all over it. Hell, I think I've talked myself into another listen.


U2 - No Line on the Horizon

One of the great bands of the 80's that continued to improve and impress through the 90's, but hiccuped a bit with "All That You Can't Leave Behind" in 2000, and then dropped the ultimate turd of "...Dismantle an Atom Bomb" in '04. God, what an awful record. Corporate, by-the-numbers, safe as a spork...awful turd. And then I hear the opening single of the new album, "Get On Your Boots". Eeewww, something stinks. But based on the band's history, I give "Horizon" a shot, and it's brilliant outside the "Boots" track and one other about going crazy. Come to find out, the album is produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who helmed Joshua Tree and Unforgettable Fire. Run a credits check on either of those two guys and tell me you don't have at least double digits in albums that feature either one of them in any way. "Horizon" is packed with aural sculptures that are gripping in their depth. "Moment of Surrender" just may be the finest U2 song in twenty years, featuring each band member's strengths in a loopy, dirty groove. I'm playing it now and, yep, there they are, goosebumps. That should say it all.