10 Rock Music Acts Who Peaked With Their First Album

2. The Killers - Hot Fuss

Few bands in the modern era peaked quite as hard with their debut album as The Killers.

Released in 2004, the band's Hot Fuss album remains an absolute monster of a record. With the energetic, catchy as all hell duo of of Mr. Brightside and Somebody Told Me already released as singles prior to Hot Fuss' release, the album immediately won listeners over with opening track Jenny Was a Friend of Mine.

That album opener unravels delicately, hooking you in with a driving guitar, popping bass line and the perfect, tinny drumbeat. All of this before Brandon Flowers starts up his vocals and details the tale of a young boy accused of murdering a female fried. With its fusion of rock, pop, new wave and a sprinkling of punk, Hot Fuss is one of the great albums of the past two decades, and Jenny Was a Friend of Mine is one of the modern-day great opening tracks.

From there, the record bangs through four singles in a row, serving up Mr. Brightside, Smile Like You Mean It, Somebody Told Me, and All These Things That I've Done. If the rest of the album went off a cliff, Hot Fuss would still be a fantastic record. Off a cliff this does not go, though, and the album is fleshed out with belters such as Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll, Midnight Show, and Andy, You're a Star.

The Killers have put out six albums since Hot Fuss, and not one of them has come even close to matching the overall impressiveness of the band's debut record.

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