Released: 2023

Genres: Post-Punk Revival, Alternative Rock, Heartland Rock, New Wave, Pop Rock

The Musiquarium’s Rebel Diamonds Review Score: 4.5/5

After releasing their first career best of in 2013 with Direct Hits, The Killers release an updated collection that captures songs from their 2004 debut Hot Fuss, right up until 2021’s Pressure Machine, as well as a couple of non-album singles and one new track.

Compared to Direct Hits, this collection swaps out Smile Like You Mean It for Jenny Was a Friend of Mine (though both should be here) and omits the Sam’s Town single, For Reasons Unknown. Somebody Told Me, Mr. Brightside, All These Things That I’ve Done, When You Were Young and Read My Mind are all still here, though.

Day & Age is still represented by Human, A Dustland Fairytale and Spaceman, which are all songs that I could take or leave, as that was one of my least favourite eras of the band, though they are definitely important to The Killers’ history. Be Still is another track I could do without, as Battle Born was a pretty weak album, but Runaways‘ inclusion is somewhat understandable.

The Man is the only cut from Wonderful Wonderful, though Run for Cover could have been included as well. There are three tracks from 2020’s Imploding the Mirage, all of which are fairly good, but only two songs from the excellent Pressure Machine (Quiet Town, Pressure Machine), which was easily the band’s best album since 2006’s Sam’s Town.

At the end of the album, there is the 2022 non-album single boy and the 2023 Pet Shop Boys-like, Your Side of Town. The album also boasts one original song, Spirit, which is actually quite excellent (I’m not typically a fan of the “new songs” on greatest hits). In my opinion, these last three tracks are some of the best songs that the band has released, and demonstrates a renaissance that The Killers have had in the 2020s after a weak decade.

Rebel Diamonds is a significantly more fleshed-out and consistent compilation than Direct Hits was (which only had four albums to pull from) and a varied selection of songs that show how diverse the band’s output has been over the past 20 years. The only question is, will there be another Killers compilation in 2033?

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view The Killers on Discogs.

Back to the 2023 Album Guide or the The Killers Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard