Customer Reviews

Sawdust [Vinyl]

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The killers are such a talented and innovative synth rock group that every song they touch is potential gold. Their Midas touch is apparent on this album, which is a collection of unreleased tracks from previous albums, b-sides, covers, remixes, and one terrific new track.

Seventeen tracks make for a long and enjoyable listening experience, starting with the new track and first single "Tranquilize" which was recorded with Lou Reed. This is simply one of the best songs I've heard in a while, and has been playing (loudly) on "repeat" as I write this.

Covers: Shadowplay (originally by Joy Division); Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town (The First Edition, which included Kenny Rogers); Romeo and Juliet (Dire Straits).

B-sides and remixes: All the Pretty Faces; Under the Gun; Where the White Boys Dance; Show You How; Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll; Who Let You Go?; The Ballad of Michael Valentine; Daddy's Eyes; Sam's Town; Mr. Brightside, Questions with the Captain (very short, very hidden track).

Previously unreleased tracks: Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf; Sweet Talk.

Other: Move Away (remix of track from Spiderman 3).

It's almost impossible to recommend specific tracks, but if I was forced to choose, I'd go with:

Tranquilize
Sweet Talk
Shadowplay
Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town
Mr. Brightside

Try the samples on Amazon, and then if you agree with me, buy the album or at least these tracks - they're more than worth the price.




Amanda Richards, November 14, 2007

I own numerous b-side compilations from many different artists. I also own both of The Killers cds "Hot Fuss" and "Sam's Town". Generally speaking, b-side compilations tend to be on the average side--unfinished, rough drafts of songs that didn't quite make the cut. Every once in a while I find a b-side compilation that contains a-sides, or songs that should have made the Top 40. Case in point, Pet Shop Boys 1995 b-side compilation "Alternative". More often than not, however, b-side compilations are a mixed blessing such as Tears For Fears' "Saturnine Lunatic & Marshal" or Cake's "B-Sides & Rarities". Even U2's second discs from "Best Of U2 1980-1990" and "Best Of U2 1990-2000" were hit and miss.

So what about "Sawdust"? Well, there are some good songs like their cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay", their cover of Kenny Rogers' "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town"(although Cake's version is equally as good), and their cover of Dire Straits' "Romeo & Juliet". Other reasonably good songs include the remix of "Mr. Brightside", the Abbey Road version of "Sam's Town", "Who Let You Go?", "Where The White Boys Dance", "Under The Gun", "Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf", "All The Pretty Faces" and "Glamorous Indie Rock And Roll" and maybe even "Move Away". The other songs felt average to me. I was particularly disappointed with "Tranquilize" and Lou Reed. I've heard much better from Reed and The Killers and "Tranquilize" felt like such a waste of a potentially great moment.

I agree with some of the other reviewers here that with only two cds The Killers are pushing it here. Most artists don't put out a b-sides until they have at least 5 or 6 albums out, sometimes much more. Yet, I see the Gorillaz have done the same thing with their "D-Sides" after only two cds (which I will review next week). Overall, "Sawdust" is fifty-fifty. There's some good songs and some not-so-good songs. I didn't feel there were any great songs here. "Hot Fuss" and "Sam's Town" contain some great songs surrounded by some good songs. "Sawdust" is just a stop-gap between albums, and a chance for The Killers and the record company to cash in at the holiday time.

I was hesitant to purchase the whole CD, but for 10 bucks I did it and was very pleased. I love all 17 tracks even the songs I've heard before. The abbey road version of Sam's Town is captivating. The killers have their own unique sound and are multi-talented making the two covers better than the originals. IT's WORTH IT

Brandon Flowers is quite a shape-shifter. On his band's debut, he was a strobe-lit, synth-pop drama queen; second time out he became a would-be guitar-rock messiah, complete with bolo tie and facial-scruff gravitas. Now, on this collection of 17 cutouts, he appears as a shadow-draped brooder, keening over the noisiest, grimmest music his band has ever made. It's his least exciting role yet, although not without charms. Here he is anguishing about "Bushes and bombs" with Lou Reed ("Tranquilize"); here he is doing his best Ian Curtis (the spry Joy Division cover "Shadowplay"); a big fat sing-along springs up on "Under the Gun"--only it goes "Kill me now kill me now kill me now!" It's easy to see why these songs didn't fit on their record but, while a full listen turns unrelentingly dour, they're better than discards have any right to be.

"Sawdust" is a collection of B sides, remixes, covers, movie tracks, and more by dance rockers The Killers, and it's a fan's delight.

Most fans would have already heard the sawing/droning "Move away" from the excellent "Spider-man 3" soundtrack, and "Shadowplay" from the movie "Control".

The Beatles/Oasis-like "Glamorous indie rock and roll" was on the UK version of their debut "Hot fuss". Their smash "Mr Brightside" is given a glossy dance make over, while the title track to their sophomore set "Sam's town" is given a more stripped down piano Beatles-like treatment.

For a collection of B sides and rejects, it features strong songs; single "Tranquilize" (a rousing theatrical sounding ballad), "All the pretty faces" (B side to "When we were young" with similar pulsing guitars and synths), the shimmery "Sweet talk", a cover of Dire Strait's "Romeo & Juliet", and "Show you how" (which starts off as a phone message before morphing into a blistering rocker) to mention a few, the latter an unreleased song along with the choppy "Leave the bourbon on the shelf".

Look out for a bonus track, "Change your mind", a sunny rocker with nice jangly guitars. Vital to all Killers fans.

This is a collection of songs that were either unrecored or released as B-Sides overseas. They're all good songs but there is one that stands out and it's Sweet Talk. You will love this song from the moment it starts and it gets better as it goes along. Leave the Bourbon On the Shelf is another new one that is being released for the first time and is part of a trilogy of songs. Bourbon is the first part of murder trilogy about a girl named Jennifer, then you will have to go back to Hot Fuss and play Midnight Show, then finish it off with Jenny Was a Friend of Mine. It's alot of fun to play them all in a row and listen to how it all plays out. Look around online and find the footage of them playing them all in a row for the first time, it's great. I would definatly reccomend this for everyone.

This latest Killers release of leftover cuts, re-mixes and covers is just good enough to keep you satisfied until the next release of all-new material. Even though some of these tracks were left off of their two previous releases, Hot Fuss and Sam's Town, the tracks still stand up on their own and are true to the Killers style. These songs are fun and above all, they rock! It is definitely worth the $8.99 price tag.

The Killer's Sawdust contains b-sides and rarities, and one new track called Tranquilize featuring Lou Reed. To my delight, Sawdust is an enjoyable album, the unreleased tracks have great melodies and interesting lyrics. Some of the tracks I have heard before like The Ballad of Michael Valentine, Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll, and Under the Gun from the Hot Fuss Special Edition LP. Some of my favorite songs from Sawdust include: Sweet Talk, All The Pretty Faces, Move Away, Who Let You Go?, Romeo & Juliet, Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf, Daddy's Eyes, Where the White Boys Dance, and Sam's Town (Abbey Road Version). Hard to believe some of these songs didn't make it on their last two studio albums, The Killers continue to churn out pop/rock masterpieces. Get Sawdust today!

By all, I mean me and my two kids. I am 66 and first purchase was Be Bop A Lula by Gene Vincent and that is a good enough measure of me, my daughter is 35 and still enjoys the Doors, my son is 24 and Mark E. Smith's The Fall is the best band in the world - whatever its personnel consists of at any given time. I tell you this because if Sawdust is acceptable to the three of us it should go down well with the majority. Most of all, the band members are a tight team rather each performing a little bit apart from the rest. Distinctive enough to stand out from the here today, gone tonight rubbish ensembles - the CD is well worth my money.

For a collection of B-sides, bonus tracks, leftovers and covers this is surprisingly good. Unsurprisingly, it proceeds in pretty much the same postmodern mode The Killers established so successfully with their first two albums: an engaging fusion of contemporary pop-rock and 80s references that shouldn't work but almost always does. You can hear The Cure, Duran Duran, U2 and even Queen in these tracks. "Shadowplay" sounds like The Stone Roses doing a minor-key reworking of the theme from "The Banana Splits". Sometimes homage even crosses over into the real thing, as in the opener, "Tranquilize", where frontman Flowers does his best to sound like Lou Reed - then the real Lou Reed turns up. There are some gems here, such as "Leave the Bourbon On the Shelf" (crank it up, it's great loud) which seems to be another in the 'Jennifer' cycle, the masterfully ambiguous "Where The White Boys Dance" with its superb grinding baseline and early 80s funk guitar, the angsty "All the Pretty Faces", and the beautiful "Sweet Talk". The Killers work because they're about more than pastiche. Even when they're apparently goofing around or being completely melodramatic (which is often) the songs are beautifully crafted, lyrically interesting, informed by an intriguingly ambiguous sexuality, and grounded in real emotional experiences - often dark ones - that are recognizably our own. In the end, the emotional landscape feels as familiar as it sounds. That's why it works.