Pantheon Songs

For the most part, I have not enjoyed the last fifteen years of rock music. There is too much emphasis on producing singles and not enough energy spent on making good, consistent albums. Music videos—which were once such an extraordinary side dish paired with a band or a song—are nowadays so banal and so thoroughly lacking in creativity, you almost cannot blame MTV and VH1 for outright abandoning them in favor of reality television programming.^[1] And it is nearly impossible to put into words what the negative residual effects have been on the quality of hit songs that are released due to 1) the de-regulation of radio in the mid-’90′s and 2) Britney Spears. The former is responsible the strangling of any truly varied terrestrial-based radio options; the latter is—however unfair—the face of the modern day factory-created pop star. Britney Spears begat Hannah Montana and The Jonas Brothers, and that almost borders on a war crime.

My own issues with rock music post-1996 aside, every now and then there are some singles that are released that restores my faith in today’s bands. And one of those songs is “Mr. Brightside.”

The second single from off of The Killers’ debut album Hot Fuss, “Mr. Brightside” is not only the best song that the band has produced, it is also one of the best mainstream rock songs of this decade. It is polished, it is catchy, it is everything you could want from a stadium rock anthem.

The opening riffs of Dave Keuning’s guitar—which, in the wrong hands, could have signalled the beginning of some questionable faux-punk track—instead give way to a solid foundation of which a jog-like beat allows lead singer Brandon Flowers to assume control of the song. Flowers’ vocals and keyboard are refreshingly polished and effortlessly blend into the song.

And it is Flowers who provides the fulcrum of the song. The range of his vocals when he needs to raise up is natural and fits like a glove around a song about voyeurism, whereas his keyboard provides a perfect background texture—you know that it is there, but it does not fight you to be heard.

Over the last decade, technology increased at such a high rate (while the cost of it only increased marginally) that recording studios and bands have access to a plethora of hi-tech bells and whistles, resulting in more polished-sounding singles. The problem with songs that are really polished is that polish is the fundamental nemesis of rock music. Sure, you have your exceptions like David Bowie or Dark Side Of The Moon but rock should be all about the flaws and the inherent rough edges that the sedimentary nature of country and blues brought into the fold so many decades ago.

But every once in a while a polished single can transcend its smooth edges and any unfair label such as Top 40 Rock. “Mr. Brightside,” despite the tendency of some to clump it in with songs from other vastly inferior bands, is a really outstanding single and a song I would nominate instantly as being one of the best songs of the aught years.

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[1] On second thought, I will blame those networks for my ennui with today’s music industry. The video for The Breeders’ “Cannonball” is more important (and more entertaining) than any show that revolves around who Bret Michaels will be receiving a Jack Daniels-induced hummer from. Call me old fashioned, I know.