The Killers debuted Mr Brightside at their first ever show, in Las Vegas in 2002 - a gig Flowers later recalled was "terrible".

Things didn't improve for some time. Their sound, heavily influenced by British bands like The Cure, New Order and Depeche Mode, was unpalatable to the US record industry. It wasn't until their demo found its way to UK indie label Lizard King that they landed a record deal.

"Everyone in America had turned them down," said label boss Martin Heath. He was particularly impressed by the band's frontman. "It was very clear to me that he was a major star. He had huge charisma."

Lizard King released Mr Brightside in 2003 in a limited run of 500 CD singles, and it got its first review in The Times.

"Mr Brightside is one of those records that come along all too rarely and make you think, hel-lo," wrote Dan Cairns. "A fantastically bleak and catchy ode to romantic paranoia and jealousy, it nails that moment in a love affair when one half is suddenly forced to accommodate the possibility that the other half is playing away."

Despite the buzz, 500 copies wasn't enough to make a dent in the charts, and The Killers seemed destined to become a footnote in musical history. But destiny was calling them...