Sam's Town

Sam's Town
Studio album by The Killers
Publication (s)	2006
admission	2006
Label (s)	Iceland , Vertigo
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Alternative rock , indie rock , heartland rock , post-punk revival, new wave
Title (number)	12
running time	44 min 14 s
occupation	Vocals , keyboards , bass : Brandon Flowers Lead guitar , backing vocals : Dave Keuning Drums , percussion : Ronnie Vannucci Jr. Bass , rhythm guitar , background vocals : Mark Stoermer
production	Flood , Alan Moulder , The Killers
Studio (s)	February to May 2006 at the Studio at the Palms in the Palms Casino Resort , Nevada ; June 2006, at Criterion Studios, London, England
chronology Hot feet (2004) Sam's Town Sawdust (2007)

Sam's Town is the second album by the American rock band The Killers . It was released by Iceland in October 2006 .

History of origin

Singer Brandon Flowers said Sam's Town could be understood as an expression of his career. In contrast to Hot Fuss , no more auto-tune was used. The title of the album is derived from a casino in Las Vegas .

Artwork

The photo used as the cover is from Anton Corbijn . He said that the band had initially thought of a "fashionable gypsy look", then in various conversations the "aspects of past fame" were added. The woman on the cover is model and singer Felice LaZae.

The booklet uses photos of Flood in Native American clothing, as well as pictures by Suzanne Hackett-Morgan, a painter from the Las Vegas metropolitan area.

Track list

All tracks produced by Flood, Alan Moulder and The Killers.

1. Sam's Town - 4:06
2. Enterlude - 0:49
3. When You Were Young - 3:40
4. Bling (Confession of a King) - 4:08
5. For Reasons Unknown - 3:32
6. Read My Mind - 4:06
7. Uncle Jonny - 4:25
8. Bones - 3:47
9. My List - 4:08
10. This River Is Wild - 4:38
11. Why Do I Keep Counting - 4:24
12. Exitlude - 2:20

Contributors

tape

• Vocals , keyboards , bass : Brandon Flowers
• Lead guitar , backing vocals : Dave Brent Keuning
• Drums , percussion : Ronnie Vannucci Jr.
• Bass , rhythm guitar , background vocals : Mark Stoermer

Additional musicians

• Adrina Hanson - strings
• Maryam Haddad - strings
• Tristan Moyer - strings
• Tommy Marth - saxophone
• Neeraj Khajanchi - trombone
• Corlene Byrd - backing vocals
• Louis XIV - backing vocals
• Ted Sablay - keyboard and guitar on tour

production

• Max Dingel - sound engineer
• Flood - producer, sound engineer, mixer
• Mark Gray - sound engineer
• Alan Moulder - producer, sound engineer, mixer
• Paul Resta - Marketing
• Robert Reynolds - Management
• Andy Savors - Mixer
• Howie Weinberg - Mastering

design

• Andy West - design
• Suzanne Hackett Morgan - artwork
• Anton Corbijn - photography
• Doug Joswick - packaging design

Chart placements

Sam's Town debuted at number 2 on the American charts. The album was released in the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada, Argentina and Ireland e.g. Several times awarded with platinum .

Weekly charts

Charts	maximum placement
German album charts	6th
Austrian album charts	5
Swiss album charts	9
British album charts	1
Billboard 200 album charts	2

Annual chart placements

Charts (year)	placement
Billboard 200 album charts (2006)	95
Billboard 200 album charts (2007)	80

Decades chart placement

Charts	position
British album charts (200-2009)	70

reception

After the initial publication, Sam's Town received equally good and medium reviews, but also a few bad reviews, for example from the New York Times and Rolling Stone .

In a ranking of the “best albums of the decade” by Q , the album came in 11th, the readers of Rolling Stone voted it the “most underrated album of the decade”.

Awards

year	price	category	Result
2007	BRIT Awards	Best International Album	Won
2007	MTV Australia Awards	Album of the Year	Nominated
2007	Shockwaves NME Awards	Best album	Nominated

year	publication	country	Award	placement
2010	Q	UK	Q Artists and Albums of the 21st Century	11
2010	Rolling Stone	US	Most Underrated Album of the Decade (Readers' Choice)	1

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Argentina (CAPIF)	gold	20,000
Australia (ARIA)	2 × platinum	140,000
Belgium (BEA)	gold	25,000
Denmark (IFPI)	gold	20,000
Germany (BVMI)	gold	150,000
Europe (IFPI)	platinum	(1,000,000)
Ireland (IRMA)	4 × platinum	60,000
Canada (MC)	2 × platinum	200,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	2 × platinum	30,000
Russia (NFPF)	gold	10,000
United States (RIAA)	platinum	1,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	5 × platinum	1,500,000
All in all	5 × gold 17 × platinum	3,155,000

Main article: The Killers / Music Sales Awards

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nick Kent: The saints of Sin City . In: The Guardian , October 20, 2006. Retrieved May 23, 2010. 
2. ^ Q&A: Brandon Flowers. November 30, 2006, accessed June 28, 2016 . 
3. ↑ NME.COM: The Killers: Sam's Town | NME.COM. In: NME.COM. Retrieved June 28, 2016 (UK English). 
4. ↑ Craig McLean: Songs of precise . In: The Guardian , September 24, 2006. Retrieved May 23, 2010. 
5. ↑ Album, The Killers, Sam's Town ( German ) Charts.de. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
6. ↑ Austria Top 40 - The Killers - Sam's Town (album) ( German ) Austriancharts.at. Hung media. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
7. ↑ Swiss Charts - The Killers - Sam's Town (album) ( German ) Hitparade.ch. Hung media. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
8. ↑ 2006 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive - October 21st, 2006 . Official Charts Company . Retrieved June 26, 2012.
9. ↑ The Killers - Billboard (albums) . In: Billboard . Retrieved December 20, 2014.
10. ↑ Year End Charts - Top Billboard 200 Albums - Issue Date: 2006 . In: Billboard . Retrieved June 26, 2012.
11. ↑ Year End Charts - Top Billboard 200 Albums - Issue Date: 2007 . In: Billboard . Retrieved June 26, 2012.
12. ↑ Sam's Town by The Killers. Retrieved June 28, 2016 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b} Rocklist.net ... Q Magazine Lists .. In: www.rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved June 28, 2016 . 
14. ↑ ^{a b} Readers' Rock List: Most Underrated Album of the Decade | | Rolling Stone. June 1, 2012, archived from the original on June 1, 2012 ; accessed on June 28, 2016 .