[The Coldplaying Review] The Killers - Sam's Town

 

 

This is not the 'best British band not from Britain." This is the Killers from Las Vegas, Nevada. The Killers first album Hot Fuss was a smash hit both in the UK and US (and Canada). Everybody who has been within 3 feet of a radio in the past year has surely heard Mr. Brightside or All These Things I Have Done played a gazillion times. Well Sam's Town is not Hot Fuss Part 2. Sam's Town is not a dancing in the nightclubs album like Hot Fuss. It would have been easy for the Killers to put out a carbon copy of Hot Fuss but instead try something new. This album isn't saturated with synthesiser. Here is a track by track rating of the album.

 

Sam's Town - Well the album does start with the classic Killers synthesiser sound but that doesn't last too long. A solid opening track filled with American imagery. Sam's Town is a place in Las Vegas where the Killers grew up. The song is a memoir to this place.

Key lyric: Red white and blue upon a birthday cake, And my brother, he was born on the fourth of the July...and that's all

 

Enterlude - Just a short clip welcoming you to Sam's Town wishing an enjoyable stay.

 

When You Were Young - The first single off the album, probably the 'safest' track on the album. The if-all-else-fails-we-have-one-good-song track. It is a good song none the less. The song goes along with the whole American Dream when you were young idea.

Key lyric: You sit there in your heartache Waiting on some beautiful boy to To save you from your old ways

 

Bling (Confession of a King) - The cheesiest name you could possibly give a song I think. Bling? Come on boys. Regardless of the dumb name this is my favourite song off the album. Perhaps because it has U2 circa the Unforgettable Fire written all over it. This song is also littered with southwestern US themes such as the land of the free ride, the desert, and the ideas of getting rich in the west.

Key lyric: When I offer you survival, You say it's hard enough to live

 

For Reasons Unknown - Brandon Flowers vocals really shine on this song. Singing the verses of the song it sounds as if he is sticking his hands out and grabbing at your heart and clenching with tears coming down his cheak. And the sad thing is he doesn't know why.

Key lyric: But my heart, it don't beat, it don't beat the way it used to.

 

Read My Mind - Another song about a variety of characters with not much going for them but they still have the American Dream. Musically it has more U2-like guitar riffs. These guys obviosuly learned lots from touring with the big boys in Europe last year.

Key lyric: The teenage queen, the loaded gun; The drop dead dream, the Chosen One

 

Uncle Johnny - I tend to skip over this song.

Key lyric: Levitation aint your only friend

 

Bones - The "Come with me" intro sung by a choir (featured throughout the song) is sort of weird but inviting. Of coarse the Killers couldn't go through an album without a 'fun love' song, songs that made up Hot Fuss. My favourite part of the song is when Brandon declares "Never had a lover, never had soul. Never had a good time, never got gold." On Hot Fuss he was boldly stating that he had soul but was not a soldier.

 

My List - This song took me a long time to get used to but now I love it. More honest lyrics and strong vocals from Brandon. The woman ( I assume) wailing at the end is a nice touch, sort of reminiscent of the vocals from Great Gig in the Sky. (For those who don't know, that is a classic Pink Floyd song)

key lyric: And your prayers they're not fables

 

This River is Wild - Musically I like the song but I don't really get it.

key lyric: You better run for the hills before they burn

 

Why Do I Keep Counting? - It seems like on of those worrying Keane - Hopes & Fears type songs. The buildup takes a little while but once the song is in full swing it is a great track.

key lyric: If I only knew the answer I wouldn't be bothering you.

 

Exitlude - A nice way to end the album. Basically thanking you for taking a journey through Sam's Towns. It highlights the themes of the album; the pain, the dreams, the desert and the rain, and asks not to worry about them, it'll all get worked out.

key lyric: We've seen it all bonfires of trust flash floods of pain It doesn't really matter don't you worry it'll all work out

 

 

The verdict:

Sam's Town - 4

Enterlude - 3

When You Were Young - 5

Bling (Confession of a King) - 5

For Reasons Unknown - 4

Read My Mind - 3.5

Uncle Jonny - 1

Bones - 4

My List - 3.5

This River is Wild - 3

Why Do I Keep Counting - 3.5

Exitlude - 4

 

 

Sam's Town - 3.5/5

really nice review, it's just that i have a strange aversion towards Killers.

For me, It's only Uncle Jonny which prevents the album getting a solid 0/10, although it gets a mere 0.4/10.

ooooh i LOVE this album .... when i 1st got it.. i really couldn't stop listening to it.. :happy:

This album seems to have divided a lot of people. I personally think it is a bit bland, alright, but not great.

well, to be honest it's Killers, so i can't really have a good opinion about this album...

 

i only heard 2 songs so far (When You Were Young and Bones) and they are poor imo. but i won't judge the album till i haven't heard the rest

 

nice review Briggins, keep them coming :)

well,that album rocks,its much diferrent than hot fuss

well' date='that album rocks,its much diferrent than hot fuss[/quote']

 

 

 

Yeah it is..it's a lot worse!!!!

Nice review but I'm afraid nothing can make me listen to The Killers again.

Yeah it is..it's a lot worse!!!!

which is worse?

The new one!! :dozey: So stupid!!!

First I didn't like the second album as well, but it was growing up on me, so I really like it today. :nice: I often made similar experiences with other records.

First I didn't like the second album as well' date=' but it was growing up on me, so I really like it today. :nice: I often made similar experiences with other records.[/quote']

yeha,i totally love it too ,but i like also hot fuss

No killers for me.

Why We're Having a RED Christmas

By Guy Adams

 

It's a contest usually dominated by Sir Cliff Richard, the winner of The X-Factor and a selection of novelty records too awful to mention. But this year, the battle for Christmas number one will be different. The Killers, one of the world's most fashionable rock bands, have decided to make an unlikely bid for the slot.

 

The group, whose latest album Sam's Town recently spent three weeks at the top of the UK charts, have recorded a seasonal novelty single, "A Great Big Sled", to raise money for the RED campaign.

 

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, guitarist Dave Keuning yesterday disclosed that the group would sacrifice at least a portion of their hard-earned artistic credibility in order to compete with rival "plastic" pop acts.

 

The single, which is released on iTunes on 11 December, is expected to be the biggest Christmas charity record since Band Aid's "Do They Know it's Christmas", which topped the charts in 1984 and 2004.

 

All proceeds will benefit the fight against Aids in Africa. It features contributions from Santa Claus, several elves, a snowman, and - that staple of novelty Christmas records - the sound of sleigh bells.

 

Singer Brandon Flowers wrote the lyrics during a soundcheck on The Killers' current tour of the UK, which made headlines earlier this year when tickets for all 10 dates sold out within five minutes of going on sale.

 

"We came up with the song during a soundcheck," said Keuning. "We often use our sound-checks to write new material, as they're the perfect time to spend half an hour noodling away, and Brandon and I decided that it would be great to do a Christmas song."

 

"There haven't been that many Christmas songs by rock bands. I mean, you've got John Lennon's one ["Happy Xmas - War is Over"], and a handful of others. But we felt there was something else to be played, and started cooking up some ideas. We recorded it during a day off work a week ago."

 

The inspiration for the project came a year after The Killers performed at the Live8 concert in Hyde Park. The band has since developed a close relationship with RED's founder, Bono.

 

"No one needs the money more than Africa," said Keuning. "We've supported U2 in the past, and talked to them, and they've come to see our shows in Las Vegas. Bono did ask us to do something else for RED a short while back, but we didn't have time. But the best way for us to help is to do something that we are actually good at. And that's writing songs. We're no good at making commercials, or doing interviews, and I'm the first to admit that we aren't maybe as knowledgeable about the Aids issue as we should be. But we do know how to do one thing, and that's making music."

 

Although The Killers come from Las Vegas, they have a strong following in the UK, and are said to have been heavily influenced by the British "new wave" music of the 1980s.

 

Until the Great Big Sled project, Keuning says they were unfamiliar with the British tradition of releasing festive records in an effort to achieve a Christmas number one.

 

"My mother always used to listen to Christmas music during the holidays, and it gets played in shopping malls, but only a handful of people in the US release pop records for Christmas. It's not really familiar to us. I don't even know who Cliff Richard is. Is he someone in Notting Hill?"

 

The new song was played in public for the first time on Tuesday. Its chorus runs: "I wanna roll around like a kid in the snow / I wanna re-learn what I already know / I wanna take flight / dress in red in the night / on a great big sleigh / And I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas."

 

According to Keuning, the lyrics should be interpreted as a reminder not to take life too seriously. The music is a partial throwback to the group's debut album, Hot Fuss, which sold more than five million records. "It's a cross between the style of Hot Fuss and Sam's Town, but with Christmas lyrics," said Keuning.

 

"We also included sleigh bells. That was Ronnie's [Vannucci, The Killers' drummer] idea. He said that all Christmas records ought to have sleigh bells."

 

Since The Killers achieved mainstream success with Hot Fuss in 2004, they have been nominated for five Grammys, and had top-10 hits with the singles "Somebody Told Me," "Mr Brightside," "Smile Like You Mean It," and "When You Were Young." The group has also become a firm favourite of the chattering classes when David Cameron appeared on Desert Island Discs, he chose their anthem "All These Things That I Have Done" as his favourite record.

 

Later, at the party conference in October, the same track was played as the Tory leader strode onto the stage to deliver his keynote speech.

 

"I think it's great if David Cameron likes us," added Keuning. "I try to stay out of politics, but I read the paper when we're touring and keep up on what's going on by watching CNN, and yes, I do have views. RED is a campaign that is bigger than politics, though.

 

"Live8 got us interested in a lot of issues to do with Africa, and its something everyone agrees needs to be sorted out. More than one in 10 people have Aids. That's a pretty scary statistic."

 

The band was yesterday preparing for the single's launch in London, having suddenly cancelled the Dublin leg of their tour after Flowers fell ill with a sore throat. Speaking before that illness, Flowers said they had also recorded a video of "A Great Big Sleigh" featuring the band and their crew in fancy dress.

 

"It was a free-for-all," he said. "Our crew all volunteered to dress up like elves and snowmen. There were Christmas trees and a Santa. We've got everything covered.

 

"There are some great Christmas tunes that have been recorded over the years from the likes of George Michael and John Lennon... We've had such a hectic schedule over the last few months that it's nice to do something like this."

 

According to bookmakers William Hill, The Killers are currently fifth favourites to make the Christmas number one slot, after The X-Factor winner (2/7), Cliff Richard and Daniel O'Donnnell (8/1), All Angels (8/1), and Take That (10/1).

Oh wow, A Great Big Sled is amazing. Have you guys heard it? I just downloaded it from itunes. It's very beautiful - definitely a Christmas classic.

hi guys :)

this is my first post in here, but i like the killers for some time.

i just wanted to ask you, which of the albums, either hot fuss or sam's town, would you recommend me to buy for me for christmas? :D

thanks ;)

Both. If you want. Otherwise I'd say buy Sam's Town first, then Hot Fuss.

hm.thank you:) and what other albums would you recommend to buy? i like snow patrol, keane, u2, arctic monkeys and also radiohead, but i don't have any albums by them.

I am off to my 2 week vacations tonight and to see the Killers on Wednesday!!!!:dance: I'm sooooo excited, I can't believe I'm actually going to see them live.:stunned:

 

I'll try and take some pics to share here with u guys!

And on TKO, Wendy!

 

And apple.m: I'd honestly recommend Hot Fuss purely from a musical standpoint. Song for song, it's better, but the songs have no flow, it's really just a random assortment. See how you like Hot Fuss, then go out and buy Sam's Town.

And on TKO, Wendy!

 

Of course! :nice:

I am off to my 2 week vacations tonight and to see the Killers on Wednesday!!!!:dance: I'm sooooo excited, I can't believe I'm actually going to see them live.:stunned:

 

I'll try and take some pics to share here with u guys!

 

 

 

have fuuuuun :dance:

And on TKO, Wendy!

 

And apple.m: I'd honestly recommend Hot Fuss purely from a musical standpoint. Song for song, it's better, but the songs have no flow, it's really just a random assortment. See how you like Hot Fuss, then go out and buy Sam's Town.

 

 

Have fun, wendy! awww how jealous i am... :D

 

 

thanks, my friend told me to buy hot fuss, cause she also thinks that's it's better.. so i'll buy it. and... the songs i've heard from hot fuss so far were adorable for me:)

anyways, thank you :)

^Hot Fuss is alot better in my opinion.