The Daily Spin II

Brandon Flowers | The Desired Effect

Welcome back to the Daily Spin. For the uninitiated, this is the series in which I review an album every day of 2025.

As was the case two years ago, my favorite song from each album can be found at the playlist linked here.

Album: The Desired Effect (2015)

Artist: Brandon Flowers

Link:

Best known for his work as frontman of the Killers, taking the world by storm with some of the most iconic songs ever made written by this man’s pen, Brandon Flowers had already cemented his legacy well before he ever ventured into his solo career.

Sometimes, listening to The Desired Effect, I think that’s probably a good thing.

In its better moments, this is a record that nails that feeling of head-over-heels love songs, big and bombastic, designed to be screamed along to in a car or a stadium or a shower alike. As with everything Flowers does, this album is big and - in his eyes, at least - beautiful.

There are times where it really is quite lovely. For all the hokey cornball energy that surrounds every single moment on this record, ‘Still Want You’ is pound-for-pound one of my favorite songs about love - nothing about it is unusually revolutionary, but there’s a sort of earnestness to the way this is performed that hits right at my core.

On the other hand, songs like ‘Diggin’ Up The Heart’ show why this isn’t making the hall of fame - chock full of overused and overbaked metaphor, bursting at the seams with trite sentimentality and the sort of mediocre sound that’s been done better by bands before, during, and after.

Rating: 6/10

Best Tracks: Still Want You

Worst Tracks: Nancy Tries to Take the Night