Review: The Kings of Leon
By Heather Collins
The Kings of Leon made a name for themselves in 2003, and ever since, fans in Britain have been spiking their tea times with the King’s of Leon’s sweet southern tunes. Their newest album, though, Only by the Night, which hit record stores in September, leaves a bitter taste that two spoons of sugar can’t even sweeten.
Kings of Leon originally thrived in the underground music market. Although the band may be slightly comparable to the new southern-style of music laid out by acts like Kid Rock, the fierce rock ‘n’ roll and rawness of the Kings of Leon set them apart from the mainstream audience. It seemed as if the Tennessee quartet were about to create a Southern rock revival that even Willie Nelson could marvel.
During the Kings of Leon’s last visit to Indianapolis, the band had rock ‘n’ rollers and honky tonkers alike tapping their boots and banging their heads.
The album Only by the Night doesn’t seem to strike the same chord in the hearts of rock ‘n’ roll fans. The opening track, “Closer”, is reminiscent of a bad combination of 90s techno and Linkin Park. The first single released from the album, “Sex on Fire” sounds similar to their previous album and the songs seems to saddle back towards the south. Unfortunately the lyrics seem to fall off track. The chorus line, “Your sex in on fire”, sounds like it was found inside a bad Valentine’s Day card of from a bad 70s film chronicling the life of a cane-toting pimp.
According to New York magazine, lead singer and songwriter, Caleb Followill claimed that the chorus doesn’t sound corny if you’ve ever had “really good sex.” If that’s the case then why didn’t Followill use the words “Your sex is ice-cold, SOLID, outta-sight, fly or the bomb?”
The rest of the album follows the same trail. According to contactmusic.com, Followill said he wrote a few of the songs on painkillers. It shows. It would have been a lot less painful to listen to this album if the band members would’ve stashed a few of those painkillers in the CD sleeves as well. Perhaps the album instructs listeners on when to listen to the album – only by the night, when you’re dead asleep or passed out on painkillers.
