Review: Only by the Night (RCA)
3.5/5 Stars (Good, but not classic)
“Progression” and “matured” are two words music fans most often hate to hear when reading reviews of their favorite bands upcoming album.
“Their old sound is the reason I liked the band in the first place,” they say, “not this new mature experiment.”
On the other hand, some bands grow with each record and move in extraordinary directions; just look at the Beatles career.
Kings of Leon, however, fit in neither one of these categories. Think of this band more as the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of rock ‘n’ roll.
With their fourth album, Only by the Night, the boys from Nashville are simply expressing an alter ego. The first two albums (Youth and Young Manhood, Aha Shake Heartbreak) were an outlet for their love of the sex, drugs and cowbell era of bands like Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Creedence Clearwater Revival. With this album, just like the last (Because of the Times), the band has moved away from the bygone era of rock and roll and focused on its other love—arena rock anthems that would make U2 proud.
“After three records and touring for five years straight, we knew what we were capable of," said drummer Nathan Followill on the band’s website. "We just had to put our money where our mouths were. We had to take it to the next level.”
And to the next level they have gone, drifting even further from the whiskey-fueled tunes the band originally released.
Take the album’s second track, “Crawl.” With its head-nodding beat and heavily distorted bass line, the song sounds more like a B-side remix than an actual Kings of Leon song.
“Use Somebody” is a perfect example of the band’s new attempt at arena rock, complete with “woah oh” background vocals. That’s not to say it’s a bad song, but it seems like a clear attempt by the band to bring some of its popularity from overseas here to the States. Maybe songs like this will turn the band into the Kings of Coldplay, something the record company would surely love.
There are, however, at least a few songs on the album that seem to nod towards the Kings of old.
The album’s first single, “Sex on Fire,” is a nice mid-tempo jam that incorporates the eclectic influences of the band. The choppy guitars and bouncy drumbeat lead up to a great chorus, perfectly blending the “southern sass-meets-NY hipster” style the critics pushed on the band from the beginning.
“Revelry,” despite its new-school Kings of Leon sound, falls right in line with slow-burners like “Trani” from the first album and “Rememo” from the second. The drumming at the beginning of the song sounds machine-like, but it works; lighters will definitely be raised when this song is played at the live shows.
The only disappointment of the album, really, comes in the form of track nine, “I Want You.” The track itself isn’t a bad one, but it never lives up to its potential.
The song marks the return of the cowbell in a Kings song, patching together a syncopated, catchy beat. The bass thumps perfectly over the top as cut and paste-like guitar chords and vocals complete the song.
“I Want You” is the type of song that catches the listener from the opening notes, gets the toes tapping and builds up and up to what should be a great payoff—the chorus.
Unfortunately, it never happens.
The song could have been, with it’s quirky beat, a hit in the vein of Weezer’s “El Scorcho”—albeit, with much more serious lyrics—but the same beat continues right into the chorus, leaving the listener a bit let down.
All in all, Kings of Leon have put out another great product. The album has its flaws, and might disappoint early fans of the band, but it sounds much better than the current crop of mainstream rock bands filling the radio airwaves.
The real question now is: What’s next?
The band has put out two albums of pure rock and roll and two arena rockers. What should we expect from the fifth?
If only the foursome from Tennessee could figure out a way to meld the two styles together, the listening masses may have a new classic on their hands (and in their iPod’s).
(Old) Kings of Leon—“Four Kicks”
(New) Kings of Leon—“Sex on Fire”
3 comments:
the new album is a throw back to crappy 80's bands in the like of phil collins. with the exception of "sex on fire" the album blows, but that's just me.
tell the singer to get some lessons on a little thing called "range"
eh, it was just 'aight for me dawg.
Sounds like a Genesis reunion
The interesting thing in this column is believing that the writer has hit all the right buttons in describing the group and where they fit in the pantheon of music, but not understanding too much more of what is going on.
The name is worth a word of explanation, I think:
Kings of Leon?
In some subcultures, someone who is a "Leon," is someone who is uncool, out-of-it, weird, etc...
Not sure that applies here.
The writer did introduce to this reader some new concepts, including arena rock.
And in asking rhetorically where the band is heading sets up some nice follow ups.
This writer did a good job and is no Leon.
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