Kings of Leon: Only by the Night

So, Kings of Leon are releasing their fourth album on September 23rd.

Reading many Itunes reviews of the new singles "Crawl" and "Sex on Fire," as well as past reviews of the other three albums, I noticed that there seem to be two opposing camps in regards to how the Kings' albums have been received. The first are the people who absolutely loved Youth and Young Manhood, the first album, loved Aha Shake Heartbreak, the second, and then began to wonder if something terrible wasn't happening to one of their favorite bands on the third album, Because of the Times. These are the folks that will be ready to throw Only By the Night out the window of a moving vehicle about half way through.

The opposing side thinks that Kings of Leon are only getting better with each album. It is no surprise that this side is the majority, as the albums are progressively getting more commercial-friendly and M.O.R. (That's Middle Of the Road to non-Blur fans.)

I don't have to tell you that I subscribe to the former.

It turns out that Because of the Times was the bad omen it seemed to be. Only by the Night is more of the same. The music is monotonous. The lyrics are lacking in creativity. The amazing voice is the only sign that this is even the same band who formerly sang inventive songs about drugs, transvestites, and murder. Is this the same guy who once decried 'California waiting?' Now he sings trite lines about loosening his tie.

I don't want to be too hard though. It's hard to say what I would think of this album had I never heard of Kings of Leon before. I doubt it would take over my life the way Youth and Young Manhood did. I'm sure many people will like this album, and it does have its moments, so definitely check it out if you have the time. It's decent straight forward rock, if you don't pay too much attention to the lyrics. Don't expect anything too cutting edge though, they want to be arena rockers, and creativity never went far for that.