Sam's Town
Island - Island
The Killers
Release date: 2006-10-03
Audio CD
Alternative Pop/Rock, New Wave/Post-Punk Revival, Pop, Pop/Rock Music, Rock, Rock/Pop, United States of America
1. Sam's Town
2. Enterlude
3. When You Were Young
4. Bling (Confession of a King)
5. For Reasons Unknown
6. Read My Mind
7. Uncle Jonny
8. Bones
9. My List
10. This River Is Wild
11. Why Do I Keep Counting?
12. Exitlude
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Sam's Town
Date undefinedI find it quite unfortunate that with every release, The Killers sound worse and worse. This was a pretty big letdown after their highly successful debut, Hot Fuss. I've never really been a huge Killers fan, but I figured I'd give this album a listen after enjoying most of their first one. It was evident from the first five seconds that they'd over do it with the keyboards. For me, keyboards are definately hit-or-miss, and The Killers missed on their sophomore album. Aside from the album being drenched in unnecessary keyboards, it wasn't to incredibly awful. After a few listens, most of the tracks weren't half bad, and I started to focus on the positives. I liked that the album recieved less mainstream attention than their debut and that the album only included one "Mr. Brightside" that was constantly on the radio and everywhere else. Also, I've always really like Brandon Flowers' voice. It's incredibly unique and in a strange way, very soothing.
Sam's Town
Date undefined... Then why are you asking yourself the question? Good grief, what awful lyrics festoon this album. Everything in "Sam's Town" seems to sound clumsy and forced, and none of the songs are actually *about* anything. This CD must have been a huge disappointment for fans of "Hot Fuss", the terrific debut album which made an instant success of an apparently talented band not afraid to use keyboard sounds from a long-dead era.
Indeed, a friend and I were who were huge fans of "Hot Fuss" were really looking forward to this album when it came out. But when we listened to it, we both agreed: it was hopelessly mediocre. It was as though the Killers, after one big success, literally had no idea what to do next. I imagine that other fans felt the same way. And I can believe that the absence of a resultant dip in The Killer's popularity is simply owing to the fact that a huge body of "Hot fuss" fans have been displaced by people whose musical tastes are about a notch above the Kylie / Britney scene.
The melodies herein are so-so; but the major problem is the lyrics. They are completely artificial. Very often Brandon Flowers sings them with awkward vocal inflections and palpably no conviction, as though he is literally unable to believe what he's saying. Which is hardly surprising when you consider lines such as:
"He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman"
Really? What girl, pondering her blind date, has ever lamented that he doesn't look a thing like Jesus? Who exactly do the Killers think they're kidding? On and on the album goes like this, for song after disappointing song.
This album is a crying shame: some bands start have an awkward start with great potential, then that potential blossoms in the next album. The Killers, by contrast, had the perfect start and then went on to produce ... this.
Sam's Town
Date undefinedBrandon Flowers' voice invokes huge feeling from the listener. The music is deep. Hot Fuss and Sam's Town are very different, often sounding like two different bands with the same singer.
Sam's Town relates to me more than most rock. It went severely underrated. Detached criticism from the media clashed with intense passion from consumers. I think the only reason sources reviewed the CD poorly was because of Rolling Stone. They thought the emotion was fake and cliche, probably because they didn't really listen to it.
If they had, they would have found something deeper.
