Direct Hits (The Killers album)
| Direct Hits | ||||
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| Greatest hits album by The Killers | ||||
| Released | November 11, 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 2001–13 | |||
| Studio |
Various
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| Genre | ||||
| Label | Island | |||
| Producer |
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| The Killers chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Direct Hits | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 71/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Clash | 7/10 |
| Pitchfork Media | 6.4/10 |
| Q | |
Direct Hits is a greatest hits album by American rock band The Killers, released on November 11, 2013 by Island Records. The album includes singles from the band's four studio albums to date, and features two new tracks, "Shot at the Night" and "Just Another Girl", produced by Anthony Gonzalez of M83 and Stuart Price, respectively.
Regarding the album's release, vocalist Brandon Flowers noted, "This record feels like a great way to clean everything up and move onto the next thing."
In 2013, during the band's Battle Born World Tour, The Killers began recording new material for a possible single release or new studio album. In June 2013, drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. noted, "[We're] not just [recording] demos. Real recordings. I mean, you never know what it's gonna be, I guess. But we have our engineer, and we're working with a couple of surprise guests, in the producer capacity. Some of it is sounding really cool. We can be guilty of making things so ornate, and sometimes that's a bad thing. So I always have conversations with Brandon [Flowers] about working from a smaller palette, simplifying things. If these new tracks develop a theme, a common thread, then that could be the start of something." Guitarist Dave Keuning elaborated, "I'm not saying a new album is going to come out or anything like that. But sometimes people just put out songs or it gets used for some kind of compilation. We'd like to get a new song out there soon."
The track "Shot at the Night" was produced by Anthony Gonzalez of French band M83, who had previously supported The Killers on their Day & Age World Tour. The band's label, Island Records, subsequently suggested Gonzalez as a possible producer for the band, following the success of M83's sixth studio album, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (2011). Guitarist Dave Keuning noted, "There was a mutual thing like, 'Yeah we think he's good. We'll try him out.' It's something we finally agreed with our label on." Regarding the band's collaboration with Gonzalez, Flowers stated, "He's one of these new school producers. He's a technical wizard, but you can't discount his musicality. A lot of people do, because of the involvement of computers, but he's a real musician, too. He and Stuart Price may be known for working on the digital side of things, but they're also two of the most musical guys I've ever met."
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