The Killers Album: “Sam's Town”

Returning to their home town of Las Vegas must have re-energized The Killers. Recorded in the Palms Hotel recording studio, the new release Sam's Town showcases the band's growth with a stronger and more musically diverse sound while still retaining the commercial viability and energy of Hot Fuss. Brandon Flowers and The Killers have created an interesting and creative album that avoids the dreaded sophomore curse and positions them well for future growth.

The addictive opening track "Sam's Town" has the same punch rhythmically as "Somebody Told Me" but is less reliant on synths and more on electric guitar. The piano-based "Enterlude" showcases a softer sound with Brandon Flowers' voice fragile and emotional before it amps up and punches into the rocking first single "When You Were Young." Despite its title, the soaring "Bling(Confession of a King) has shades of the late 80's U2 musically but Flowers can't quite match Bono's vocal style. "For Reasons Unknown" is a low point, but the fun track "Read My Mind" delivers a synth-heavy up-tempo sound that is somewhat reminiscent of the early 80's Talking Heads.

Grounded by a solid bass line, "Uncle Jonny" makes for a great track that thankfully is not overly commercial. Flowers' takes his vocals down a notch for the excellent "Bones" decorated with some great trumpet and sax. The sound of Queen returns with the bombastic track "My List" and "This River Is Wild" is hook-filled and rocking enough to make this a solid second single. "Why Do I Keep Counting?" is much like "My List" in overall sound, but a solid melody keeps this from veering wildly off track. "Exitlude" is a nice touch that speaks to the fans, "We hope you enjoyed your stay..it's good to have you with us, even if it was only a day."

Clocking in at just under 45 minutes long, Sam's Town is a slick-sounding album. Well produced by Flood and Alan Moulder, the average song length is 4 minutes. The album is vastly different in sound from Hot Fuss, which for me makes it that much better. It is less overtly commercial and instead showcases the growth of a more mature band moving forward musically. Flowers' voice is much rawer and emotional here, not buried under layers of modulation, and the band's sound is more vibrant and diverse. The band notes that this record was influenced by Springsteen, but this album does not have much of a Springsteen sound. What it is, however, is an album that will grow on you with every spin. Recommended.

A.G. Corwin

St.Louis, MO

I have to admit I was incredibly hesitant when purchasing this album. I had heard the singles from Hot Fuss and I was unimpressed. They were just another generic piece of whatever music happened to be selling at the time. Poppy, catchy, fun, but completely lacking any kind of depth that would make them worth listening to more than once. Then I was thrown a 180. I heard the first single, When You Were Young, and something about it grabbed me. Clearly the same band, but something about that song was sounding different then everything else I had heard by them. Then I heard another song off the album, I can't remember which, and I was surprised to find that I was really digging it. It wasn't long before I decided I might actually have to buy this album, and this would be no routine purchase, contemporary music is not my thing. The most recently released album I had purchased before this was Weezer's Green album, based entirely off the strength of the music they had released in the 90s, and it was a huge let down for me.

I started with the first three tracks, and they were good. I was surprised by how good they were, but I really wasn't liking the beginning of that 4th track, and I put the album away for a while. After a few weeks I put the album on again, for another go, and this time I actually listened to the whole thing. I was amazed. The fourth track isn't all that satisfying when it starts out, but it quickly develops into a very enjoyable song. I was surprised to find most of the songs had a very nice build up in a similar fashion. When I was finished I was convinced I had heard one of the best albums released in a very very long time. I jumped online to see what kinds of praise this album had received. Were the Killers everyone's new favorite band?

No, not at all. Not even close. I was taken off guard when I discovered that the album was not well received at all, not even by their own fans, despite the huge growth in between the former album and the current. Everything about the album showed drastic improvement and maturity. These weren't songs written with the intention of getting two or three good singles, and there was no filler here. This was a real, cohesive album, like bands used to make in the glory days of music.

It's not hard to see why this album was dismissed so quickly by the general public. It's the same thing that happened with the Pet Sounds album by the Beach Boys back in the 60s. The music had grown far too complex for the pop loving fan base they had begun with, and anyone that actually would have enjoyed the brilliance in the music would never believe the group was capable of creating it. I have a feeling Sam's Town is destined to the same fate. It will disappear into obscurity, with only a small group of loving fans to keep the memory alive.

Almost 3 years ago, Rolling Stone reviewed this album and gave it 2 stars out of a possible 5. Today it was announced by no other than Rolling Stone that this is the most underated album of the decade. Finally some validation for The Killers.

If you slept on this album to begin with because every music publication was trashing it, please let this be a notice to go pick it up.

If you listened to the album once and said "this doesn't sound like Hot Fuss", please let this be a notice to start listening to this album again.

Ive read a ot of reviews putting down the vocals. Give me a break, in my opinion neither Bob Dylan or Neil Young or a lot of other popular musicians can hit very many notes either, and look at their success. I like music this gives emotions and this album does. I like musicians who let their emotions take control of the song and the vocals rather than standing in a studio trying to hit every note perfectly like a robot. I would be able to pick out flower's vocals in any song and i think that says volumes about his talent, he doesn't sound like everyone else. Musically this album rocks. the guitar, the bass, the drums, everything is played superbly and with heart. the loops and hooks are awesome and genuine, something you hardly find in songs these days. Each song has it's own personality and life, and they are all different. there are only 2 or 3 albums where i listen to it from beginning to end, and this is one too. the enterlude and exitlude make it more like a storybook than an album of different songs, which almost makes it necessary to listen to from song 1 to the end to get the full affect. and just so you know i never listened to hot fuss until i bought sam's town, and it's ok , but sam's town is better.

After reading many of the love-hate reviews below, I have to stick to my own opinion. I really, really LIKE this CD. I LOVED Hot Fuss and was looking forward to and expecting Hot Fuss Part Deux. After the first listen of Sam's Town, I'll admit I was disappointed. But it only took one more listen to change my mind and to realize I was actually thankful for the differences. I can't tell you what Brandon Flowers believes or what he's quoted as saying in interviews (as other reviewers have stated) and I don't really care. I only know what I like and I enjoy The Killers' music, and don't have to agree with the artists to do so. Are they the best lyrics in the world? No, but this is entertainment, not philosphy. What I enjoy the most about The Killers is their passion. Flowers is a theatrical frontman - moreso in vocals than in actions. So their image has changed from the first CD. Big deal. They're artists and therefore can reinvent themselves for every CD if they want to. If their music is good enough, they shouldn't lose too many fans over it. I think the best musician in the group is Ronnie Vanucci - the drummer. My one complaint is that Brandon does sing off-key in several songs on Sam's Town. I don't understand why the producers didn't correct this. In all of the live performances I've seen on TV he seems to run out of breath, losing control of his voice and then sings flat or sharp. However, I didn't notice this when I went to a Hot Fuss concert last year. Either he's a heavy smoker or he just needs to learn to breath while he's singing - (sing from his diaphragm). I love the passion in his voice, but for long term, live concert performances, he really needs to make some changes or his voice could eventually suffer. Having said that, I still recommend Sam's Town. Looking forward to what The Killers will come up with next.