I remember hearing a while back how Rolling Stone knocked 2 stars off its review of UNKLE's "Psyence Fiction" because the group backed out of a planned profile at the last minute, and a 4-star review became a 2-star review.

Listening to The Killers' "Sam's Town" for the first time, I get the feeling that's what happened here. It's by no means a classic, but in no way deserving of the 2-star torching it gets in the latest issue, especially since RS will give just about anything 3 stars these days.
I say this because the band had to be up for a cover story with this album, but look at the RS Web site and you see nothing but rips on the band (along with a not-exactly-glowing concert review). If I'm connecting the dots, I say they turned down the cover or had some issue tha made them unavailable and Rob Sheffield's 2-star hatchet job is inspired by retribution for crossing the magazine.

Just wanted to toss this out there. Does my conspiracy theory have legs?

Yes.

tell you what, i'm a huge fan of their debut album, but the new one is really poor. i have nothing against the band (unlike RS), but i just wish the new album didn't suck so bad.

Add The Killers to the "WTF happened?" section.

2 good tunes on it (Read My Mind & When You Were Young).

edit

I think the new one is more consistent than the debut, but again, the first part of the debut was fantastic and the second part wasn't.

I very much disagree with their attack on The Killer's so-called move to "Born To Run arena significance" because RS will praise to the heavens any number of other bands that take this route.

Besides, the new single doesn't sound like Springsteen. It sounds like a Waterboys b-side.

Haven't heard the new Killers stuff. Singles from Hot Fuss were great, though.

RS conspiracy? Maybe, but this would be better supplemental proof than a main argument. I remember a CMJ article back in '02 when Shadow was talking about the UNKLE incident. RS wasn't named therein, but I'm not surprised that's who it was.

Who cares about Rolling Stone anyways? I hate that magazine. ick

And Rob Sheffield is an ass with a capital A.

I haven't heard the new album but heard the one single and liked it well enough. The first album I really, really liked and still listen to.

I do. Its a good fucking magazine.

I agree. It hasn't really been about music in years, and the little that is, I could care less about.

I'll just say this and be done with this RS topic: Rolling Stone might not be as good as it once was...whenever, but the music writers are still a hell of alot better than the ones who write for the "indie" mags like Filter where the reviews mostly read like 7th grade book reports. Also, there's David Fricke.

They also do some politics and investigative stuff that is above average in quality.

The downside of the magazine is their embracing of the Celebrity culture; I guess they were (unfairly) criticized a few years ago for publicizing too many of the "pop" artists to sell magazines which is by the way what they are in business for.

Edit: See below, im obviously not done with it.

Really? They write about it every issue.

They gave the last Beastie Boys album 5 STARS End of story. That is objectively not a 5-star album.

I'm not a Killers fan by any means, but in the big scheme of things, how many 4 star albums are there out there? Does this album really deserve to be 4 stars, realistically? When I think of an album that deserves 4 stars, that's near classic status, something that would be pulled off the rack in 10-15 years and still be a great album. Again, admittedly not a Killers fan, but I just don't hear this band being something that has that kind of staying power. So 2-3 stars, tops, seems fitting. They seem like an average band to me, something for teens and college kids to get excited about and then forgotten in a few years, not something that will really stick around and become an actual bonafide classic.

I stopped liking RS when they started putting so much other entertainment news in there, such as movie stars and tv show crap.

I was prepared to like Spin more than RS when I got a subscription to Spin as a gift a year or two back, based on what little snippets I'd seen of RS at other peoples' houses. I found it lacking, however.

And I could totally imagine the conspiracy happening, but that doesn't make it so.

I actually like The Killers, but the Mayor's got a point.

i only take music advice from VIBE magazine
and the killers always sucked

catswilleatyou appears, above, far left.

It is a fine conspiracy theory. But then again, maybe the new Killers album sucks as big or bigger than the first one.

Completely plausible.
But the tenor of their coverage of the band latley has taken a decided turn toward the vitriolic, and for no good reason. I mean, any buzzed-about band can put out a stinker of a sophomore record without getting sand kicked in their face.

Plus, I find it hard to believe that they honestly preferred having old-as-hell (but still awesome) Jack Nicholson as the cover story instead of a photogenic band with one of the most-anticipated records of the year in that spot.

It just doesn't add up.

obner's famous

http://www.idolator.com/tunes/leak-of-t ... 203581.php

I missed it, Katie. A blog abt the album, but I didn't spot the Obner waldo wherever it was.

you missed DAT link at the end of it

ah HA. I assumed a link talking about Rolling Stone would go to... rolling stone.

Interesting.