Hot Fuss by The Killers

Hot Fuss, the Killers' debut album, arrived in June 2004, first in the UK on the 7th and then in the US on the 15th, and it's an American band doing a thrilling impression of a British one. The Killers produced it themselves, and their record collection is right there in the grooves: new wave synths, post-punk guitars and a glittery, big-hearted sense of drama that owed more to the dancefloor than the garage.

The hits come at you like a string of fireworks. "Mr. Brightside" is a sprint, all racing guitars and a chorus built for shouting. "Somebody Told Me" throbs with nervy disco energy, "Smile Like You Mean It" glides along wistfully, and "All These Things That I've Done" builds from a hush into a gospel-sized singalong. Even the deeper cut "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" struts with a thumping low end and a whiff of menace.

Those four singles made the album a monster. It hit number one on the UK Albums Chart and number seven on the Billboard 200, and by December 2012 its worldwide tally had passed seven million, over three million of them in the US, with Britain accounting for upwards of two million. The album and its first three singles earned five nominations at the 47th Grammy Awards in 2005. Sam's Town came next, but Hot Fuss is the one that made them.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.