The Killers - Battle Born

"Day and Age" had an intensely modern and electronic feel. "Human" is probably the song which best evokes that feeling: galloping, swooshing, gated synths with guitar as mere accent to a Dolbyesque sound-scape for tomorrow. Battle Born sees the guitar return with a vengeance. 

Moments like the title track show that The Killers have not completely thrown out rootsier tones in favor of pure synth-pop. There is a strong arena-rock feel woven throughout the album, even at the points where guitar is absent. Shades of Eagles, shades of Bob Seger, and
add that to the underlying fact that Brandon Flowers already has a hint of Roy Orbison to him when he's really belting it out. "From here on Out" even makes The Killers sound like Springsteen, momentarily. 

There was no guarantee that The Killers would age so gracefully. "Day and Age" made it sound dangerously likely that they might end up alienating fans with the next album.
Change can be good but fans are fickle. "Battle Born" offers something that will wow the fan-base and demonstrate to skeptics that The Killers have a firm grasp on rock and
are not flash-in-the-pan posers whose musical act has collapsed under the weight of its own glam, glitter.