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Voluble Killers frontman Brandon Flowers recently told the UK's Telegraph that there are chinks in the armour of rock's biggest band. "They're unbelievable," Flowers said of U2, "but they're getting old." The singer also added, "It feels like it's time" for a newer, younger band to take over. You can probably guess which one he has in mind.

Whether or not the Killers are U2's heir apparent is debatable, but the fact that Flowers, 27, feels compelled to openly angle for the position says something sad about the state of rock. It used to be assumed that rock bands wanted to be household names. In a way it's instructive that the Killers' Day & Age and Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy were released the same week. From 1987 to about 1992, you could reasonably argue that Axl Rose was the hottest, most popular rock star in the world. But he had competition: Bono, Prince, Jon Bon Jovi, et al. It's not just that these folks were selling lots of records, it's that they were all around the same age and all trying hard to be as massive as possible. They made movies, they spoke out in the press, they played every Enormodome they could. And they weren't ashamed to do it. Now, Rose and Flowers are both lonely. Axl because he went off on his long, strange trip; Brandon because--aside from Coldplay's Chris Martin and maybe Kings of Leon's Caleb Followill--no one else seems interested in being a world beater.

I think this has a lot to do with economics. Nowadays, a "huge" album sells two million copies--a number that would've been a disappointment for Axl or Bono back in the day. Sad to say, but right now, being a rock star is a bit like being a tall midget. It's no wonder a lot of artists seem happy to carve out a career as a cult or mass-cult band.

But even though rock stars may not be the consciousness-encompassing golden gods they once were, it still feels like something important is missing when musicians aren't fighting to be larger than life, to be heroes rather than just dudes in a band. For me anyway, it makes the music seems less vital. I bet Brandon Flowers believes the same thing.

Flowers is also right--U2 could use some company. A young rock star void is waiting to be filled. So here's hoping that when the first week numbers for Day & Age come in, Tthe Killers have a relative blockbuster on their hands. Not because they're the best band in the world, but because they're trying to be the biggest. And that effort deserves reward.