The - Sam's Town

[Ritchie8]

Jus like eveyone elese I was a bit disapointed on my first listen but now I love it.
Fav songs are probably when you were young and uncle jonny.

 

[Carlos]

Bought it today and i'm really digging into my 4th listen.

I thought Hot Fuss was a bit patchy to be honest. It did have some high points which made it worth the time, but some of the tunes lacked a bit of depth and sincerity IMO.

However Sam's Town has really drawn me in. Like, Hot Fuss its definitely another great sounding album with superb production. But the songwriting is a lot more focused and in less of a hurry to get to its inevitable hook, while still maintaining the sense of adventerousness that makes this band worth the time and effort. The playing is absolutely spot on again too.

But Brandon's vocals are the big suprise. He was the big stumbling block for me on Hot Fuss. I thought his voice was one dimentional and it grated after a while making it hard to sit through the whole album. But on this one he's found a few more shades of colour and really sells it well. Theres times when he sounds like he's taking it to some uncomfortable places and is on the verge of cracking, but rather than spoiling the tunes it actually adds a cool dimention to their sound.

Lots to like on it, but the stand outs after a few listens are the title track, When You Were Young (which i hadnt heard much before buying the album), Bling is superb and i really like Uncle Jonny too.

Pleasantly suprised.

 

[superfraser]

Mark (Carlos) Holden?

I'm amazed you were able to get so much from these albums.

I love both of them. But I'm all like

"Dude, I love them cause they're awesome to sing along to!"

Your all

"There is more sincerity in Sams Town."

WOW!

I don't know much about music, but I'm glad we can both enjoy the killers.

 

[davey_magik]

Buying it tomorrow, When You Were Young is great.
With these guys and Tool at BDO I am not missing it for the world.

 

[driver 8]

Sam's Town has moved into 2nd place on driver 8's albums of 2007 list, passing Muse and the Flaming Lips

 

[Lord_Travis]

Am I the only one here who doesnt like it? I've listened to it a few times, and it still isnt growing on me. It's far too mashed together. Not enough crisp bass lines like the first cd. Pretty disappointed...

 

[King Elvis]

Am I the only one here who doesnt like it? I've listened to it a few times, and it still isnt growing on me. It's far too mashed together. Not enough crisp bass lines like the first cd. Pretty disappointed...

I think Carlos makes a very good point.

It took me quite a few listens to get into it, I really started enjoying it when I put it on my Ipod, put in my ER6i earbuds, and went for a walk.

The music has some real sincerity and depth about it - once I stopped trying to judge the album (I absolutely love Hot Fuss, it's probably me favourite album in close to a decade) and realised that it was never going to be the same as Hot Fuss, I started loving it.

Put the CD, sit down, and just listen to it, see how it goes.

Read My Mind is my favourite atm, awesome song, also quite enjoy Exitlude - it's almost Beatle like.

 

[davey_magik]

Loved it from the first time I played it through.
They've added more variety to their songs (Not that Hot Fuss wasn't good it's one of my all time favourites) and Carlos you make a good point about Flower's vocals.
Read My Mind, When We Were Young and Sam's Town are my three favourites at the moment.

 

[toorakbum]

Why Do I Keep Counting is now my favourite, followed by My List.

I've hardly stopped listening to it since I got it. Fantastic album.

 

[driver 8]

Why Do I Keep Counting is now my favourite, followed by My List.

I've hardly stopped listening to it since I got it. Fantastic album.

Why Do I Keep Counting, My List and This River is Wild are my 3 favourites

 

[Carlos]

A week or so on and i am suprising myself by how much i am into this album.

Bling is one of the best songs i've heard this year.

 

[johnnyhoward]

Solid album...more consistent than Hot Fuss, which had a couple of weaker tracks on it (but was saved by great songs like Indie R&R, Somebody, Brightside etc).

Really like the title track and Bones.

One thing that's baffled me for as long as they've been around is, why does Flowers sing like a Pom if he's from the US?

 

[driver 8]

Solid album...more consistent than Hot Fuss, which had a couple of weaker tracks on it (but was saved by great songs like Indie R&R, Somebody, Brightside etc).

Really like the title track and Bones.

One thing that's baffled me for as long as they've been around is, why does Flowers sing like a Pom if he's from the US?

A question thats been asked by many a music fan and magazine....

Still unanswered at this stage.... i believe a strong liking for Robert Smith and the Cure could contribute

 

[linger_isgod]

Loving it at the moment. Bling and the first single still my faves.

The week when JJJ had this as their feature album was really enjoyable.

 

[davey_magik]

It's incredible. Coming close to Hot Fuss in my book (Haven't listened to it enough yet to form a permanent opinion) but **** its good.
Got into Bling and Uncle Jonny recently.

'The good old days, the honest man
The restless heart, the Promised Land
A subtle kiss that no one sees
A broken wrist and a big trapeze '

Flowers = Freak

 

[The Dice Man]

Im still loving this album, very, very much

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

Im still loving this album, very, very much

Im starting to finally get over it a bit, but its an awesome album that I have flogged to death. I like it better than Hot Fuss, its more consistent, doesn't have a bad song on it (except for maybe the White Boys dancing song )

 

[johnnyhoward]

Yeah, I'd say it's easily better than Hot Fuss now.

 

[Carlos]

Agree.

Hot Fuss had some reasonably high points which made it worth the purchase, but over all was pretty patchy as a body of work, especially in light of the hype surrounding them when it came out.

But Sam's Town has had some pretty good staying power IMO and is an album i could imagine still listening to in a number of year's from now, which is something i cant say for too many albums i've bought over the last few years.

And watching their set at the BDO, it struck me how many hits these guys have already had in a relatively short career. They could be a pretty major band over the next 5 or so years if they can stay together and not start sucking.

 

[soupaman]

Love it. I bought both the Killers albums a couple of weeks ago and prefer Sams Town. Hot Fuss has some very good tracks (including smile like you mean it=fantastic) but at parts i dont like it, namely galmorous indie rock n roll. I love the title track on Sams Town, great chorus and the outro bit is cool. When you were young reminds me of U2 with its guitar solo and the way Flowers sings it. Bones is a song that i hated at first but now love, and bling is my current favourite with sams town. Listened to "this river is wild" on my way to uni the other day and couldn't get it out of my head for ages. The one thing i like more in hot fuss is the bass lines that are great to listen to. I usually listen to the drums (no idea why) but the bass is just so awesome in hot fuss.

I think the Killers could be a great stadium/arena band much like U2. They have this big sound with singalong sections and choruses that could get a whole stadium moving as well as the bass sounding awesome. Theres also something about having the mobile singer that means they have that freedom to take it to another level and could be fantastic. Great album, very promising band.

 

[The_Eagles]

I like Bones the best...prefer Hot Fuss

 

[Kapow!!!]

Im still loving this album, very, very much

Amen. This River Is Wild, Uncle Johnny, Sam's Town, My List, Why Do I keep counting, When You Were Young...hard to pick a favourite. It's just a good, all round album

 

[King Elvis]

It's incredible. Coming close to Hot Fuss in my book (Haven't listened to it enough yet to form a permanent opinion) but **** its good.
Got into Bling and Uncle Jonny recently.

'The good old days, the honest man
The restless heart, the Promised Land
A subtle kiss that no one sees
A broken wrist and a big trapeze '

Flowers = Freak

****ing great song!

I think it's a broken wrist and a bent trapeze though

But yea, I absolutely love that song, stoked that it's now a single.

River is Wild is probably my second favourite, and When you were young - I didn't listen to it much when it came out, but now I'm loving it.

****ing excellent Album.

 

[Portmanteau]

I've grown to like it a lot better than Hot Fuss. A lot more consistent and cohesive in its delivery of themes etc. Always like to see a band take some risks and have them pay off big time.

Agree with Carlos as well. These guys are legit and perhaps the next album will see them soar to the top of the pile (hopefully it's based on the quality of the album, as opposed to Coldplay's X&Y). And Flowers is only 25!

 

[johnnyhoward]

Agree.

Hot Fuss had some reasonably high points which made it worth the purchase, but over all was pretty patchy as a body of work, especially in light of the hype surrounding them when it came out.

But Sam's Town has had some pretty good staying power IMO and is an album i could imagine still listening to in a number of year's from now, which is something i cant say for too many albums i've bought over the last few years.

Couldn't agree more with those thoughts. Albums that are more consistent are usually the ones that stand the test of time. Hot Fuss had some sensational songs that carried the album, Sam's Town has quality all the way through. I'd give it 4 and a half stars.

And watching their set at the BDO, it struck me how many hits these guys have already had in a relatively short career. They could be a pretty major band over the next 5 or so years if they can stay together and not start sucking.

That's always the danger with bands. Hopefully natural progression sees their next album as being a bona-fide masterpiece though.