Biding time at a juncture when they don't necessarily need to, the Killers released the odds-n-sods collection Sawdust in November 2007, a mere 13 months after their second album, Sam's Town.
If the title suggests that the group is digging further into a preposterous fixation on faux Americana, this grab bag of B-sides, new songs, covers, stray tracks, and re-recordings feels more like a sop to the fans who found the Springsteen worship hard to stomach.
There's not as much Boss here but the ghost of The Joshua Tree still lingers, particularly in the clatter of the echoing Edge guitars, but that's married to the Killers' studied new wave moves, which is a better fit for that sweeping sound anyway.
Better fit doesn't necessarily mean a perfect fit, however -- the return to the Killers' stylish throb only emphasizes their scattershot songwriting, where they can get elements right but they can't quite tie it all together.
Tellingly, the best moments are leftovers from Hot Fuss -- whether it's the cool glam groove of the leftover "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf" or "The Ballad of Michael Valentine," which does the cod-Americana better than Sam's Town -- but too much of the newer stuff clatters around pointlessly, all pomp and no circumstance.
This goes double for the directionless Lou Reed duet "Tranquilize," which plays as if Bowie decided to have Lou sing on Tonight, then it goes triple for a stupifyingly silly "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," where the Killers seem like kids in cowboy hats even more than they did when they were kicking around the desert outskirts of Vegas.
Covers don't treat the Killers well at all, as they reveal how hammy Brandon Flowers is at his core (swapping Mark Knopfler's sly, dry delivery for Flowers' community theater bluster robs "Romeo and Juliet" of its delicate beauty).
When Flowers is in his natural setting, supported by glistening waves of keyboards and guitars that ring like synths, that ridiculous theatricality can be a bit of a guilty pleasure, and Sawdust does indeed contain some moments of grand pomp, but its scattershot nature works against the band as it winds up emphasizing the lingering question from Sam's Town, that the Killers have a hell of a lot of ideas but they just don't know what the hell to do with them.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TranquilizeThe Killers | The Killers, Lou Reed | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 2 | ShadowplayIan Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner | The Killers | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 3 | All the Pretty FacesBrandon Flowers, David Keuning, Mark Stoermer | The Killers | Play | 04:45 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 4 | Leave the Bourbon on the ShelfBrandon Flowers | The Killers | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | Sweet TalkThe Killers | The Killers | Play | 04:18 | 9 MB | 32 MB |
| 6 | Under the GunBrandon Flowers | The Killers | Play | 02:33 | 5 MB | 19 MB |
| 7 | Where the White Boys DanceThe Killers | The Killers | Play | 03:26 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | Show You HowBrandon Flowers | The Killers | Play | 02:46 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 9 | Move AwayBrandon Flowers, David Keuning, Mark Stoermer | The Killers | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | Who Let You Go?The Killers | The Killers | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 11 | The Ballad of Michael ValentineBrandon Flowers, David Keuning | The Killers | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 12 | Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to TownMel Tillis | The Killers | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 13 | Daddy's EyesBrandon Flowers | The Killers | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 14 | Romeo and JulietMark Knopfler | The Killers | Play | 05:29 | 12 MB | 27 MB |
| 15 | Glamorous Indie Rock And Roll | The Killers | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 16 | Sam's Town (Abbey Road Version) | The Killers | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 18 MB |
| 17 | Change Your Mind | The Killers | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 64 mins | 149 MB | |||||
| 64 mins | 446 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tessa Angus | Photography |
| 2 | Graham Bonnet | Engineer, Mixing |
| 3 | Will Brierre | Assistant Engineer, Engineer |
| 4 | Corlene Byrd | Engineer |
| 5 | Rupert Cobb | Engineer, Mixing |
| 6 | Rich Cook | Photography |
| 7 | Ian Curtis | Composer |
| 8 | Max Dingel | Engineer |
| 9 | TJ Doherty | Engineer |
| 10 | Brandon Flowers | Composer, Group Member |
| 11 | Mark Gray | Engineer |
| 12 | Peter Hook | Composer |
| 13 | Doug Joswick | Package Production |
| 14 | David Keuning | Composer |
| 15 | The Killers | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 16 | Mark Knopfler | Composer |
| 17 | Stephen Morris | Composer |
| 18 | Alan Moulder | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 19 | Mark Needham | Mixing |
| 20 | Tara Podolsky | A&R |
| 21 | Stuart Price | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 22 | Lou Reed | Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 23 | Robert Reynolds | Photography |
| 24 | Carlos Ricketts | Vocal Contractor |
| 25 | Tamara Robinson | Vocals (Background) |
| 26 | Ted Sablay | Piano, Synthesizer |
| 27 | Jeffrey Saltzman | Engineer, Producer |
| 28 | Andy Savours | Engineer, Guitar, Mixing |
| 29 | Dave Stedronsky | Assistant Engineer, Engineer |
| 30 | Robert Stevenson | A&R |
| 31 | Mark Stoermer | Composer, Group Member |
| 32 | Bernard Sumner | Composer |
| 33 | Mel Tillis | Composer |
| 34 | Ronnie Vannucci | Group Member |
| 35 | Howie Weinberg | Mastering |
| 36 | Andy West | Art Direction, Design, Photo Illustration |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |