Sam's Town

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This article is about the album by The Killers. For the casinos, see Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall (disambiguation).
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Sam's Town
Studio album by The Killers
Released October 2, 2006
Recorded November 2005 – July 2006, at Studio at the Palms, Las Vegas, Nevada and Criterion Studios, London, England
Genre Indie rock,[1] heartland rock, post-punk revival
Length 44:14
Label Island, Vertigo
Producer Flood, Alan Moulder, The Killers
The Killers chronology
Hot Fuss
(2004)		 Sam's Town
(2006)		 Sawdust
(2007)
Singles from Sam's Town
  1. "When You Were Young"
    Released: September 18, 2006
  2. "Bones"
    Released: November 27, 2006
  3. "Read My Mind"
    Released: February 13, 2007
  4. "For Reasons Unknown"
    Released: June 25, 2007
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[2]
Entertainment Weekly (C)[3]
The Guardian 4/5 stars[4]
New York Times (unfavorable)[5]
NME 4/5 stars[6]
The Observer 5/5 stars[7]
Pitchfork Media (5.9/10)[8]
PopMatters 1.5/5 stars[9]
Rolling Stone 2/5 stars[10]
The Times 2/5 stars[11]
Q Magazine 4/5 stars[12]

Sam's Town is the second studio album by American rock band The Killers, released on October 2, 2006 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States. Regarding the album, vocalist and primary lyricist Brandon Flowers noted that he "wanted to create an album that captured, chronologically, everything important that got me to where I am today".[13] Sam's Town is estimated to have sold over 4 million copies worldwide to date.[14]

Contents

[edit] Production

The album is said to be influenced by the works of U2, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, among others.[15][16] Sam's Town strongly divided opinion, with some praising the album and others mocking it.[17][18]

In the October 2006 issue of Giant magazine, Flowers was quoted as saying that Sam's Town would be "one of the best albums in the past twenty years" and in Entertainment Weekly he remarked that it would be "the album that keeps rock & roll afloat."

The album takes its name from Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, a hotel-casino in Las Vegas, the hometown of the band. Sam's Town was also a huge sign that was visible by band member Mark Stoermer though his room window when he was young.

Auto-tune was not used in the production of Sam's Town with Brandon Flowers stating "We didn't use too many vocal effects. On the first album, we used auto-tune, and I didn't even realize what was going on with these machines and the computer. I was adamant about not using it this time. You really hear what my voice sounds like, for the first time."[19]

[edit] Artwork

According to photographer Anton Corbijn, the band initially wanted a "chic, gypsy look," for the album, and that "out of those discussions [for the sleeve] came these elements of faded glory."[20] The album's co-producer, Flood, is dressed as a Native American in the CD booklet. The artwork inside the album booklet is taken from a Downtown Las Vegas mural painted by Suzanne Hackett-Morgan, a local painter. The cover artwork of 'Sam's Town' features model and singer Felice LaZae. Sam's Town, and each of the singles from Sam's Town, use a script typeface for the titles, Archive Roundhand Script from Archive Type, or Gigofonts' Gf Script No 2.

[edit] Track listing

All tracks produced by Flood, Alan Moulder and The Killers

Sam's Town
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Sam's Town"   Flowers 4:06
2. "Enterlude"   Flowers 0:49
3. "When You Were Young"   Flowers, Keuning, Stoermer, Vannucci 3:40
4. "Bling (Confession of a King)"   Flowers, Stoermer 4:08
5. "For Reasons Unknown"   Flowers 3:32
6. "Read My Mind"   Flowers, Keuning, Stoermer 4:06
7. "Uncle Jonny"   Flowers, Keuning, Stoermer 4:25
8. "Bones"   Flowers, Stoermer, Vannucci 3:47
9. "My List"   Flowers 4:08
10. "This River Is Wild"   Flowers, Stoermer 4:38
11. "Why Do I Keep Counting?"   Flowers 4:24
12. "Exitlude"   Flowers 2:20
Bonus tracks
No. Title Length
13. "Where the White Boys Dance" (UK/Australian/Japanese editions) 3:26
14. "All the Pretty Faces" (Japanese/US Best Buy editions) 4:45
15. "Daddy's Eyes" (US Best Buy edition) 4:13
16. "When You Were Young" (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke radio edit) (French edition) 4:19
Bonus DVD
No. Title Length
17. "When You Were Young" (Video (Jump Version))  
18. "When You Were Young" (Video (No Jump Version))  
19. "Making Of "When You Were Young""    

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Band

[edit] Additional musicians

  • Adrina Hanson – strings
  • Maryam Haddad – strings
  • Tristan Moyer – strings
  • Tommy Marth – saxophone
  • Neeraj Khajanchi – trombone
  • Corlene Byrd – background vocals
  • Louis XIV – background vocals
  • Ted Sablay – additional musician on tour playing keyboards and guitar

[edit] Production

  • Max Dingel – engineer
  • Flood – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Mark Gray – engineer
  • Alan Moulder – Producer, engineer, mixing
  • Paul Resta – marketing
  • Robert Reynolds – management
  • Andy Savours – mixing
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering

[edit] Design

  • Andy West – art direction, design
  • Suzanne Hackett Morgan – painting
  • Anton Corbijn – photography
  • Doug Joswick – package production

[edit] Charts and certifications

The album debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling about 315,000 copies in its first week. It became the band's second number 1 album on the UK Albums Chart, selling about 260,000 copies in its first week. To date it has sold an estimated more than 5.5 million copies worldwide. It has been certified Platinum or multi-Platinum in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Argentina, and Ireland. Sam's Town also produced multiple charting singles including the Platinum chart topping single "When You Were Young". It was the second album by The Killers to receive Grammy nominations.

In December 2009, Sam's Town was voted by Rolling Stone's readers as the most underrated album of the decade.[21]

[edit] Charts

Chart Peak
position
Argentina Albums Chart 1
Australian Albums Chart 2
Austrian Albums Chart 5
Belgium Walloon Albums Chart[22] 1
Belgium Flanders Albums Chart[23] 1
Canadian Albums Chart 1[24]
Danish Albums Chart 17[25]
Dutch Albums Chart 14[25]
Finnish Albums Chart 15
French Albums Chart 8
German Albums Chart 6
Irish Albums Chart 1
New Zealand Albums Chart 1
Norwegian Albums Chart 10
Polish Album Chart 34[26]
Portuguese Albums Chart 27[25]
Spanish Albums Chart 14[25]
Swedish Albums Chart 45[25]
Swiss Albums Chart 9
UK Albums Chart 1
US Billboard 200 2

[edit] Sales and certifications

Region Provider Certification Sales/Shipments
Argentina CAPIF Platinum[27] 40,000+
Australia ARIA 2× Platinum[28] 140,000+
Belgium IFPI Gold[29] 15,000+
Canada CRIA 2× Platinum[30] 200,000+
Europe IFPI Platinum[31] 1,000,000+
Germany IFPI Gold[32] 100,000+[33]
Ireland IRMA 4× Platinum[34] 60,000+
New Zealand RIANZ Gold[35] 7,500+
Russia NFPF Gold[36] 10,000+[33]
United Kingdom BPI 4× Platinum 1,200,000+[33]
United States RIAA Platinum[37] 1,000,000+

In the UK Chart, Sam's Town was the 70th best selling album of the decade and Q magazine ranked it as the 11th best album of the decade.[38]

Chart (2000–2009) Position
UK Albums Chart 70

[edit] Awards

Year Ceremony Award Result
2007 BRIT Awards Best International Album Won
2007 MTV Australia Awards Album of the Year Nominated
2007 Shockwaves NME Awards Best Album Nominated

[edit] Release details

Country Date Label Format Catalog
Japan September 27. 2006 Universal CD UICL-9037
Australia September 30, 2006 Universal Music Australia CD 1706722
United Kingdom October 2, 2006 Lizard King Records CD
United States October 3, 2006 Island Records picture disc LP B0007221-01
CD B0007221-02

[edit] Sam's Town tour

Main article: Sam's Town Tour

Christian Hoard, with Rolling Stone magazine, gave the Killer's seminal concert at Madison Square Gardens three-and-a-half stars, saying "The Vegas quartet's maligned new album, Sam's Town, might pack more unfortunate big-rock bombast than its New Wave debut, Hot Fuss, but it shares a generous hook quotient and a Vegas-y talent for crowd-pleasing. Before a frothy crowd, the Killers proved they've become a tight live band."[39]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Killers Single-Latest". Clash. http://www.clashmusic.com/news/killers-single-latest. Retrieved April 5, 2011. 
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ Entertainment Weekly review
  4. ^ The Guardian review
  5. ^ New York Times review
  6. ^ NME review
  7. ^ The Observer review
  8. ^ Pitchfork Media review
  9. ^ PopMatters review
  10. ^ Rolling Stone review
  11. ^ The Times review
  12. ^ Q Magazine review
  13. ^ Kent, Nick (October 20, 2006). "The saints of Sin City". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/oct/20/popandrock.killers. Retrieved May 23, 2010. 
  14. ^ "The Killers MP3 Downloads The Killers MP3 Downloads | The Killers - Sam's Town - MP3 Download | Shop the The Killers MP3 Downloads Official Store". Thekillersdigital.shop.musictoday.com. http://thekillersdigital.shop.musictoday.com/Product.aspx?cp=16101&pc=MUDD247. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  15. ^ Playlouder – Latest
  16. ^ http://angryape.com/reviews/2006/09/the-killers-when-you-were-young The Killers – When You Were Young [Universal] – Reviews – AngryApe]
  17. ^ Rob Sheffield (September 21, 2006). "Rolling Stone : Sam's Town : Review". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/11738772/review/11755516/sams_town. Retrieved October 8, 2006. 
  18. ^ Josh Eells (October 2006). "The Killers on Blender.com". http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=2059. Retrieved October 8, 2006. 
  19. ^ "The Killers-Fansite". The Killers-Fansite. 2006-11-30. http://www.thekillersfansite.com/qarsnov3006.html. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  20. ^ McLean, Craig (September 24, 2006). "Songs of praise". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/sep/24/popandrock.killers. Retrieved May 23, 2010. 
  21. ^ [1][dead link]
  22. ^ "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/weekchart.asp?cat=a. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  23. ^ http://www.ultratop.be/nl/weekchart.asp?cat=a
  24. ^ John Williams (2006-10-11). "CANOE - JAM! Music - Artists - Killers, The : Killers, Evanescence battle for No. 1". Jam.canoe.ca. http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/K/Killers_The/2006/10/11/2000368-ca.html. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  25. ^ a b c d e Steffen Hung. "The Killers - Sam's Town". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Killers&titel=Sam%27s+Town&cat=a. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  26. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLIS. 2006-10-22. http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=340&lang=. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  27. ^ http://www.capif.org.ar/Default.asp?PerDesde_MM=0&PerDesde_AA=0&PerHasta_MM=0&PerHasta_AA=0&interprete=the+killers&album=&LanDesde_MM=0&LanDesde_AA=0&LanHasta_MM=0&LanHasta_AA=0&Galardon=O&Tipo=0&ACCION2=+Buscar+&ACCION=Buscar&CO=5&CODOP=ESOP
  28. ^ "http://www.aria.com.au/pages/ARIACharts-Accreditations-2007Albums.htm". Aria.com.au. 2007-12-31. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupagesARIACharts-Accreditations-2007Albums.htm. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  29. ^ "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/certifications.asp?year=2007. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  30. ^ "Gold and Platinum". Cria.ca. http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  31. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards - 2006". Ifpi.org. 2005-09-01. http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/plat2006.html. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  32. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Sam%27s+Town')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Sam%2527s%2BTown&strInterpret=&strTtArt=alle&strAwards=checked. 
  33. ^ a b c http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/international-award-levels.pdf
  34. ^ Jaclyn Ward - Fireball Media Ltd. - http://www.fireballmedia.ie+(1962-10-01). "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. http://www.irishcharts.ie/awards/multi_platinum06.htm. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  35. ^ "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Rianz.org.nz. http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  36. ^ [2]
  37. ^ "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  38. ^ "Rocklist.net...Q Magazine Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage3.htm#21cent. Retrieved 2012-03-08. 
  39. ^ Hoard, Christian (November 16, 2006), "The Killers".Rolling Stone. (1013):133

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Ta-Dah by The Scissor Sisters		 UK number one album
October 8, 2006 – October 28, 2006		 Succeeded by
Rudebox by Robbie Williams
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