Great Second Album (Sam's Town - The Killers)

Member Name: NottsFan

Product:	Sam's Town - The Killers
Date:	15/06/07 (484 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some Classic Songs

Disadvantages: Not as good as previous album

The Killers
Sam’s Town

The Killer new album (Sam’s town) is certainly one to own, although is not at good as Hot Fuss. This new album features many great songs, which have been released as singles, and many of you would have heard them before at some stage. ‘When You Were Young’, ‘ Read My Mind’ ‘Bones’ and ‘For Reasons Unknown are the singles that have been released at the moment. The band from Las Vegas haven’t disappointed in producing the second long awaiting album.

Sams Town is on the whole very upbeat which is quite unusual for an album so full of emotional songs. ‘Uncle Jonny’ for example is about Brandon Flowers’ uncle, who had a cocaine addiction. He clearly didn’t like the fact that he was on cocaine and Brandon just wanted him to be a proper uncle to him who didn’t take drugs. This song is still quite upbeat although his voice does sound a little depressed. A lot of the stuff Flowers writes is based around how he has lived and what he has done in the past. A lot of that material is very sad. A line from ‘Reasons Unknown’ “I check my face, I look a little bit older, I look a little bit colder. This is a line, which stands out.

The more I listen to this album the more I love it. After I listened to this around 4 times and really thought this is a great album. Two of my personal favouarets, which you might not expect and everyone seems to find them the weakest songs, are, ‘This River is Wild’ and ‘Why Do I Keep Counting’. I believe these are very strong songs and believe the lyrics and the melodies in these two songs are incredible. I am surprised I like this kind of music if I was honest. I am a major fan of rock. But I usually listen to bands like Oasis and U2. When you listen to these kinds of bands regularly you realise just how mediocre some new bands are. Although The Killers are different. The reason I like the likes of oasis way above anyone else is because they can write very good songs and on the instrumental side of things they are outstanding. For example the difference between Noel Gallagher’s knowledge of playing the guitar and composing music and a guitarist from Kaiser Chiefs is unthinkikable. But as I said I believe The Killers have got the talent that many people do like.

This album is certainly worth buying. The songs don’t seem to get boring either compared to albums like The Kooks (Inside In Inside Out). Which can get very boring quickly. I also believe the album is well structured. The album starts with Sam’s Town, which incidentally is also the title of the album. This starts it all off and gives you a general gist of the future tracks. Then it features Enturelude which is a nice song with a beautiful melody and is almost like a personally message to everyone who has bought the album. Some lines as ‘We hope you enjoy your stay’. While the closure of the songs has Exitlude. This is Enterlude but longer and more like a song. This one being the better of the two.

One reason The Killers are a great band is because so many of their songs will get you singing along to the tracks which is a real factor of mine. If a song makes you sing a long I believe that must be a good song. Brandon Flowers has used this new album to try and prove that he has grown up a little now. The new shorter haircut and the moustache suits him much better and in his aim to be more acknowledged he actually plays the guitar in a song off this album which is very unusual for him. He plays the bass guitar in ‘For reasons unknown’.

Hot Fuss is a really difficult album to carry on from with such songs as the loved ‘Mr Brightside’ to ‘All these thing that I’ve done’. Which were both great hits although never really made it in the charts. The highest The Killers have been in the charts is at number 2. With ‘ When We were Young’. If you just think that The Killers have never been number 1 and have only ever been close it just shows you how much rubbish must be in the charts today. I really do not see the attraction in Rap/ Hip-Hop.

01- Sam’s Town- This is a great song to start the album off. This song starts off with a good intro, which features the strange sound of a piano/organ. This song is about how no one ever seemed to back him or the band for success in their hometown Las Vegas (Sam’s Town), but he used this to prove even more that they have got it in them. ‘Nobody ever had a dream round here, but I don’t really mind that it’s starting to get to me and then says in the chorus ‘So why do you waste my time’ aimed at those who had no belief in the band. It then ends with what seems to be a different song. This is one of the best songs on the album. 8/10
02- Enterlude- This is just a quick song to open the rest of the album, has some memorable lyrics which are easily sung along to. This song is basically thanking the listeners for buying the album and quoting ‘we hope you enjoy your stay’ as in they’re hoping you enjoy listening to the album. This song is not one of the better ones on the album, but no one claims it is and it isn’t supposed to be. 6/10
03- When We Were Young- This song is easily one of the best on the album and maybe one of the songs of the year. This single got to Number 2 just missing out on the number 1 spot. This song reflects backs on their lives are what they did when they were younger. Some brilliant lyrics in this song, and some quite humorous. There is a good little solo half way through the song just before it slows down and continues like this for 15 seconds then the drummer comes back in and it all gets back into a brilliantly composed piece of instrument work. Basically just a great song. 9/10
04- Bling (Confession of a King) – This is one of the weaker songs but nevertheless is still a good addictive song. It is quite a emotional song and sung in a sad tone. The Keyboard is dominate in this song and has a interest set of chords in the choruses which I am sure I have never heard anything like it before. The chorus is the best part of this song. Very different and just is great to listen to and the verse right at the end is probably my favourite part of the song when the whole songs comes together and slowly fades out. Brandon Flowers uses his usually couple of lines without instruments at the end of their songs. 7/10
05- For Reasons Unknown – This song is the 4th single of their second album and is very similar to Read My mind in my opinion. This song is also very emotional. Brandon sings about how things have deteriorated compared to the past and how sometimes the old days were the best. ‘… And my heart they don’t beat, they don’t beat the way they used to. And ‘ I take a look a my face, it looks a little bit older, it looks a little bit colder.’ This is a very addictive song. One thing about this song I found was the chorus spoiled it a bit. The Killers usually write much better verses than choruses, which is very unusual for a band. Overall an excellent song. 9/10
06- Read My Mind- What can I say about this song. This song is probably one of my favourite songs now; this fairly slow song is just perfect. Beautiful melody, lyrics and singing all come together in this song and really works. The chorus is excellent. It is really one to sing along to. The piano dominates the instruments in this song and that seems to work well. The more the song progresses the better it gets. Then a guitar solo comes in around ¾ of the way through the song, which adds the song a bit of talent then the song continues getting more emotional which makes it better. This also has a great video to it. Remarkable song. 10/10.
07- Uncle Jonny- This song is about his uncle called jonny. He was a cocaine addict who had many problems. Brandon, as a kid just wanted a reliable uncle who he could see. In this song there is a great guitar riff. Obviously Brandon feels very emotional about this song and the song suggest that. The thing I really like about this song is the ending. I like how where another member starts singing and Flowers almost replies to what is being said. Overall a good song. 7/10
08- Bones- This was the second single of the album and was a great hit although the chart position did not suggest that. Very good beat to it and the lyrics are interesting. The chorus is very memorable and this song makes you feel happy. The song eventually builds up to make it a bit faster, emotional and louder. The best bit in my eyes is when it slows down a little which is typical of the Killers. 9/10
09- My List- This is a very slow song, which eventually becomes faster a little. This is a very emotional song and I believe it is about his ex-girlfriend and he is trying to say that no matter what he will still have a bit of love for her. The words ‘you should have known by now, that you were on my list’ I really love the chorus in this song. Another reason I like this song is because I believe everyone could think of someone appropriate to these lyrics. I like the ending to this song as well. 8/10
10- The River is Wild – One of my favourite songs on the album. This song is underrated and could have easily been a single and I suppose it still could be. ‘Should I just get along with myself, I never did get along with any body else’ this is typical of Brandon’s new style lyrics. Very negative and almost against himself. I like the ending to this song where he sings very emotionally when the music dies down. Anyone who only knows the singles should give this a listen. 9/10
11- Why Do I keep counting – Basically the description above for the last song is almost exactly how I feel about this song. This song starts off very slow and has a very sad tone to it. This song is about his fear of flying in aeroplanes and you will gather that when listening to the lyrics. The line ‘will I live to have some children’ seems like it is sung while he is crying. But it soon cheers up a bit in chorus, which is a very good chorus. This is a great song to sing a long to. 9/10
12- Exitlude- Caps the album off beautiful with this great melody. This is more than just enterlude. This song is much longer. Apparently he thought of these lyrics in a dream about Kirt Cobains death and he found that the lyrics suited the closure of the album. ‘Outside the sun is shining, seems like heaven aint far away’ is the gist of the lyrics. To sum this up it is basically enterlude but better. I love the piano in this song. 7/10

Buy this album now you will not regret it.
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Summary: This is a album for a any indie/rock fan out there