Battle Born

The Las Vegas Anglophiles headed by Brandon Flowers return with a vengeance on Battle Born. With songs that recall the glamour and glitter of their synth-dappled debut—but with the epic, organic quality that made the follow-ups Sam's Town and Day & Age so successful—The Killers have crafted something truly unique. "Flesh and Bone" is a pulsating, triumphant opening cut set to a mixture of dance-floor thump and guitar. "Runaways" is something else: a huge anthem that sounds like it was recorded by the combined forces of '80s-era Tom Petty and David Bowie. All in all, this is gigantic, cry-your-eyes-out alt-pop with a real soul peeping out from under the synth pulses and waves of post-production