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Music CD - The Killers: Sam's Town
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Music CD: Sam's Town
Artist: The Killers
List Price: $13.98
Our Price: $6.46
Your Save: $ 7.52 ( 54% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Island
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Tracks:
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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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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0602517026759
Label: Island
Manufacturer: Island
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Island
Release Date: 2006-10-03
Studio: Island
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Packed with Clean, Sharp, Poppy Songs
Comment: "Sam's Town" release from the Killers comes two years after their amazing debut of Hot Fuss which mixed alternative/synth/pop/punk-ish rock into a danceable fashion. They enlisted producers who are known for over-producing and filling space on songs which helps, yet sometimes hurts on this album.
"Sam's Town" is packed with clean, sharp and poppy songs being compared to U2 and The Cure, which I can hear yet in a more modern version. Singer/Keyboardist Brandon Flowers has an excellent sense for melody and mixed with his quirky and entertaining vocals makes their songs stand out above a lot of the rest as immediately heard on the title cut. The lyrics aren't quite as witty as on Hot Fuss, but he still is an excellent songwriter and has a way with lyrical cliches. Lead single "When You Were Young" has Flowers warbling over huge guitars in the traditional song anthem sense, "Uncle Johnny" tells the story of a drug addicted relative and "Bones" opens with huge Queen like vocal harmonies singing "Come with Me".
The band overall doesn't let you down like most bands do with their second release. Drummer Ronnie Vannocci is a stand out member with his solid, pounding sounds. I definitely recommend this album to be added to your collection.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great album
Comment: I bought this album 2 weeks ago and have probably listend to it 6 or 8 times and I like it more each time. The album just makes you feel good when you listen to it, and there are a couple of songs that are really great. I typically fast forward in most albums to get to the tracks I like, but I find I do not do that in this album because even the lesser songs are enjoyable.
I had not heard The Killers before this album so I did not come in with expectations of what they should sound like, so I can not compare how this album is compared to their prior work, but I do think that all bands evolve and it would be a shame if they always kept giving us the same material.
Overall, a great album that I think I will be coming back to again and again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A virtual ghost town of great songs
Comment: Disappointing follow-up to their multi-platinum smash debut, "Sam's Town" owes less to the synth/new wave/post punk stuff they mined so successfully on "Hot Fuss" as the emotional epic rockers of the 70s, such as Meat Loaf and most notably (and most obviously) Springsteen's "Born to Run." But this is no "Born to Run" (not even close, in fact) and the band's attempt at maturation and broadening is met mostly with indifference.
Which of these identities defines this band? "Hot Fuss" was more a collection of good songs than a proper album, but their debut is considerably better than "Sam's Town." Since they seem to look to "Born to Run" as a model, it's a simple comparison. "Born" was a start-to-finish rock album, but it had the great individual songs to go along with it. "Sam's" follows that epic pattern, but the Killers seem more confined (even trapped) by the formula, and the tales grow wearisome and bland. It's an interesting experiment, but either it's not what the band really wants to do or it's not what the band is capable of doing well.
The songs have little juice and even less identity. It's a sorry state of affairs when first single, "When You Were Young," was a let-down the first time heard and yet remains one of the better tracks on the album. The other hit, "Bones," barely registers on the first couple of listens. Even album highlights like "Read My Mind" and "Uncle Johnny" wouldn't compete for airplay with their best hits from "Fuss." Although this is not a bad album by any means, it still becomes yet another of the dozens of sophomore albums in recent years that fails to meet the promise of a strong introduction. A mixture of overreaching ambition and sudden-fame pretension makes for a bad tonic.
Best cuts: "Uncle Johnny," "Read My Mind," "When You Were Young," "This River Is Wild," "Why Do I Keep Counting," "Bones," "My List"
Customer Rating:
Summary: Heart, not head
Comment: I'm writing this not as a critic, not as a Killers fan, but as a music lover. I'd only heard "Mr. Brightside" off "Hot Fuzz" and was really moved by it; the lyrics matched my experience during a tumultuous time in my life. In fact, I never bought "Hot Fuzz" for that very reason; that song matched my experience a little TOO closely.
It just so happens that last fall found me in a very similar situation. As I've done at other difficult times, I turned to music to help soothe my feelings and to help make sense of what had happened. I picked up a copy of "Sam's Town" (along with CDs from several other various artists) from the local public library and gave it a spin. And once again, I was blown away. I'm a sucker for a catchy tune, and the Killers are nothing if not catchy. But the lyrics--God!--were what really struck me. Feeling the pain of broken dreams, being "sick of all my judges" ("Sam's Town"); remembering the anticipatory thrill of seeing someone I loved ("I pull up to the front of your driveway, magic soaking my spine" from "Read My Mind"); realizing that one of the main aspects of truly loving someone else is wishing for THEIR success ("I don't shine if you don't shine" from the same song); wishing desperately for one more chance to prove myself to someone I loved but had let down ("My List"); and who knows how many other similar insights--this album summed them all up in a beautiful, messy package.
I acknowledge that musically, "Sam's Town" is a little high on bombast--it's more Wagner than Mozart--but man oh man, is that a breath of fresh air. It's certainly what I needed. To me, the bombast said, "Don't be afraid of your passion. If you're gonna fail, at least fail BIG." ("Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah. It makes absolutely no difference what people think of you." [Rumi])
So sure, maybe I filtered this CD through my somewhat altered perception during a difficult time, but isn't that what we all do? It's only a matter of degree. At its best, music can serve as a safe way of experiencing and expressing difficult emotions; through some sort of alchemy, it can help transform them into something even more precious. Along with the support of true friends, this album done that for me over the past month and a half.
Which brings me to Brandon Flowers's apparently often-ridiculed statement about this album: Is it one of the best albums of the last 20 years? For what it's done for me, I'd say it is. It's helped give me hope during a very difficult time, more so than any other record I can think of. It's quickly become one of my favorites of all time, and is among only a few that I can imagine turning to again and again to remind me of where I've been, where I am and where I hope to be one day.
Finally, for the people who gave "Sam's Town" lousy reviews or who couldn't see past the bombast, or who worried that the singer wasn't quite hitting the notes to their satisfaction, I have only one question: Are you really so robotic and clinical? Come on, live a little. Live a little BIGGER. Remember what's most important to you; remember what it's like to lose it. And then ask yourself one more question: Am I really that much different?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Better Than Expected
Comment: I had initially heard that the Killers second CD (Sam's Town) failed in comparision to Hot Fuss. After listening to this album, i have to disagree. I feel that the Killers just took a different direction musically with this album. I also feel that it is just as good as Hot Fuss, If not better. The sixth track, Read My Mind, is an exceptional stand out on this album.
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Editorial Reviews:
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The Killers five-million-selling debut, 2004's Hot Fuss, saw the stylish Las Vegas quartet mining inspiration from its favorite '80s British acts Duran Duran, the Cure, and the Smiths. On its follow-up, the group turns its focus homeward. First there's the album title, Sam's Town, which pays tribute to the old-school local casino where the band got its start. Then there's the music inside, a collection of windswept rockers in the vein of Bruce Springsteen that leave the indie-disco vibe of "Mr. Brightside" in the desert dust. Working with producers Alan Moulder and Flood (best known for their work with U2, Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails), everything here sounds bigger and shinier, with full-blown strings and choirs coloring epics like "When You Were Young" and "The River Is Wild." Coming soon to a stadium near you. --Aidin Vaziri
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