ARTIST: Kings of Leon
ALBUM: Only By The Night
LABEL: RCA Records
RELEASE DATE: August 26, 2008
Kings of Leon — Kings of the Charts
Written by Brett Bayne
Don’t let the spacy synth-blips that echo rhymically at the start of the latest Kings of Leon CD fool you—this is no electronica album. As the opening track “Closer” intensifies, the band’s true calling card becomes clear: KOL has reinvented itself as a savvy hybrid of Dave Matthews-styled alternative and the brand of Southern rock popularized by Allman Brothers.
Released nearly a year (and one Grammy award) ago, the fourth album by Nashville rockers Kings of Leon represents a significant leap forward in production values and strong songwriting. Only By the Night is their arena-rock album, smoldering with images of longing, fornication and despair. It has proved to be the consummate arena-rock album of the decade, rewarding the ears musically even as it pokes them by sounding flat-out incomprehensible for much of its 43 minutes. (Even with headphones on, I was hard-pressed to understand more than five consecutive words out of lead singer Anthony “Caleb” Followill’s mouth; for kicks, try transcribing any one of the songs—it can’t be done with any measure of accuracy.) Even with a lyric sheet handy, the message is anything but straightforward: “You broke my mouth, the bloody bits are spitting out / Is your grave unscathed? The worm is counting down the days,” Followill laments in “Crawl,” one of the CD’s most musically interesting yet typically cryptic tunes.
Despite the proliferation of lyrical head-scratchers, Only By the Night has proved a solid seller, with over 5 million units sold internationally, fueled by two strong U.S. singles (“Use Somebody” and the Grammy-winning “Sex on Fire”). What the Kings lack in straightforward storytelling, they more than make up for with their musical chops: the songs rock with unapologetic verve, and Followill at least sounds great. Although the band understandably attracts the most attention with its more upbeat material, it shines most impressively when things slow down. The CD’s standouts include the midtempo “Manhattan,” with its infectious recurring guitar lick, and the low-key “Revelry” (inspired by Springsteen tracks like “One Step Up”). The disc’s only real dud is the turgid “I Want You,” which I came to think of “that song with the fucking cowbell.” Do what I did: tell your mp3 player to make this the final track. You’ll thank me later.