The Desired Effect is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter and The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers. It was released on May 15, 2015, by Island Records. It was produced by Ariel Rechtshaid and Flowers and mixed by Alan Moulder.[5] The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Flowers' second solo number-one album and sixth overall.
In 2010, Flowers released his debut solo album Flamingo under the production work of Daniel Lanois, Stuart Price, and Brendan O'Brien. Flamingo, a homage to Flowers' hometown of Las Vegas, topped the UK Albums Chart and included a top-10 single on the UK Singles Chart.[6] Flowers toured internationally in support of the album, receiving rave reviews for his live performances.[7][8] Flowers then put his solo career on hiatus while he pursued collaborations with The Killers including the UK number-one album Battle Born.[9]
In February 2015, Flowers released a teaser video on his website as well as a hand written note stating, "May 18, 2015 We will finally achieve The Desired Effect. Ariel and I have been collaborating in the studio, working together in the spirit of conversation, contention, and at long last, Sweet contrition. No one has yet seen or heard the change. But soon, we all will."[5][10]
"Can't Deny My Love" was released as the lead single on March 23, 2015. It also served as an instant download for pre-orders of the album. Flowers released a series of promotional video clips announcing the single.[13][14][15][16][17] Flowers also released a series of promotional video clips announcing second single "Still Want You".[18][19][20][21][22] He released the music video exclusively on Vessel.com[23][24] A lyric video was released for "I Can Change".[25]
The Desired Effect received critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 25 reviews.[39] Matt Yates of Q wrote, "Big, bold and joyful, it's exactly what a great pop album should be." Neil McCormick of The Sunday Telegraph called it a "set of perfectly honed pop-rock burnished with immense choruses" and wrote that, "every track offers up a smart blend of snappy lyrics and catchy hooks."[45]Mark Beaumont of NME wrote, "The Desired Effect is a consistently impressive collection."[46] Sarah Jamieson of DIY wrote "Brandon is still very much the star of this show... he's always been at his most comfortable creating huge pop songs and with his last solo effort, he proved to do just that."[47]
Andy Gill of The Independent called it "a series of huge-sounding, stadium-ready pop anthems of undeniable charm."[4] Lewis Corner of Digital Spy called it, "an astute and vivid record."[48] Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe wrote, "The other predicted effect of the album? A desire to play it repeatedly."[49] Darryl Sterdan of The Observer wrote, "Worth your time."[50]Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote, "The Desired Effect is something rare—the best straight-up pop album made by a rock star in recent memory."[51]
The album won the 2015 AML Award in the "Lyrics" category.[52]
The Desired Effect debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with first week sales of 31,077 copies, making it Flowers' second solo number-one album and sixth overall, including work by the Killers.[66] In the United States, the album sold the seventh most copies its debut week, but due to the inclusion of streaming data, it charted at number 17. At the mid-year mark, the album was the 38th best-selling album of the year in the UK.[67]
Single "I Can Change" charted on the UK Singles and Irish Singles charts. Singles "Can't Deny My Love" and "Lonely Town" charted on the US Hot Rock Songs chart. The album was certified Gold by the BPI in April 2017.
Track listingedit
All tracks produced by Ariel Rechtshaid, except "The Way It's Always Been" produced by Brandon Flowers and "Between Me and You" produced by Robert Root.
^ abPhil Mongredien (May 17, 2015). "Brandon Flowers: The Desired Effect review – thrillingly 80s-style pop". The Guardian.
^Lindsay, Cam (May 15, 2015). "Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
^ abcGill, Andy (May 15, 2015). "Brandon Flowers, The Desired Effect – album review: Huge-sounding pop anthems with a spiritual side". The Independent. London.
^ abc"Brandon Flowers Will Achieve 'The Desired Effect' on New Solo Album". Rolling Stone. February 24, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers". Billboard. September 13, 2010.
^"The 15 Best Shows of the Summer". Spin. September 7, 2010.
^"Brandon Flowers Plots Tour Dates". Spin. September 13, 2010.
^"Brandon Flowers". guitarcenter.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
^Stephens, Hannah Verdier Heidi (November 15, 2015). "Strictly Come Dancing 2015: week eight – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
^"Watch Chrissie Hynde and Brandon Flowers Perform Together". Rolling Stone. May 23, 2015.
^"Watch Brandon Flowers, Bernard Sumner Play New Order Classic". Rolling Stone. May 25, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers 2015 North American Solo Tour Schedule". April 27, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers Announces 2015 Solo Tour Dates". April 20, 2015. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers Announces North American Solo Tour". April 21, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
^ ab"Reviews for The Desired Effect". Metacritic. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
^Collar, Matt (May 18, 2015). "The Desired Effect – Brandon Flowers". AllMusic. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
^Kyle Anderson (May 14, 2015). "The Desired Effect by Brandon Flowers: EW review". EW.com. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers: The Desired Effect". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
^Rob Sheffield (May 19, 2015). "The Desired Effect by Brandon Flowers | Rolling Stone Music | Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
^Soto, Alfred (May 19, 2015). "Review: Brandon Flowers Ascends Toward True Thob n' Moan on 'The Desired Effect'". Spin. New York. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers: The Desired Effect album review – An astute and vivid record". Digital Spy. May 18, 2015.
^"CD review: Brandon Flowers, 'The Desired Effect'". The Boston Globe.
^"Flowers, Weller top this week's new music". Sarnia Observer.
^"Brandon Flowers's New Album: The Desired Effect". Rolling Stone. May 19, 2015.
^Hall, Andrew (February 4, 2016). "2015 AML Awards Finalists #4: Lyrics, Picture Book, and Poetry". Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
^"The 25 Best Pop Albums of 2015". Spin. December 7, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect (Island/Virgin EMI)". Stereogum. June 5, 2015.
^"The 10 best albums of 2015 (so far)". USA Today.
^Copsey, Rob (May 24, 2015). "Brandon Flowers' album has The Desired Effect on the Official Albums Chart". Official Charts Company.
^Copsey, Rob (January 5, 2016). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Artist Albums of 2015 revealed". Official Charts Company.
^ abThe Desired Effect (liner notes). Brandon Flowers. Island Records. 2015. B0022990-02.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^"Australiancharts.com – Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
^"Austriancharts.at – Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
^"Ultratop.be – Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
^"Ultratop.be – Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
^"Dutchcharts.nl – Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
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^"Italiancharts.com – Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
^AMPROFON [@Amprofon] (June 18, 2015). "The Desired Effect de @BrandonFlowers puesto #15 del #Top100MX del 18 al 24 de mayo #DIscoNuevo" (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved June 22, 2015 – via Twitter.
^"Charts.nz – Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
^"Norwegiancharts.com – Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
^"Brandon Flowers Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
^"Brandon Flowers Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
^"End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2015". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
^"British album certifications – Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect". British Phonographic Industry. April 21, 2017. Select albums in the Format field.Select Gold in the Certification field.Type The Desired Effect in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.