Second Spin: Going back to Sam's Town

Welcome to Second Spin, a new weekly feature where I go back and give an album another listen to see if my first reaction was correct, or if perhaps it deserves better than the treatment it's received. The first album in this feature: Sam's Town, the critically derided sophomore album from The Killers.

My initial thoughts on Sam's Town weren't too far off from everyone else's. I missed some of the '80s revival synth-pop that permeated Hot Fuss. At the same time though, The Killers were in a rough spot in recording a follow-up to an album like Hot Fuss. If they had gone and recorded 12 more tracks like "Mr. Brightside", they'd have gotten panned for being unoriginal and formulaic. But they took a different route on Sam's Town, paying homage to '80s arena rock greats, and they still get slammed.

Sam's Town isn't as bad an album as everyone made it out to be. The individual songs don't stand up well as singles, but the album as one cohesive idea is actually pretty cool. Yeah, the whole "Enterlude" and "Exitlude" idea is a bit gimmicky (Who is Sam and who the hell decided it was his town, anyway?), but when it's flanked by tracks like the Springsteen-worshipping "When You Were Young" and "Bling (Confessions of a King)", the campiness is pretty much forgivable. Granted, later tracks like the tired "My List" suggest that maybe The Killers didn't have as material to work with in this new style, but despite the flaws that come with any album that gambles like this one, Sam's Town is still a fun listen, and a great album to take on any car ride (The title track and "When You Were Young" at full blast with the windows down? Awesome...). Cut The Killers a break; it's rare that you see a band take any kind of risk with their sound these days.

Then: ** 1/2
Now: *** 1/2


Sam's Town on iTunes
The Killers [MySpace]
Standout Track: Bling (Confessions of a King)

==TJ==