The Killers
Sam's Town

It's a cruel world out there, if the reward for having released a multi-million debut album is to divide critics, more or less capable, into two categories: those who will shoot you down for not having delivered the "next big thing" they expected, and those who will shoot you down for daring (no less) to abandon those catchy and light tunes that enabled you to make the multi-million album mentioned above, for maybe trying to find rock roots that feel closer to you at that moment.

Not to mention those who will shoot you down because they think you just want to imitate U2, like in the '80s when everyone was shot for trying to come close to Led Zeppelin. Unfazed by all the critical tripe thrown at them, the Killers managed not only to avoid the "sophomore slump," the natural decline in quality that follows a big debut album, but also to create an album with much fuller and more mature sounds than the electronic sound of "Hot Fuss."

"Read my mind" is a melodic song like few have been made in recent years, which even the critics mentioned above may have secretly hummed. "Sam's Town", "When You Were Young", "Bling" hold their own, while "Why Do I Keep Counting?" comes very close to "All The Things That I've Done" from the first album. Of course, there are significant missteps like the unlistenable "Where The White Boys Dance" (I hope it was a bonus track only on iTunes and that they didn’t include it on the CD) or the bland "Uncle Jonny", but overall, if only there were more bands out there that, on their second album, demonstrate the talent of these Killers...