Kings of Leon- Only by the Night

For the past eight years or so we have heard time and time again that a young band has come to save rock and roll. Well time after time we have been disappointed. Finally a band has come that has kept its promise; a little band named Kings of Leon. Kings may be new to many American music fans, event though they have released three critically in the last five years, but they are nothing new on the international music stage. In the UK they are THE rock band of the moment. Only by the Night is already poised to become the number one album of the year in the UK and their single Sex on Fire shot to number one in a matter of weeks. I have been baffled by their lack of success in the States, but I think I have finally come to the realization that if your not Nickelback, Staind, or Disturbed you don’t get played on modern rock stations. For those of us lucky to have Sirius Satellite Radio, hearing KOL is an everyday thing.

Well I have managed to turn this into more of a rant than a review…so back to the topic. Only by the Night is a culmination of everything the Followill clan has been working on for the past five years. It fuses their southern roots of Aha Shake Heartbreak and Youth and Young Manhood and expands on the arena rock that began to appear on 2006’s Because of the Times. After touring with arena rock bands like Pearl Jam, U2, and others, Kings of Leon have learned from those bands and expanded their sound into something exciting, new, and huge. So this album is too good in my opinion to give a track by track rating, so we will throw that the window on this one.

The album starts off with the haunting Closer that features a computer sounding guitar riff that plays over the whole song. The rest of the instruments and Caleb’s vocals all have a slight echo on them to continue with the haunting theme. This song gives you the feel that something big is going to happen on the album. The Kings then deliver a one-two punch of their southern/arena rock hybrid with Crawl and Sex on Fire. Crawl is a Zeppelin-ish rocker lead by a heavily distorted bass line and Caleb Followill’s trademark over-sexed, slightly raspy vocals. Sex on Fire is exactly that…on fire. This track was the first single for a reason, its catchy, it grooves well, and hell it is down right sexy. I’m still not sure if I want my sex to be on fire or not.

My personal favorite song Use Somebody showcases the Kings’ transformation from indie to arena better than anything else. The song is EPIC…from the ohh-woah-ohh backing vocals on the chorus to the buildups. The song has hints of Coldplay with some U2 guitar added for good measure. I promise that if this goes to radio it will be huge. Manhattan and Revelry give nods to the boys’ southern roots especially the slower tempo Revelry in which you can clearly hear Caleb’s southern accent shine through. 17 starts off sounding like a Christmas song with bells and chimes but soon turns into a fun mid-tempo number with Caleb singing “Oh she’s only seventeen, Whine whine whine, weep over everything.” Notion sounds like it could easily fit into the last record but still works on the new one. This song is the boys telling the media to f-off with the repeating lyrics “Don’t knock it! Don’t knock it!”

I Want You is maybe one of the more pedestrian songs on the album with a bass line similar to On Call with some cow bell plugged in for the hell of it. The lyrics are totally ridiculous, but were bound to see that eventually with Caleb who has written some of the oddest lyrics in recent memory. On the next track Be Somebody, Nathan’s drums take center stage as he lays down a blistering tribal drum beat that is accompanied by an Edge-like guitar riff. Cold Desert finishes the album off with a similar feel to how it started. There is echo on almost all the instruments and Caleb’s voice like on Closer but this song has a more optimistic feeling to it. It seems like the type of song that plays on movie credits. It is a great way to cap off a great album.

When I started writing this review, the album was just released and hadn’t been on the charts yet so I was going to rant on how people need to buy it and quit letting bands like Nickelback get all the radio play. But…the album sold really well in its first week and went in the Billboard Top 5. In the UK this album has been number 1 for a few weeks and besides Coldplay is the highest selling album all year in its first two weeks. Sex on Fire is number 1 in the UK and is now top 10 in America…So no yelling from me. If you haven’t already, please check this band out, it is one of the best rock albums of the year and well worth the listen.