The Killers don't quite go to town in their latest

Glenn Gamboa | DROPS

October 3, 2006

The Killers' "Sam's Town" in stores today, sounds like a little of this and a little of that (Island Records Photo)

The Killers wanted "Sam's Town" (Island) to be great.

They dress it up in the trappings of grandeur - offering a "enterlude" and an "exitlude" to book-end the album, epic production from Alan Moulder and Flood, styling and photography by Anton Corbijn. Singer Brandon Flowers then set the hype machine in motion by declaring that "Sam's Town" would be "one of the best albums in the past 20 years."

Unfortunately, "Sam's Town" is not one of the best albums in the past 20 days. It's not even one of the best albums of the past 20 hours (especially considering The Hold Steady's new Vagrant album "Boys & Girls in America" also comes out today).

Flowers has cited Bruce Springsteen as an influence for the new album, and that's evident on the puffed-up "This River Is Wild," with its talk of Mary and its "Darkness at the Edge of Town" ending, and in the way he tries to sound Boss-ish in some of his vocals.

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This doesn't work, mainly because The Killers are a synth-pop band, not The E Street Band. "For Reasons Unknown" sounds like The Cars circa "Shake It Up." "Bling (Confessions of a King)" opens like an Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark B-side. And "Read My Mind" plays like a long-lost Flesh for Lulu track, as does the first single, "When You Were Young."

Not that there's anything wrong with any of that. After all, The Killers' debut, "Hot Fuss" succeeded by playing off Duran Duran's pop flair with "Somebody Told Me" and "Mr. Brightside."

On "Sam's Town," The Killers do themselves (and their songs) a disservice by trying to be something they're not. "Fake it 'til you make it" may work in business, but in music, it only makes you look pompous and silly.

("Sam's Town," in stores today; grade: C+)

"FALLEN" AGAIN. Maybe Evanescence is brilliant. Maybe Amy Lee and whoever is in that band now have pioneered the musical equivalent of those movie franchises, where they churn out one sequel after another to make as much money as they can before people realize they're making the same movie over and over again. Maybe the reason "The Open Door" (Wind-Up) sounds almost exactly like the band's multiplatinum debut "Fallen" - matching the focus-grouped balance of guitar churn, piano tinkle and mewling from Lee - is part of this master plan. Maybe it will all end in a chain of mall stores that market Lee's brand of "goth" to suburban teens who want to rebel but don't know any better. Maybe the over-the-top dramatics of "Lacrymosa" and piano ballad "Your Star" will be seen as so-bad-they're-good. Then again, maybe not.

("The Open Door," in stores today; grade: D)

ALSO IN STORES. Beck continues his "Guero" style with "The Information" (Interscope); Technology and ingenuity unite Ray Charles and The Count Basie Orchestra on the stunning "Ray Sings, Basie Swings" (Concord); Lindsey Buckingham's first solo album in 14 years, "Under the Skin" (Warner Bros.); hyper-literate indie balladeers The Decemberists' major label debut "The Crane Wife" (Capitol); Sean Lennon's "Friendly Fire" (Capitol); country legend George Strait's "It Just Comes Natural" (MCA Nashville); and underrated R&B singer Robin Thicke's "The Evolution of Robin Thicke" (Interscope).

SONG OF THE WEEK. There's a reason why The Skids' 1978 punk rave "The Saints Are Coming" never became a hit. Many reasons, actually - not the least of which is its ordinariness. However, put U2 and Green Day on it and turn it into a bash-it-out anthem to raise cash for the building of post-Katrina New Orleans culture and the surrounding emotion overcomes its limitations - a metaphor for not just what The Edge's Music Rising charity is trying to do, but for the careers of both bands involved. "The Saints Are Coming" is passion over substance, but U2 and Green Day still make it work.