Sam's Town

Sam's Town - The Killers

I never like it when reviewers spend the whole time comparing an album to the previous and base their review on that, so I'll be looking at this as a fresh album. By the way, that isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. I will make some comparisons, but I'll save them until the end.

It seems the goal of this album was to create a more gritty sound in the way of rock albums from the 80's. Vocals are very loose, especially the backing on some songs. Surprisingly, the album has sort of a broadway musical type feel to it at times. Over all it feels very gray and rough.

By the way, when I mean loose vocals its when the singer's voice doesn't stay tight on a note, but breaks and wavers very noticably. In this album it isn't because the singer is not very good, but because he's doing it on purpose to create a type of sound.

Loose backing vocals means that the backing vocals aren't in sync exactly with the lead (and will do some wavering as well). A chorus type sound.

The songs:
Sam's Town - The opener definatly has that sort of musical feel to it as mentioned above, then transitions into a more synth pop briefly then enters a standard rock pattern then back and forth. It ends with that musical type feel again with the entrance of the first loose backing chorus vocals which will be a theme in future tracks.

The song's structure is not predictable, and is pretty creative, which are things I like.
Rating: 4

Enterlude - Quick musical number to enter into the body of the album. A good solid melody.
Rating: 4

When You Were Young - I guess this would be considered the 2nd opener, however it isn't nearly as strong. Some reviewers have stated that this album tries to recreate Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run, which has slight merit, but is a grevious overstatement. This song is why. While somewhat catchy, it does seem like a carbon copy of that sound, and it just doesn't work today.
Rating: 3

Bling (Confession of a King) - A synth pop/rock piece who's vocals are tight in the beginning, yet become very loose with a desperate sound in the chorus then stay loose from that point on. It tries to have a driving rythym but doesn't succeed. It tries to emote, but falls short of drawing the listener in. This track becomes forgettable quickly with its almost monotone sound.
Rating: 2

For Reasons Unknown - Starts off with a classic sounding guitar rock riff which leads the listener to expect an explosion that never happens. It stays true to a classic rock sound, yet brings nothing to distinguish itself.
Rating: 2

Read My Mind - A mix of 80's synth pop with that Born To Run sound. The vocals are overly loose on here to the point of being slightly annoying. If he tightened control over his voice here this song probably wouldn't be too bad. Except again, this seems like something we've heard before. The entry to each chorus and the bridge are actually pretty good, I wish the rest of the song lived up to those pieces of potential.
Rating: 2

Uncle Jonny - Solid bass rock line driving the song. The loose vocals actually WORK in this song. A solid rock song.
Rating: 3

Bones - This is a really fun poppish song that I real like. It has a mix of classic pop and ska. Unlike previous tracks this one is pretty exiting and you'll probably ending up tapping your foot along with it.
Rating: 4

My List - This song feels like its in a musical sung by a bunch of upset people in a bar. Not saying that's bad, but that's the image that comes to mind. This tune actually sticks with you.
Rating: 3

The River Is Wild - Another Born To Run sounding piece, however this actually improves on the sound and brings something new to the table. While it feels familiar, its pretty exciting and fun to listen to. The verses are very quick paced and you'll find yourself dancing along with them.
Rating: 3

Why Do I Keep Counting - Currently my favorite track on the album. This definatly feels like it belongs in a musical somewhere. The vocals are suddenly tight again, and it really helps make this track shine. The loose chorus
Rating: 4

Exitlude - Repeat of the enterlude theme, but fleshed out until a full song. Again, the musical chorus sound appears. Catchy ending.
Rating: 4

In the end they were trying to recreate a classic rock sound, yet didn't learn any lessons from those past albums. This is strange considering the song "All The Things I've Done" from Hot Fuss was a poster child about how to revive a classic rock and roll song in the modern era, and stands as one of my all time favorite songs.

What's interesting, is the album is pretty weak starting out, but gets better as time goes on. However, fans of Hot Fuss will need some patience to enjoy this album, and in fact may be turned off completely.

I can appreciate what they were trying to do, but for the most part it just didn't make it, mostly because they didn't use some of their strengths. They have a great singer, yet its hard to tell on this album. Part of the joy of Hot Fuss was the treatment of the singer as an instrument like on the song "Everything Will Be All Right". The song structures on Sam's Town were more creative than Hot Fuss for the most part, yet didn't bring in anything interesting in the music to back it up for a lot of the songs. I'm hoping their 3rd attempt will bring in the lessons learned from both these albums. However, while Hot Fuss was a stand out album, Sam's Town simply seems run of the mill.

Rating: 3

Life In Slow Motion

Life In Slow Motion - David Gray

Not a brand new album, it was relased in 2005, but a recent aquisition after hearing the title song, "Life In Slow Motion" on ER this year. I'd heard of this guy before, but never got around to hearing his stuff. I'm now kicking myself about that.

Its a very folksy sounding album with a mix of upbeat and somber pieces. In some cases you could visualize the singer with a guitar in a bar and band (say Mississippi Nights), and in other places you'd think of a concert hall with an orchestra backing him up. The songs feel very introspective and the music is full of visuals. You'll also find yourself singing a long with a lot of the tracks on here, always a good sign.

A note on the production values before going into the songs, this is one of the cleanest sounding albums I've ever heard. Every part comes through very clearly, and the lyrics easy to hear without dominating the music. For someone who's half deaf, I highly appreciate an album that's mixed like that.

On with the songs, note that I'm rating on a 5 scale.

Alibi - Very somber opener. A song full of sorrow and regret. The orchestral backing here is subtle yet powerful. Slowly swells into a sound that will propel you into the rest of the album. Rainy day song.
Rating : 4

The One I Love - After the somber beginning, we get a nice toe tapper sing along. A bright feeling song that I like to put in when driving away from work.
Rating : 4

Lately - Slower folksy piece, very easy to sing with though. Another introspective rainy day song.
Rating : 3

Nos Da Cariad - Driving rythym with excellent poetry.
Rating: 3

Slow Motion - This song is very simple, yet very beautiful. I find myself listening to it again and again. Proof that you don't always have to have a lot of lyrics to have a great song.
Rating: 5

From Here You Can See the Sea - Folksy guitar piece. Another good piece of poetry yet this didn't grab me too much.
Rating: 2

Ain't No Love - Another beautiful piece, it feels of sweet sorrow.
Rating: 4

Hospital Food - After so much slow introspective pieces, we have a nice refreshing almost pop like piece. You'll like singing along with this in your car.
Rating: 5

Now and Always - Starts slow with driving drum beat and piano, builds to a dramatic climax. Feels like this should be the end of the album the way it is set up. But think of it as a fake ending as the next song finishes the album nicely.
Rating: 4

Disappearing World - This a great way to wrap up the album nicely, has that introspective feeling that has been tying the album, mixes soft sweetness with a rocking bridge. You'll sing along.
Rating: 4

Everybody's Leaving Town (bonus) - If you buy the album off iTunes you'll get this track. Don't let that influence your decision though. While it has a nice classic sound to it, this track is pretty forgettable.
Rating: 2

I know I usually buy CDs instead of buying albums on iTunes, but this CD does come with some copy protection which might get in the way of getting it on your iPod. So be careful there.

In the end I found this a great album that has been seeing a lot of play time from me. Its great for a fall or rainy day, I suggest picking this up as a full album rather than cherry picking songs.

Album Rating: 4

Stone Blind Alibi

I've been busy, OK? Get off my back :P

I've recently finished my latest home improvement project of putting up a handrail for Gavin, which he sometimes actually uses! It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be, and would suggest any parent with a small child learning the stairs put one up.

On another Gavin note, he's definately entering the terrible twos, random temper tantrums and all that, fun times ahead.

I've come to the theory that basements are never done, just in constant states of reorganizing and throwing out. Though spending a productive weekend moving stuff around, there's still a lot to do down there, and I'm sure there is a lot to throw out if we ever get around to it. Especially if we want to finish the basement.

To make up for my recent absense to all of the 3 people who read this, I'll be doing a couple rapid fire posts soon. One of the reasons I started to blog was to talk about music. Well I just recently picked up 6 new albums and I'll be reviewing them on here, so look for that.

Watching TV this season, I've noticed a good trend in the music selections done for the most part. Instead of just randomly taking a new hit and slaping it on the show, they're actually looking for good stuff that fits. Noteworthy this year is Bones with the discovery of Susan Enan, who hadn't even put her album out yet. Do yourself a favor and go to www.myspace.com/susanenan and check out her two songs on there, especially Bring On The Wonder. This will be an album I will be picking up.

The other kudo goes to ER, which is surprising since I didn't think they had anyone on there who knew what a good song was. But their season premier featured a song by the artist who's lyric is the title of this post. It will also be the first album I review, coming soon :)