Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Music

All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

62 50 Cent
70 AFI
65 Air
70 Alice In Chains
53 Kris Allen
78 Amerie
79 Annie
76 Anti-Pop Consortium
75 Arctic Monkeys
82 Atlas Sound
77 The Avett Brothers
67 Backstreet Boys
59 Bad Lieutenant
68 Devendra Banhart
71 Lou Barlow
88 Baroness
69 Basement Jaxx
81 David Bazan
72 Beak>
84 Biffy Clyro
72 The Big Pink
95 Big Star
46 Billy Talent
75 The Black Crowes
72 The Black Heart Procession
68 Blitzen Trapper
75 BLK JKS
53 Bon Jovi
76 A.A. Bondy
65 Boys Like Girls
76 Brand New
73 Tyondai Braxton
83 Brother Ali
72 Ian Brown
75 Michael Buble
77 Built To Spill
61 Colbie Caillat
78 Califone
69 Mariah Carey
81 Brandi Carlile
72 Julian Casablancas
83 Rosanne Cash
71 Castanets
82 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
64 Exene Cervenka
79 Vic Chesnutt
81 Circulatory System
67 The Clean
84 The Clientele
72 Cold Cave
85 Converge
76 The Cribs
79 Cymbals Eat Guitars
62 Dashboard Confessional
71 Datarock
59 Dead By Sunrise
76 Dead Man's Bones
77 Del The Funky Homosapien & Tame One
73 Do Make Say Think
63 The Dodos
77 Drive-By Truckers
67 Bob Dylan
58 Echo & The Bunnymen
61 Electric Six
44 The Entrance Band
69 Fanfarlo
71 Jay Farrar And Benjamin Gibbard
63 Felix Da Housecat
68 Fink
66 Orenda Fink
79 The Flaming Lips
66 Flight Of The Conchords
79 Florence And The Machine
67 John Fogerty
83 Fuck Buttons
71 Nelly Furtado
47 Gary Go
68 Ghostface Killah
79 Girls
69 Gossip
62 David Gray
66 David Guetta
65 Calvin Harris
79 Richard Hawley
74 Mayer Hawthorne
66 Headlights
79 HEALTH
67 Hockey
67 Whitney Houston
80 Hudson Mohawke
68 Imogen Heap
59 Jack Ingram
79 Islands
74 Jamie T
65 Jay-Z
51 Jet
68 Daniel Johnston
76 Norah Jones
77 Karen O And The Kids
72 Toby Keith
69 Kid Cudi
75 Kid Sister
66 Kings Of Convenience
62 Sean Kingston
64 KISS
63 Mark Knopfler
73 Kris Kristofferson
68 KRS-One & Buckshot
76 La Roux
85 Miranda Lambert
71 Sondre Lerche
56 Juliette Lewis
62 Leona Lewis
82 Lightning Bolt
74 Little Dragon
44 Pixie Lott
83 Patty Loveless
73 Lyle Lovett
79 Lucero
75 Baaba Maal
77 Madness
84 Madonna
85 Manic Street Preachers
61 Maps
73 Mario
55 Massive Attack
57 Matisyahu
62 John Mayer
66 Tim McGraw
65 Brian McKnight
79 Mew
75 Mika
68 Amy Millan
76 Mission Of Burma
75 Molina And Johnson
80 Monsters Of Folk
66 Morrissey
76 The Mountain Goats
62 Múm
72 Muse
66 Willie Nelson
82 Nirvana
96 Nirvana
80 No Age
71 Noah And The Whale
75 Noisettes
79 Nudge
64 OneRepublic
47 Dolores O'Riordan
74 Os Mutantes
78 Osso
67 Alec Ounsworth
81 Owen
73 Paramore
78 Pastels And Tenniscoats
80 Pearl Jam
69 Jemina Pearl
65 Phish
61 Pitbull
79 A Place To Bury Strangers
79 Polvo
72 Porcupine Tree
72 Port O'Brien
79 Q-Tip
79 R.E.M.
88 Raekwon
69 Rain Machine
75 Dizzee Rascal
74 The Raveonettes
79 Real Estate
81 Rodrigo Y Gabriela
66 Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
78 Russian Circles
69 Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
78 Say Anything
61 Sally Shapiro
78 Shudder To Think
70 Simian Mobile Disco
58 Simple Minds
80 Slayer
61 The Slits
58 Spiral Stairs
55 Steel Panther
75 Sufjan Stevens
52 Rod Stewart
68 Joss Stone
83 Barbra Streisand
77 A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74 Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
79 The Swell Season
80 David Sylvian
83 Taken By Trees
80 Tegan And Sara
68 The Temper Trap
78 The Dutchess & The Duke
71 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
74 Them Crooked Vultures
72 Themselves
82 They Might Be Giants
66 J Tillman
69 Times New Viking
57 Tokio Hotel
67 Trey Songz
73 Frank Turner
71 The Twilight Sad
60 Carrie Underwood
56 The Used
68 Various Artists
69 Various Artists
77 The Very Best
70 Kurt Vile
65 Vivian Girls
71 Volcano Choir
73 Rufus Wainwright
78 Wale
57 Weezer
81 White Denim
76 Why?
83 Wild Beasts
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
69 Robbie Williams
59 Andrew W.K.
65 Wolfmother
84 The xx
79 Yo La Tengo
83 Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
52 Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59 Zero 7

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Sawdust

EMAILPRINTby The Killers

The Killers reviews
65
7.7 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 31 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >

Album Info

Label: Island

Release Date: 13 November 2007

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Rock, Pop

Summary

The collection of b-sides and remixes also features Lou Reed on one track.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

Billboard

While it doesn't have the cohesive impact of "Hot Fuss" or "Sam's Town," it's an appealing set that brings a bit more breadth and depth to the group's catalog.

Read Full Review >
80

Uncut

A collection that aims to sweep up the moments when the spotlight isn't on, Sawdust, therefore, might just be their defining document [Jan 2008, p.91]

75

The Phoenix

In spite of its self-depreciating title, this odds-and-sods collection of the usual B-sides and other spare tracks lives up to some of the best material the Las Vegas foursome have delivered.

Read Full Review >
75

Entertainment Weekly

Like the band itself, Sawdust is erratic, though at times, gratifyingly great. [30 Nov 2007, p.131]

67

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Some of Sawdust's best moments are "Sam's Town" rejects that sound like they were discarded for sounding too much like "Hot Fuss."

Read Full Review >
65

Hot Press

A respectable collection which raises the question: why do the Killers pad their albums out with mediocre filler, when they have at least some decent alternative material to spare?

Read Full Review >
60

Prefix Magazine

The tunes don’t vary much from the originals, but the band renders them with vigor and style.

Read Full Review >
60

Blender

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.

Read Full Review >
60

Q Magazine

This ragbag of an album suggests the tying up of loose ends before impending reinvention. [Jan 2008, p.118]

60

All Music Guide

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 group has a hell of a lot of ideas but they just don't know what the hell to do with them.

Read Full Review >
60

NOW Magazine

There's enough decent material on Sawdust to exempt Brandon Flowers and his Vegas boys from cynical gap-filler accusations.

Read Full Review >
60

musicOMH.com

A nice Christmas present for that hardcore Killers fan in your life, but most casual observers will be happy to give this a miss and wait for the third album.

Read Full Review >
60

Rolling Stone

The cover of Joy Division's 'Shadowplay' should have stayed in the vaults, but it's hard to deny Brandon Flowers' melodic gifts.

Read Full Review >
60

Slant Magazine

Sawdust will still fill in the void for fans--to which the album is dedicated, natch--while they wait for a new LP.

Read Full Review >
60

New Musical Express

Sawdust reveals a band with a healthy blueprint for success, sure, but "The Masterplan" it ain't.

Read Full Review >
55

Pitchfork

Overall, there's a strong sense of exploration on Sawdust; if the Killers don't seem to have much intuitive understanding of balance and songcraft, the overproduction at least suggests a strong musical curiosity underlying their obvious career ambitions.

Read Full Review >
50

PopMatters

Sawdust is an interesting look at other aspects of the Killers’ sound, but as a standalone disc, it’s largely hit-or-miss.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Lici M. gave it a10:
Releasing the B-sides in a collection was a great way to get the songs to the fans who don't have the opportunities to purchase all of the singles individually. Tranquilize is another one that highlights Brandon's song-writing talent and the Abbey Road Sam's Town version also shows his awesome talent on the keyboard. My Boys give yet another treasure of timeless tunes!

Eric C. gave it a5:
Dang, I was shocked at how good that track with Lou Reed was (Tranqulize). But the rest of these tracks just don't impress me. Which is too bad. I've followed the Killers from the beginning, and they always seemed ready to release a classic, unarguably good album. They should be the ones who make mainstream, radio-friendly rock that's actually good (not to sound snobbish). But they can't seem to reach that level. But when they finally do, well. I can't wait.

Music M. gave it an8:
If you like the Killers, you should definitely pick this up. If not, this isn't going to change your mind. The quality varies widely, as one might expect on a b-sides collection, but there are many songs that compare favorably with their biggest hits. Many of them date back to the Hot Fuss sessions (although some have been re-recorded). In addition, they cover artists as diverse as Joy Division, Dire Straits, and Kenny Rogers. They even bring in Lou Reed as a guest on the leadoff track. All in all, a treat for fans.

Michael S gave it an8:
Good album until we get the latest and greatest. Hot Fuss is a 9 and Sam's Town is a 10. Sam's Town does not get the credit it deserves but there is not one bad song on that album. In fact they are mostly phenomenal. Fans would appreciate the genius of Sam's Town by downloading the album into their Ipod and walking the streets of New York.

Marcin K. gave it a5:
This album wasn't bad, but it wasn't worth buying. The best songs were previously released on Sam's Town or Hot Fuss. I was disappointed.

Pahlo gave it a10:
I'm generally not a huge fan of compilation albums, whether its best of albums (useless) or b-side collections (oftened sounding scattered), they're usually quite boring. Sawdust, however, is a very good compilation from The Killers. I've been waiting for them to record Shadowplay which they've been playing live for quite a while now. other covers include Romeo and Juliet and Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town. the rest are b-sides, unreleased/new tracks and remixes/live recordings. especially two unreleased tracks, Leave the Bourbon from Hot Fuss era, and Sweet Talk from Sams Town sessions were real gems. this is a definite buy for any Killers fan.

Roger L. gave it a10:
Wonderful, essential album for Killers lovers...Or not!

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use