No Sunlight

Kings of Leon's 2003 debut album "Youth & Young Manhood" caught a lot of people's ears with it's rootsy Americana style and alt-country, garage rock charm. It was clear from the start that these bearded guys hailing out of Nashville were destined for bigger things- most notably arenas. Theirs was a sound that, while polarizing in many cases, contained the earnestness and attractiveness of many of the more popular groups at the time. Aside from the minor underground hit that the song "Molly's Chamber" provided for the band, they weren't immediately recognized as "the next big thing." The band's second album, "Aha Shake Heartbreak" was a landmark of sorts in that they finally got a solid fan base and some radio play with great songs like "The Bucket" and "Four Kicks." Hell, even the alternative station here in Chicago played "Four Kicks" for a few weeks. Kings of Leon were making great headway towards that popularity level they were seemingly destined for. Last year's "Because of the Times" was more of a mixed bag when it came to the reviews. While I personally felt it was on par with or better than "Aha Shake Heartbreak," other critical masses felt the band's sound was deteriorating away from their hook-driven pop sensibilities. Personally, having found the band's really early stuff to be a little too "backwoods" for my tastes, this step towards a slightly more prog-rock sound while modestly maintaining that country twang worked wonders for me and lots of others apparently. Kings of Leon got some opening slots for bigger bands playing large venues and occasionally an arena or two. Just where they belong, right? Apparently they seem to think so too. And that's where everything went horribly,. horribly wrong.

If Kings of Leon had created an album in the same vein of "Aha Shake Heartbreak" or "Because of the Times," I more than likely would've had plenty more nice things to say about it. Their new album, "Only By the Night," does not stay in that same direction. To the point where I had to check and make sure it was a Kings of Leon album I was listening to. Guitars echo and reverberate off the walls of the massive imaginary stadium in my head. The drums boom in the cavernous space so the back row of the arena can even feel the vibrations. Caleb Followill's voice howls like a coyote across the massive landscape of the outdoor ampitheatre. Yep, this is the first album by Kings of Leon I can definitely say feels like it was recorded specifically to be played in huge venues. Those who were put off by the band's longer, more proggy songs on "Because of the Times" can eat their words now, because apparently the pop nectar hooks on "Only By the Night" will completely slay massive audiences. Honestly, I'd call Kings of Leon sell outs, but I don't think they've reached the level of success where they can actually fully market themselves yet. Maybe that will change with this new album, but considering I've heard less non-blog buzz about this album than Kings of Leon's last two thus far, I'm in a stage of doubt currently.

What I'm now wondering is whether or not Kings of Leon are actively stealing from other bands. Half the tracks on "Only By the Night" feel like Bono should sue the band for ripping off U2's riffs and bombast. A couple of the songs were so jangly I was expecting Julian Casablancas of The Strokes to start singing instead of Caleb Followill. And I'd reckon that Kings of Leon somehow took Snow Patrol and Nada Surf's easy listening sound as well, but when we face the facts it's not like those bands were the originators of that in the first place either. But hey, if really accessible and inoffensive songs are your thing, have Kings of Leon got an album for you! Though be on the lookout for "Sex on Fire," which contains some "randy" language and may, in all truth, be one of the better songs the band has ever written (despite some clunky lyrics).

Perhaps most fascinating to me is how promising "Only By the Night" starts out and then how quickly it falls over the edge (U2 pun intended). You get the first three songs, "Closer," "Crawl" and "Sex on Fire" out of the way and suddenly you're stuck with 8 songs left and waning interest. And what happened to that rootsy Americana sound which dominated "Youth & Young Manhood"? It seems to have disappeared entirely, along with the band's beards. The only real way you'd know the band has Southern garage rock roots is really by the naturally twangy vocal performance of Caleb Followill, which even feels more tempered than ever before.

Given a choice between this new, stadium-sized Kings of Leon and the old, small club version that first emerged onto the music scene back in 2003, I'd choose the latter, though surprisingly not by much. Whereas I felt the band's earliest days were "too country," I'm now finding myself thinking they're "not country enough." Weird how that works, eh? But maybe you can also chalk it up to personal taste and how both the band and your own ears have evolved over these few years. Whatever it is, I guess the band feels like now is the time for them to strike at that upper echelon of popularity and perhaps get their own headlining arena tour. They are, after all, HUGE stars already in virtually every country that's not the U.S. With their Tennessee roots, it's got to be hard cracking that glass ceiling in their home country. "Only By the Night" feels like their shot at breaking through. It's not a terrible album by any means, and there's lots to like about it. It just feels somewhat misguided is all. I'm still holding out high hopes for the band, and wish them plenty of success. Just try and send some love back to your early fan base when you get the chance, okay guys?

Kings of Leon- 17
Old School KoL: Kings of Leon- Four Kicks

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Labels: kings of leon