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Album Details
- Artist: The Killers
- Album: Sam's Town
- Label: Island
- Year of Release: 2006
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: mschmitt on 2007-07-23
RecommendAfter a hugely successful debut album, The Killers have gained artistic license for their follow-up, Sam’s Town. With a large fan base going out on October 3rd to buy their album simply because its The Killers, the Las Vegas outfit have room to tweak and experiment with their sound, which is just what they do in Sam’s Town. Compared to their Hot Fuss debut, the album is slower and less pop-oriented. The big hit on the album looks to be “When You Were Young,” that takes a U2 guitar line with Brandon Flowers’ dramatic vocals to craft a danceable and well-rounded single. Yet when compared to the big hits of the previous album, “When You Were Young” is toned down and slower, especially when put up against “Somebody Told Me.” “For Reasons Unknown” is another pop piece along the same lines as “When You Were Young,” featuring more keyboards but again a slower rhythm. Found here is The Killers emotional yet always catchy lyrics, “But my heart it don’t beat / It don’t beat the way it used to / And my eyes / They don’t recognize you no more.” Other songs like “Why Do I Keep Counting” resemble ‘80s hair-ballads, and the album name-sake “Sam’s Town” puts The Killer’s classic keyboard with more U2 guitar licks for an explosive and climactic experience, even with the awkward ending. As a whole, Sam’s Town is a toned down version of Hot Fuss. The vocal experience is still exhilarating, but the quality of their big pieces leaves something to be desired. It is by no means a bad album, and shows The Killer’s experimenting with slower rhythms and moving away from their dance beats. Yet when compared with their debut, Sam’s Town is clearly The Killer’s lesser work.
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on 2011-10-05 CharlesMartel Said:
The Killers provide us all with a fine example of how to succeed without actually having to do much. You remember when you are a kid and you used to get those colouring books with numbers in the outlines. All you had to do was colour the spaces with the crayon with the same number and lo and behold, you had a work of art - sort of. Well, the Killers are the musical equivalent of those colour by number books. This is alt. rock by numbers and is about as artistic as the art produced with crayons when you were a kid. I can just see Brandon Flowers having numbers written on the piano keys.
Frankly, this is probably one of the worst albums I have heard from 2006. Transplant Bruce Springsteen from New Jersey to Nevada and then hold a contest there to find the band who can mimic the Boss the best, and you have the Killers. "The River Is Wild" is so obviously Springsteen-lite that it is almost painful to listen to. OK, I will agree that "When You Were Young" is a good song, but the rest of it is just simply banal. For a second album it sounds like a band who have produced one final album out of contractual obligations. Considering that " Hot Fuss" had some lively melodies, this is the classic textbook example of a sophomore slump.
I would have to put this down to the dollar signs floating before Brandon Flowers eyes after the reasonable critical reception of the first album, for I can think of no other reason why there should be such a change towards the sort of unimaginative, nasty, MTV-friendly stuff which inhabits this CD. But in the end there is no excuse for putting out something quite as poor as this. The rockstar life seems to have gone to their heads way before its time. There is just so much filler here that it beggars belief that it could have got past quality control down at the recording studio. Music by numbers is the best way to describe it.
Much of the fault has to lay with Brandon Flowers. As the mainstay and chief songwriter of the band he is supposed to take the lead. His personality dominates and at times it almost seems as if the rest of the band have just tagged along for the ride. The guitarist in particular seems to be putting in as much effort as if he feels he is being underpaid for his services, but that this is the only job he's got going at the moment. Something to avoid, I feel.
Rating: 3/10
Review:
on 2007-07-24 blueandyellow Said:
1. Sam's Town (4/5)
2. Enterlude (5/5)
3. Wish You Were Young (5/5)
4. Bling (Confession Of A King) (5/5)
5. For Reasons Unknown (4/5)
6. Read My Mind (3/5)
7. Uncle Jonny (3/5)
8. Bones (4/5)
9. My List (3/5)
10. This River Is Wild (5/5)
11. Why Do I Keep Counting? (5/5)
12. Exitlude (4/5)
Total Score: 4.17/5.00
* Save for a few, you will probably need to hear this 3 or more times before it even begins to sound appealing.
Rating: 8/10
Review:
on 2007-06-26 dscanland Said:
I agree. Sam's Town was almost unbearable at first for me but the wife kept playing the damn thing and I fell for it. I actually think it's a finer album than Hot Fuss.
Rating: 7/10
