Flamingo is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Brandon Flowers, frontman of rock group the Killers, released on September 3, 2010, by Island Records. The album incorporates elements of soft rock and country pop, departing from the dance-rock and new wave influences of the Killers' 2008 studio album Day & Age. Produced by Flowers, Daniel Lanois, Brendan O'Brien, and Stuart Price, Flamingo features musicians such as Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis, fellow Killers members Dave Keuning and Ronnie Vannucci Jr., and guitarist Benji Lysaght.

Flamingo was written as a "ode" to Flowers' hometown of Las Vegas, exploring themes of religion, redemption, and his experiences growing in the city. The album was recorded in April 2010 at Battle Born Studios in Winchester, Nevada, and Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. The album's lead single, "Crossfire", was released on June 21, 2010, and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Succeeded by singles "Only the Young" and "Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts", the album was ranked number thirty on Qs list of the 50 Best Albums of 2010, and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart.

Background After a mysterious countdown on The Killers' official website, Flowers confirmed on April 29, 2010, that he would be releasing a solo album titled Flamingo. The album is named after Flamingo Road in Flowers' 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. (Although there is also a Flamingo Casino, Flowers has stated that it was not the inspiration for the title)."Brandon Flowers Best Buy Interview about Flamingo". YouTube. Retrieved January 12, 2011.

Many songs on the album include references to Las Vegas. The track "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" references Las Vegas Boulevard; "Was It Something I Said?" references Tropicana Avenue and a job at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas located on the Fremont Street Experience. "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, Daniel Lanois, and Brendan O'Brien. "Hard Enough" features a duet with Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis. "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" features bandmate Dave Keuning, while "Playing with Fire" features bandmate Ronnie Vannucci, Jr.

Promotion

The album's lead single "Crossfire" was premiered in the United Kingdom on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show on June 14, 2010. "Crossfire" was 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 album's second single on October 12, 2010. An accompanying music video—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". "Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts" was released in the UK as the third single from the album on February 21, 2011, without a single cover or music video.

Flowers performed "Crossfire" on Alan Carr: Chatty Man on September 1, 2010, and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on September 13. On September 6, 2010, Flowers played a 10-song set at Maida Vale Studios on BBC Radio 1. He performed both "Crossfire" and "Magdalena" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on September 14, 2010, and on Live from Abbey Road on July 20, 2011. Flowers appeared on Later with Jools Holland on September 21, 2010, performing "Crossfire", "Only the Young", and "Magdalena".

Critical reception

Flamingo received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, 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 Qs 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.Linkin Park and Trey Songz Debut At Nos. 1 & 2 on Billboard 200. Billboard. Retrieved 2010-09-23 The album has sold 137,000 copies in the US as of May 2015.

The single "Crossfire" reached the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, Irish Singles Chart, Belgium Singles Chart (Flanders), and Billboards Alternative Songs chart.

Covers In 2015, Martin Gore of Depeche Mode covered "On the Floor" at a benefit with his son in Santa Barbara.

Track listing All track written by Brandon Flowers, except where noted.

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

Musicians

Brandon Flowers – vocals ; synth arrangement ; piano ; guitar Stuart Price – synth ; guitar ; arrangement, slide guitar ; programming ; bass Benji Lysaght – guitar ; 12-string electric guitar ; electric guitar ; pedal steel Daniel Lanois – guitar ; pedal steel, dub sonics ; Omnichord Dave Keuning – guitar Brendan O'Brien – timpani, guitar, tubular bells ; bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals ; tambourine, shaker ; electric guitar ; castanet, hurdy-gurdy ; bells, B-3 organ, percussion Victor Indrizzo – drums Ronnie Vannucci Jr. – arrangement ; drums, percussion Jenny Lewis – vocals Darren Beckett – drums ; percussion ; additional drums Herschel Gaer – acoustic guitar ; bass The Las Vegas Mass Choir – backing vocals Jake Blanton – acoustic guitar, piano, backing vocals Daniel de los Reyes – percussion Donald E. Chaney – backing vocals James R. Smith – backing vocals LaMont Brown – backing vocals Veronica "Lady V" Morton – backing vocals

Technical

Brendan O'Brien – production ; mixing Tom Syrowski – recording Martin Cooke – recording assistance Nicolas Essig – recording assistance Peter Stanislaus – recording assistance Stuart Price – mixing ; production Robert Root – recording ; additional recording ; recording assistance Josh Baker – recording assistance Daniel Lanois – production Brandon Flowers – production Tim Young – mastering

Artwork Williams + Hirakawa – cover and interior photography Lucy Hamblin – cover and interior photography Warren Fu – art direction, label artwork, graphic design Kristen Yiengst – art and photography coordination

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2010) Peakposition European Albums (Billboard) 4 Greek International Albums (IFPI) 3 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico) 16

Year-end charts Chart (2010) Position European Albums (Billboard) 86 UK Albums (OCC) 55

Certifications

Release history Region 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

See also List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2010s

Notes

References