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Post by Love Plastic Love on Sept 15, 2006 14:16:59 GMT -5
Wow 5 million isnt that high knowing how much they sold in England and the US alone. They must have not sold much at all elsewhere.
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Damage
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Post by Damage on Sept 15, 2006 17:45:59 GMT -5
From Entertainment Weekly's list of 25 Must-Have CD's:
3 The Killers 10/3 Sam's Town "Sam's Town is it," boasts Killers frontman Brandon Flowers, talking about his band's eagerly awaited second album. "It's gonna be the one that keeps rock & roll afloat. And I can say that 'til the cows come home, and it can sound as cocky as you want."
As usual, the words coming out of Flowers' mouth don't disappoint; this is a man, after all, who has become famous for dropping self-aggrandizing bon mots in the press. But when his actual voice crackles over a long-distance line, Flowers comes off less like an obnoxious young rock star and more like a pained but earnest Boy Scout who's been accused of earning his merit badges dishonestly.
That boyish enthusiasm is especially pronounced when Flowers starts raving about his band's newest inspiration: Bruce Springsteen. "People make fun of Born in the U.S.A. and [his] look, but I love all of it," he says. "There's a song from his first album called 'Lost in the Flood' that's just...I mean, it should be essential listening for people. I'm 25 years old, I had no idea that existed, and I'm just really grateful now that I got to get into it."
As you might have guessed, the Las Vegas-bred quartet have decided to distance themselves from the new-wave-inspired sound found on their 5 million-selling debut, 2004's Hot Fuss. "On the first album I think we adopted a look that wasn't necessarily ours," says Flowers. "It was a fascination with the glamour and the glitz. On this album we've taken a step in the direction of where we're from, and embraced, you know, the Wild West."
The foursome spent an intense six months in a hometown studio with producers Alan Moulder and Flood (known for their work with the Smashing Pumpkins, U2, and Nine Inch Nails). "I was really behind on my lyrics," says Flowers. "But, like, 'Bones' was written two years ago, and 'Read My Mind' was being written up until the last day in the studio, so there was a lot of different things going on."
Now Flowers has to wait and see how fans of the Killers will react to their Boss new sound. Not that Mr. Confidence will admit to anything like second-album jitters. "So many people cower down and put their tail between their legs, because of all the negativity that surrounds a band for their second album," he says. "But we're just back swinging. Because, I mean, why not? It's our job."
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wolfmother
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Post by wolfmother on Sept 18, 2006 4:13:41 GMT -5
When you were young entered the UK single Charts at #5 (downloads only) and so with the physical release this week the single stand a good chance siting at the top next week. Hot Fuss is #31 donw one place.
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wolfmother
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Post by wolfmother on Sept 18, 2006 4:29:38 GMT -5
Hot Fuss charts run around the world:
Australia: 22-25-28-30-35-40-39-43-54-60-57-64-51-65-73-86-94-88-78-57-46-39-34-30-21-23-14-6-6-1-3-7-7-10-9-12-13-9-13-13-14-9-17-18-20-21-24-27-29-28-28-27-34-35- 33-31-36-36-35-31-41-53-56-71-75-77-82-82-88-97-95-91-92-89-91-87-OUT(5month)-74-62-59-72-74-95-OUT =82weeks 2xPlatinum (140.000)
United Kingdom: 6-25-25-39-42-40-39-37-38-29-22-17-19-17-25-39-53-51-54-61-52-50-54-54-55-53-45-35-24-5-2-1-1-2- 3-7-6-4-15-10-13-10-10-11-13-14-15-15-14-17-20-23-30-36-28-22-11-10-13-16-15-17-19-20-17-22-28-27-34-36-39-44-45-57-65-76-85-95-76-71-71-93- 70-66-56-43-48-51-57-55-59-72-79-84-81-86-96-114-119-124-129-80-38-36-38-48-38-34-33-37-47-51-56-53-36-30-31 =117 weeks cert. 4xPlatinum (1.200.000), without 2006 sales of the album were at 1.264.349
USA: 59-83-100-76-71-65-64-54-48-33-33-46-38-32-26-45-45-35-41-42-47-63-55-87-71-57-62-51-24-29-22-14-22-28-27-13-12-14- 8-8-8-11-11- 10-7-11-12-11-17-20-15-15-19-26-25-25-25-27-27-31-29-11-16-19-22-31-39-47-53-51-55-61-69-83-107-124-120-84-108-94- 81-91-96-98-121-128-136-140-152-164-166-177-187-192//OUT =95weeks cert. 3xPlatinum, real sales: 2.956.351
France: 70-90-112-118-125-134-148-167-199-193-188-120-95-106-97-91-75-78-66-69-122-121-64-64-45-50-60-74-91-93-100-69-88-78-98-106-112-90- 95-75-33-25-15-9-8-21-25-20-32-37-45-63-69-78-99-110-130-148-150-158-160-149-147-150-177-OUT-166-87-90-104-126-159-189-177-OUT =73 weeks, estimated sales= 135.500
Irlande: [2004]52-42-58-59-75-67-58-53-48-52-38-24-23-23-26-39-43-64-52-41-33-25-21-20-19-23-23-29-23-21-[2005]7-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-3-3-3-1-1-1-1-2-3-3-5-6-6-8- 14-15-16-7-6-7-6-7-8-5-5-6-7-11-14-17-18-14-18-20-26-39-45-52-62-57-61-59-46-[2006]41-41-44-44-48-50-55-65-96-99-92-OUT-OUT-92-93-77-97-94-OUT-97- 52-30-30-51-49-33-32-37-37-41-47-45-51-EC
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MusicJunkie
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Post by MusicJunkie on Sept 18, 2006 19:23:33 GMT -5
Clips from the album leaked! They sound pretty good to me.
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Minimalism
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Post by Minimalism on Sept 19, 2006 3:46:07 GMT -5
Wow, "Hot Fuss" really had longevity.
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Post by winner2000 on Sept 26, 2006 8:05:35 GMT -5
The album leaked!
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MusicJunkie
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Post by MusicJunkie on Sept 26, 2006 15:14:07 GMT -5
Of course, it's on MTV's The Leak and everything.
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Rumors
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Post by Rumors on Sept 26, 2006 17:52:46 GMT -5
Rolling Stone gave the album two stars out of five. Basically, they tried too hard to be a serious band and it didn't quite work. I don't care much for any RS reviews. I'm just passing the info along.
I expect this album to be huge in Europe but I'm not sure about the US. There doesn't seem to be much buzz about this album at all. I've only seen the video 3x times on VH1. Is it being played a lot on Fuse and MTV?
Personally, I'm not too impressed with the first single. I thought all the releases off their first album were better. I ended up loving Mr. Brightside.
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Post by Devil Marlena Nylund on Sept 26, 2006 18:21:29 GMT -5
HMV were playing the full CD today. LOL! They had it on display, well, behind the counter so we could only see it there that they were playing it. Must have gotton an advance copy.
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Post by When I Ruled the World on Sept 27, 2006 14:48:10 GMT -5
Wow... this album doesn't come near Hot Fuss in my opinion. I'm so dissapointed. Of course I've only listened to the album one time, but on first listen, I'm not impressed.
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Post by Love Plastic Love on Sept 28, 2006 3:03:40 GMT -5
This is about on the same level as Hot Fuss to me. Ok, on first listen maybe a little less than Hot Fuss. But its a solid cd. I find myself liking songs that other people dont seem to like which I dont know what that says about me or them
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Post by sillyfunny on Sept 28, 2006 3:53:26 GMT -5
I actually like "Sam's Town" better than "Hot Fuss." I'm glad they did something different. True, there's nothing on this CD like "Mr. Brightside" or "Somebody Told Me," but that doesn't bother me. I think what they have this time is far superior. I disagree with Rolling Stone. I think "Sam's Town" is an A.
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oinapead
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Post by oinapead on Sept 28, 2006 11:19:49 GMT -5
what a disappoitment
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Post by joker on Sept 28, 2006 14:15:47 GMT -5
I like "Sam's Town".
It was said by some reviewers that the Killers went for a more 'adult'/'American'/'ambitious' feel on this album, and I can see that. At the same time, the songs here don't stray so far from their debut to make the band unrecognizable -- if anything, that'd be their look (less mascara, more mustache). It's just a conscious effort, both in look and sound, to come out with something other than "Hot Fuss II", for which I for one am grateful. As great as that album was, it can't be expected to recapture the magic the second time around. Other recent hyped bands have tried that approach -- Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes -- and it's not that their material got any worse, I simply found myself losing interest with each passing single or album.
So I give the Killers props for trying to evolve a little bit here. While "Sam's Town" certainly isn't a perfect album, there are enough good songs to make it an interesting, and worthwhile, listen.
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Damage
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Post by Damage on Sept 28, 2006 21:30:49 GMT -5
From the October 6th Entertainment Weekly:
Born to Rerun
Are the Killers copying Bruce Springsteen on their new album or parodying him?
The Killers Sam's Town (Island) Rock
"Bling (Confession of a King)," like most of the songs on the Killers' new album, is grandiose. It begins with singer Brandon Flowers crooning over a synthesizer drone and some chiming guitar notes, and quickly shifts into epic mode. Flowers yelps, guitar chords crash, and keyboards arc skyward, vaguely in the direction of God, or the mountaintop redoubt of Meat Loaf. The music is pure arena rock circa 1987, with a nonsensical, cliché-slinging lyric to match: "Higher and higher/We're gonna take it/Down to the wire/We're gonna make it/Out of the fire."
This sound represents a new twist on the Killers' '80s revivalism. On their 2004 debut album, Hot Fuss, the Las Vegas quartet hit multiplatinum pay dirt by resurrecting the sleek, sensual strains of British New Romantic and post-punk music. With Sam's Town, they've removed the glopped-on Goth eyeliner, sprouted scruffy outlaw beards, and traded in urbane decadence for windswept super-romanticism. Bye-bye, Duran Duran; hello, Simple Minds.
They've also added a fair helping of Americana to their Anglophilia. In interviews, Flowers has professed a newfound love for Bruce Springsteen, which explains lines like "We're burnin' down a highway skyline/On the back of a hurricane" in "When You Were Young," the album's first single. Sam's Town was produced by Alan Moulder and Flood, who have worked with U2 and Depeche Mode, and excel at capturing wide-screen rock songs. Not just any producers could make a tune like "This River Is Wild"in which Flowers caterwauls lines about watching "the clouds fall from the sky" over a background choir and a gargantuan pileup of guitar overdubs sound this crisp.
There's no denying the Killers' skill at whipping up an almighty rock & roll racket. What is not quite clear is if they're serious. Hot Fuss was catchy, but it was bogged down by the smirking irony that afflicts so many revivals of the "awesomely bad" '80s. The pummeling, skyscraping epics on Sam's Town are almost by definition a parody of rock bombast. But as jokes go, it's an old and not very funny one. And if the Killers aren't jokingwell, let's just say "When You Were Young" isn't quite "Born to Run."
In any case, the Killers are probably going to be around awhile. History teaches us that in each generation there is a desire for immense songs about beautiful losers, carved from canyon-size slabs of major-chord rock, with copious references to fire and desire and wild rivers and (as Flowers sings in "Read My Mind") "breakin' out of this two-star town." There's already a band, touring arenas, that specializes in this sort of thingbut they're getting on in years. Which is where the Killers come in. The MySpace generation has found its Bon Jovi. C
>DOWNLOAD THIS: "Bones"
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Post by winner2000 on Sept 29, 2006 7:34:52 GMT -5
C is too nice IMO...this album stinks!
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Post by singingsparrow on Sept 29, 2006 14:01:39 GMT -5
I've just streamed this album on-line, and for supposedly being "one of the best albums in the past 20 years" according to Flowers, this is by far one of the greatest sophomore train-wrecks in recent memory.
"When You Were Young" was a lame lead single to begin with that totally copied Bruce Springsteen and sugar-coated it with the keyboards and synthesizers, and "Bling", "Uncle Jonny" and "This River Is Wild" are no better.
There's three glimmers of hope on "Sam's Town" that suggest The Killers can still reddem themselves on their third album and beyond, with "Bones", "Read My Mind" and "For Reasons Unknown" sounding good or alright, but otherwise The Killers seem as though they already experiencing a lack of imagination, and are all tongue-tied with cliches.
Worst sophomore record I've heard since Jason Mraz's "Mr. A-Z".
Sincerely, Noah Eaton
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MusicJunkie
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Post by MusicJunkie on Sept 29, 2006 20:45:35 GMT -5
I'm listening now and I'm disappointed as well. The clips sounded alright at first but after listening to the album, they didn't live up to all the hype they had. Hopefully it'll grow on me. :(
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SHOOTER
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Post by SHOOTER on Sept 29, 2006 21:30:29 GMT -5
I think the Killers are the most overrated rock groups in the business right now. I always love their singles and then always here how awful their albums are and how the singles are the picks of the litter. I'm steering clear of this.
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Post by winner2000 on Sept 30, 2006 8:54:50 GMT -5
Considering the lead single has had a trajectory (so far) of 29 - 29 - 51 - 49 - 52 - 53 - 51...would it be considered a semi-flop?
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MusicJunkie
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Post by MusicJunkie on Sept 30, 2006 9:19:04 GMT -5
^ Not really because it only has Rock radio support. Pop will probably not send it top 40 and HAC's teeny weenie audience can't help at all.
For a Rock song with only rock radio support these days, a #29 peak is pretty good.
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Rumors
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Post by Rumors on Sept 30, 2006 9:58:41 GMT -5
Any guesses on first week sales? It has just recently moved into the top 10 on amazon. In comparison, Amy Lee's band as been there for several weeks. Like I said earlier, I've heard very little buzz on this album. I'll say 200K.
At this point I think their first single is a flop. It's airplay is not good and you can't believe that is what the record company wanted from the first single. I assume it reached so high on the Hot 100 because of decent downloads the first week.
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Post by Love Plastic Love on Sept 30, 2006 10:08:29 GMT -5
They are a rock act. How is going solidly top 5 (or even challenging for #1?) a flop **confused** But I know pop is only format that matters I assume Eva will sell a lot more because they were a lot bigger as an artist. They sold 6.5 to Killers 3. Thats more than double. I assume that more than double sales will lead to much higher sales on the first week as well as Eva's song being higher on more formats. I dont expect another triple platinum album, but I hope they can have 2-3 solid alternative hits (they already have one smash) and sell a million cds. For an alternative act, thats not bad. Edit to say that I know getting huge multiformat play is what leads to *real* sales, but I think for some acts courting a home format is more important. I would rather them become an alternative staple than come out with a bunch of pop rock ballads or pop songs tailored just for top 40. That can lead to home format rejecting them while pop will reject everyone some time...
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Post by winner2000 on Sept 30, 2006 13:01:57 GMT -5
Billboard:
Sometimes more is better—and that's certainly the case with "Sam's Town," a lollapalooza of cinematic soundscapes that dashes any fears, or dare we say expectations, of a sophomore slump. The Las Vegas quartet still proudly wears its British New Wave influences on its sleeve. But they're presented in a manner that's stylistically undated and given their own character by Brandon Flowers' keening vocals and the interplay between his keyboards and Dave Keuning's versatile guitar work. Produced by Flood and Alan Moulder, "Sam's Town" is a sophisticated sonic metropolis whose best songs—the title track, "Bling (Confession of a King)," "Uncle Jonny," "Bones" and the single "When You Were Young"—are powerful modern rock anthems that may someday yield their particular influences on younger bands.—Gary Graff
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Post by joker on Sept 30, 2006 14:08:14 GMT -5
I don't think "When You Were Young" is a flop, unless your expectations were really through the roof. After 11 weeks, the song is #2 on the Modern Rock chart, a higher peak than any other Killers song to date. It's also their best showing on the Mainstream Rock chart. So airplay, at least on the alt/rock side -- their primary audience -- has been strong.
Then, with the help of downloads, the song reached #29 on the Hot 100. No shame in that, IMO, especially considering that only a handful or so rock bands have charted more than one song in the top 30 over the past 18 months (Green Day, Nickelback, Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects, Fray, the Killers... that's off the top of my head, any others?).
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M
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Post by M on Sept 30, 2006 16:50:16 GMT -5
I think the Killers are the most overrated rock groups in the business right now. I always love their singles and then always here how awful their albums are and how the singles are the picks of the litter. I'm steering clear of this. Why not judge the rest of the album yourself before making up your mind about them. You never know, until you actually hear it first.
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PT08
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Post by PT08 on Sept 30, 2006 17:54:08 GMT -5
Listened to it today and was disappointed with it. It's definitely a depature from 'Hot Fuss', and for me that's not a good thing.
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SHOOTER
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Post by SHOOTER on Sept 30, 2006 21:00:18 GMT -5
I think the Killers are the most overrated rock groups in the business right now. I always love their singles and then always here how awful their albums are and how the singles are the picks of the litter. I'm steering clear of this. Why not judge the rest of the album yourself before making up your mind about them. You never know, until you actually hear it first. I might if I ever hear one POSITIVE comment about either of their albums.
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Rumors
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Post by Rumors on Oct 1, 2006 0:07:23 GMT -5
I said that I personally think that their first single is a flop because I believe they were in fact expecting more crossover success with this song. But hey, if they only were expecting rock/alt success then I guess they met expectations. However, I can't see The Killers becoming this huge band that they obviously want to be without crossover on HotAC/pop. They could still have crossover success with this song I guess. They could always tie it into a movie or TV show to help it out.
I don't hate this band. I've actually liked some of their stuff. I just think they want to be huge, huge, huge. Time will tell if they have that kind of impact with this album in the US. Europe...probably yes.
Does their intended second single Bones have more crossover potential?
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