The Vegas showmen beef up their Anglophile rock with some heartland grit on their sophomore album. Opening with Sgt. Pepper–like theatrics, The Killers thunder through tales of wannabe stars and hapless nobodies with the fist-pumping triumph of Springsteen on the muscular rock anthem "When You Were Young" and the synth-laced heart-pumper "Read My Mind". Throughout, Brandon Flowers works his feverish howls over sleazy riffs ("Uncle Jonny") and a bevy of brass ("Bones"), constantly proving his own star power.