What Makes This Song Great? "Mr. Brightside" The Killers 

Love that he's doing this and with this song but I detest the whole "Season" format bollocks. This IS NOT TV. Dude, you're too cool for this crap format. BTW, thank you for the ridiculous amount of awesome content and please do continue to kick ass. ...but this is not moving with the times and getting it right--you had it right! ❤‍🔥

Best song choice. Such a 'killer' song

Hear, hear. No disrespect to the other videos, but this series was/is the real reason I sub to this channel.

i love these “what makes this song great” invaluable information for anyone trying to learn music production! please don’t ever stop making them

Rick kind of did one on Duran Duran's Ordinary World last week. Just wasn't titled as such.

I don't know, some of use are tuned to feel the power of a song, regardless of the setting.

Or a stadium a half hour or so outside Detroit...

@@raymondduck6492 its not the song you're feeling the power of in that specific setting

I thought the same thing. This song, a bar in a college town on a Friday night.. unrivaled

In any setting. This song is just amazing haha.

That must have been a kick ass moment

GOTTA GOTTA BE DOWN CAUSE I WANT IT ALL

what's even better is that they weren't a one hit wonder.

@@pocok5000 What's even better is that this song was recorded as a demo, shopped in the UK along with 3 other abandoned songs, and the band kept it for it spontaneity, and thus released it on the album. Surprised Rick didn't mention it. Multiple songs on the album were recorded in this fashion, originally as demos and then kept for the very same reason. Goes to show that a very good demo can really, really take you places ;) Probably the RRHOF in 5 years when they are eligible.

It Shows. Not that their other material is any better.

@@andresbarriga5305 Totally. I'd rather listen to all the Andres Barriga hits on the airwaves.

@@andresbarriga5305 it shows how? Explain yourself.

👍👍👍

Same!!! Kudos to Rick and team!

Same here! There is so much that I had never heard from this song before after listening to this breakdown 😂

this is also not the version of the song you'd hear on the radio or spotify so that's why it sounds new

Couldn't have said it better

He breaks down all the little things you somehow always knew were there but never really appreciated 😊

I can’t say it better than this.

This 💜👌

👍

Well, it’s tricky for other people to play haha!

@@RickBeato Tricky to play on a Fender Strat with the long scale when you get to the lower register stuff. Need Holdsworth finger stretches.

@@RickBeato Rick, not the right place maybe, however may I ask you if you have ever reviewed Jamiroquai? Hope you’ll read this, cheers.

@@RickBeato I always liked this track, Rick but it’s overproduced and overly compressed dynamically, distorted and clipped. I wish more musicians/bands would just play in room and use the natural acoustic. It’s just fatiguing to listen to and definitely suffers the Loudness War to compete with iPod shuffle and now streaming. Too much Post Production is making music sound computerized, digital and unnatural. That’s why people think analog sounds better and that one day AI will one take over. As a musician you STILL need it know how to play in a room. Back in the days you have go pay your dues on the road. That feeling has been missing for a VERY long time in recorded music because the plug-ins have gotten better than analog gear which cost a fortune. The challenge today is how to makes something tasteful and frugal in a endless amount of production “value.” Nobody records “flat” mono anymore either. It’s all plugins,presets digital Eq, limiters and compressors which is ok for dance/pop music played in a club I guess. Listen to U2 in 80s recordings Or Fleetwood Mac and you get the natural sound and feel. Bono voice was so powerful naturally and his range was phenomenal. It’s just doesn’t sound right to my ears anyway. It’s gotten far worse with streaming and play counts then Radio was since dynamic range compression and loudness most ordinary people believe sounds better. That’s my two cents anyway.

​@@RickBeatoplease check out the almighty Cog from Australia, there are so many tracks of theirs worthy of an episode!!

In my opinion, "We took a walk that night but it wasn't the same/We had a fight on the promenade out in the rain" is one of the best opening lines of any record.

I agree. It's a killer debut album, and Jenny was a Friend of Mine is one of the best opening tracks ever.

Every song on that album could easily be a single

One of the few albums to have no bad/filler songs, every single one was great.

@@the_katman2181 What I came here to say.

aw finally someone else noticed that

THAT’S what that is. I knew i recognised it.

The solo

Technically it's not 1:1 Ode to Joy. Just the first few notes, but it resolves differently. Which is actually a great way to refference a piece without copying it outright

It's what got me interested in this channel and pretty much what usually draws me back to this channel so I agree!

He said he was retiring the series and there were literal riots!

It's my favorite series. I love hearing the isolated tracks and how they fit together in the finished song.

I'm a bass player and this is a very fun song to play!

I love the bass in this song. Severely overlooked imo

I’m the bass player in my band and I also sing it lol, talk about concentrating.

I'm sorry you got stuck with this band

Spot on dude for sure

Facts! I honestly love their first two albums soooo much that I don’t even know if I can fully separate them honestly

The murder trilogy is fascinating as well but I’ll always love Mr. Brightside.

Truer words have never been spoken!

Respect.. but Meatloaf, Boston, and Hootie might have something to say about that

This one and When You Were Young. Timeless masterpieces.

This song, along with with, "Killing in the Name," and "Smells Like Teen Spirit," are songs that everyone at a concert will sing along to.

Song was 20 years ago, it’s just a classic now

Yes. And some Elliott Smith. I'd love Rick to explain why Waltz #1's melody is so riveting. All in dorian apparently.

Definitely need to hear interpol’s obstacle 1 broken down. Amazing.

I've been complaining about that for ages, though I like other artists, Ariel Pink, sufjan Stevens, Chromatics, Phoenix, churches, beach house, mgmt, grimes, royksopp, oof

Elliott Smith. It’s shocking Rick hasn’t delved into Elliott. Prodigious classically trained musician who played every instrument and songwriting guitar playing as good as anyone in the nineties. @rickbeato !

Not if you’re a guitarist or bassist or drummer 😉

It's like two notes and he can't even sing them in tune. So no.

@ghost mall, any recommendations for Killers songs with a bass line that a beginner could handle. I have a friend learning bass and I love The Killers.

​@@My-Channel_forever Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine has a bassline that really pops

@@tastefulsubstance - Thank you!

My homeboy Brandon Flowers wrote this song! Great dude and one he’ll of a morman

@@kane6529 How many wives does he have? Ha!

@@kane6529 you mentioned his weakest point but hey, no one's perfect I guess.

​@ghost mall Totally in accordance. I would always go for the melodic euphoria of "All these things" over the bleak obsession of Mr Brightside (an iconic song, but not my favourite).

Jenny Was a Friend of Mine is killer with that bassline.

@ghost mall Agreed. It was played seemingly 5 times an hour back in the day. This video is probably the first time I've _enjoyed_ hearing that song in nearly 20 years.

At about 16:10, I was reminded of Beethoven’s 9th symphony.

When I saw them live the whole stadium was shaking when Mr Brightside came on

They played it twice when I saw them. That was years ago mind you, when they just had the one album.

@@GM-pn7ih when I seen them live around 2008 they played “All These Things That I’ve Done” twice as an encore. People weren’t really thrilled:(

@@MoahGentle All These Things That I've Done is a great, melodically rich song too, but I guess the crowd wanted the climaxing high of Mr. Brightside...

The Killer's basslines are some of the most underrated out there. Once you realize how insane Somebody Told Me is it brings out a whole other appreciation for it.

It's the sound I always wanted my bass to have but I could never afford the gear to make it happen.

Really? I love the bass sound but it’s not hard to get-crank the tone, add some overdrive, and play with a pick.

I always sing that part too

So you've never played through an amplifier at all?^^​@@freedomruss

Were you the tambourine player?

@@plopperator tamborine players aren't cheap at union rates

@@plopperator Pretty sure you are

@@plopperator He played the skin flute.

yeah man. There is (probably) a law in the UK that if this isnt played at your wedding you arent officially married

Music arrangement is truly about filling up the space with subtleties that add up to become one with the leading parts driving the song forward. On their own, certain elements might sound thin or questionable, but just like an orchestra, everyone has their important role to play.

Alan is the man!

Did Alan moulder mix it? I thought he wasn’t involved until sams town?

also been playing it since then, and I can confirm it still kills to this day! All ages, all crowds

Have you actually listen to them? Like more than 3songs cus bro they are incredible

@@JonathanMarsala actually bought Hot Fuss because of this song. Non of the other songs did much for me, sounded like a disjointed mix of New Order and early Depeche Mode, then My gf at the time lend me a copy of Sam's Town, did nothing for me. Not saying they are Bad, just not My cup of tea. People tend yo have different musical tastes, You know?

@@kothrising4762 she was the one dude I get, it obviously can't be for everyone

@@kothrising4762 I mean, considering where they got their name, the New Order call isn't off the mark, but that's precisely what I love about them.

@@kothrising4762 - Weird, didn't think I'd like Sam's Town but I love that cd too. Another one I can listen to every track on and don't ever skip one.

His playing with the Rentals was killer as well

As an interesting side note, the Drumeo channel did an episode where they played this song without the drum track for Dirk VerBeuren, the drummer for Megadeath, and had him come up with his own drum part. Was an interesting take on the song, but demonstrates just how integral Ronnie’s original drum track was to this song. I’d recommend it for a fun watch.

Agreed, Appetite For Destruction and Hot Fuss are some of the debut albums ever

Throwing Copper

​@@connieb6161 Throwing Copper wasn't Live's debut album, though.

I'd add Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville and Morrissey's Viva Hate to that list.

@@John-tr5hn You can't really call a solo album by a person who was a singer in a hugely popular band for 5 years a "debut album" - he did nothing that he hadn't already been doing. He didn't write the music. He wrote lyrics and vocal melodies, the same as he had always done. Viva Hate is a 90% great album, but just not a debut album. Stone Roses, if you discount the earlier singles, is a master debut album.

​@ghost mall I love that I'm seeing you everywhere in the comments 😆

The Killers and Stranger Things feel like a predestined match.

The killers helped bring in what is now called the second coming of new wave in the 2000s.

Oh yeah? May I recommend one RU-vid's Drumeo session? Try listening to what Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren did when doing these drum parts upon discovering that song - huge surprise!

You should try some of Brandons solo work, it's absolutely phenomenal. And not just because he managed to convince Charlize Theron to star in one of the music videos!

@@slimydroid Crossfire was our first dance at our wedding! 💒💃🍾

I also love the wide-eyed enthusiasm Rick has when doing these. He never lets the analytical aspect detract in the slightest from the passion he has for music and for sharing it with us mere mortals. 😂

I agree, I love hearing things in these songs I’ve never heard before

I strongly agree. I even went back into my archive when that song came out and realized that I owned Hot Fuss and never really gave it a chance. It's a solid album. I need to look into the stuff that came out in the 15 years between the two. 😆

​@@TheBrokenLife I highly recommend the album "battle born". Hugely underrated IMO

​@@TheBrokenLife Sam's town has some great songs

I dont give a damn

Neither band is anywhere near my top choices, but thats what makes music so great, we all like what we like

Yes, after Somebody told me

@@HamiltonRb I didn't mean just those two bands (to be honest, they're nowhere near my top choices either), I also meant all the bands Rick never or hardly ever featured on this series.

@@gabrielpaiva9070 I hear ya. Iron Maiden did have a few songs I like though 👍

Right??? Free advertising at its finest. Makes no sense and I don't see the downside for the artists or the labels.

Frankly I love when a band's performance makes me stand there "like an idiot." The sure sign of a great show. :)

They are one of very few bands that sound exactly the same as in studio

Agreed!

100%

Anything from Depeche Mode from before 1994, please!

Underrated ? I don't think so. They're huge.

Iv seen them live 3 times now and when they perform this song everyone in the stadium sings along. It’s amazing.

@@323johnnybravo, I’ll go to a football game at the college where I teach, and these 19, 20-year olds are screaming this song! They know it! I love it, and it just brings up the crowd into a rock show atmosphere. I just love this band. Lol There are great bands, and, perhaps there are great arena rock bands; they are both.

It's Killing Me!

I find it rather boring.

True, they definitely lifted it from Ode to Joy, it's almost identical.