Only By The Night
Kings of Leon have laterally shifted from one easily understood linear narrative (festival band) to another (arena rock band), turning themselves from the Southern Strokes into the Southern U2.
Now? Now is when Kings Of Leon decide to be a faithful classic-rock-revival band? For three albums, the band has teased fans with bits of twangy Southern throwback, only to lose the hooks in swirls of prog-rock, bursts of post-punk, or spacey expanses of moody atmospherics. Conventional wisdom positioned the Followill…
Free from their strict Pentecostal father, Kings of Leon’s Followill brothers (plus cousin Matthew) spent their first two records establishing themselves as horny Nashville youngsters with a neo-garage-rock style that got them tagged as the “Southern Strokes.”
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<p>The grizzly southern rockers sound like their photos suggest they should. <strong>Garry Mulholland</strong> approves</p>
Kings of Leon aim for stadium-rock grandeur on Only By the Night, badly missing the mark when it comes to what they actually do well.
The brothers and cousin Followill are now in the bottom rung of the pecking order, no different from all the other Limp Bizkit and Avril Lavigne commodities that attempt to pass off the most expensive gear and shallow, materialistic existences as creative substance, except for the fact the Kings of Leon sincerely believe they are real artists.
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night review: Once again, the Followill brothers improve exponentially.