Text Box: Text Box: Text Box: The Killers, ‘Sam’s Town’ Like most music fans with their finger on the pulse, after 2004's 'Hot Fuss', The Killers' latest offering was always going to be something I made time for and as expected, it wasn't what I thought it would be like. I'm going to start by saying that this album, by their own admission it's not a sequel to 'Hot Fuss', infact it has absolutely nothing to do with it. 'Sam's Town' is more of a progressive album that really does take you on a diverse musical journey down various roads you probably didn't think you'd hear from such an electronic, synthesizer-loving 'New-age' rock band. The best thing about the album is it's lack of structure. As good as 'Hot Fuss' was, it was just a collection of Killers' songs, albeit the creme de la creme, but an assortment of their songs. As it was going to be the 'difficult second album', its refreshing to see a band in the day of such acts as Franz Ferdinand, Linkin Park and even Oasis before them (being among the worst offenders for the 'Identical second album' crime) that is not afraid to take a gamble with the second album and just do something that little bit different, and they have certainly acheived that with this offering. And as mixed a reaction as it is likely to receive, you really should just perservere with the record, as there are some beautiful pieces of music on it. 01. 'Sam's Town' (9/10)- as good an opening track as you could possibly wish for. An uplifting, high-paced musical assault of an opener. The trademark Killers' synths are all heavily present, although in some ways it's a shame that it is so good because as soon as that ending bar fades into the background onto 'Enterlude' (2nd track on the album, quite mellow but more of a filler track than anything else) you really are expecting the album to exceed expectations, which belive me, as far as this band are concerned, are already away with the faeries! The track is beautuiful without structure and it just seems to suit it so much as it is allowed to flow. There's also quite an ironic two verses which I'm sure wasn't intentional, but it's highly appropriate- "I'm sick of all my judges/Scared of letting me shine". 03. 'When You Were Young' (9/10)- I'm sure most fans would have heard this one by now, being the first single off the album and you can see why. Structurely, again it lacks (that's a good thing) but it has all the Killers' attributes of synths-a-plenty, lyrical depth and 'Golden notes'. It would appear though that Brendan Flowers has altered his singing style on the album which becomes really immininent on this track. Think of his old voice mixed with a slight country influence and you're about there. It works on this track, to be fair but a live performance recently showed him using it on 'Hot Fuss' tracks, where there really is no place for it. Let's hope he gets the message. 04. 'Bling('Confessions of a King)' (8/10)- Again quite appropriately personified in the lyrics- "It's not so bad", and it isn't. It does take a good few listens to understand that the song really does work and actually is one of the stronger tracks of the album, the only problem is it's unfortunately never going to be quite the beast of it's predecessor. 05. 'For Reasons Unknown' (6.5/10)- Listenable, but it is one of the weaker tracks of the album. I can't really understand the way the song works and I'm into double figures on the listening scale, which is a shame. It has all the tools of a good Killers' song but it just never quite makes it there. 06. 'Read My Mind' (9/10)- the 2nd single and definitely one of the best tracks on the album. It's quite powerful with the way it comes across, although the opening synth nearly confuses you they've left 'Smile like you Mean it' on for another whirl. It's not really of the standard of that song but again it's one of the best on 'Sam's Town'. In short, it is about as anthemic as the album gets. 07. 'Uncle Johnny' (6/10)- Just when you thought you had the album figured out, along comes Uncle Johnny and his cocaine. Indeed a song predominantly about cocaine addiction, it's quite dark from the Killers and is about the first time I've heard raw angst in one of their songs. Not since 'Jenny was a Friend of Mine' will you have heard Flowers quite as menacing as this, but it's experimental and unexpected. Unfortunately the actual song is probably not what it could have been. 08. 'Bones' (7/10)- Probably about the only song on the album with structure which I really think holds it back. On first listen you will be impressed, by the third you will tire of it. It's a decent enough song, but I just don't think it has the quality of previous Killers' anthems. I guarantee they will not be playing this song in 2 years' time when the 3rd album is out. 09. 'My List' (4.5/10)- I'm still trying to work out why this song made it on the album. It's strange to say the least. As much as it's good to be experimental, it's not going to go down as one of their finer ballads and the similarity to Beatles classic 'Let it be' in the opening bars is a little too close to home. The personification of the term 'Album Track'. 10. 'This River is Wild' (9/10)- Thankfully a return to form is found by Track 10, a very traditional album 'Anthem track' and this doesn't disappoint. It shows what The Killers are really about, rousing synthesizers, toe-tapping beats, big choruses and vocal range. This track also features lovely little touches, the "Shake a little" parts are very welcome and puts this song apart from their other efforts. A real standout effort. 11. 'Why Do I Keep Counting?' (8/10)- Continues the musical diversity and almost ends like a musical, shades of Moulin Rouge creeping in at the end. It's good stuff and shows an experimental track can actually be quite a good one too. Sways from several different styles and ends beautifully too. 12. 'Enterlude'- Quite a nice end to the album, does really make you feel like that's it until you suddenly hear the off-the-wall guitar that is... 13. 'All the Pretty Faces' (9.5/10) (Hidden track)- Quite strange that they hide it, as it's arguably the best song on the disc. It's intentional though so praise is due, it's an absolute stormer of a track and possibly one of the best tracks they've done. Quite similar in style to 'Jenny was a Friend of Mine' and the Killers should work on producing more songs like it. Powerful beats, powerful guitars and really good closure to the album. Text Box: Links and affiliates Contact Me

OVERALL- 8/10. They said it wasn't Hot Fuss Part 2 and it certainly wasn't. A true musical journey and you can't really criticise them for choosing to do an album like it. No-one really wants to just hear a band shove the creativity out the window and The Killers certainly haven't. It's not the best album of 2006 but it's a strong one, nonetheless. Casual fans will be disappointed, real fans should know that this band are one of the most original in our scene today, good effort.