Kings of Leon can't follow-up with Only by the Night album

10/21/08 - In 2003, three brothers and their cousin released a debut EP called Holy Roller Novocain. They became famous in Europe, and earned a little recognition here in the United States. Five years later, their popularity has increased exponentially and they've released a fourth album, Only by the Night in September.The Kings of Leon is a four-person band made up of brothers Nathan, Caleb and Jared as well as their cousin, Matthew. Hailing from the Midwest, the four of them formed the band in 2000. The three brothers grew up traveling all over the country with their preacher father, Leon. Starting out playing country music, the group slowly moved into the rock genre after being introduced to Angelo Petraglia. He has co-written many of the band's songs.

The Kings of Leon specialize in moody songs (which can sound a bit whiny at times) while futuristic overtones play in the background along with their guitar riffs. Lead vocalist Caleb Followhill's singing ability doesn't cause much inspiration but their songs are interesting enough to listen to.

While sitting down and listening to their songs, I found that I couldn't really catch most of what they're saying because Followhill tends to moan his words out. It's a good thing though because when I did find the lyrics, I realized they don't make much sense. But that goes for many songs nowadays.

In a past interview that showed up in Rolling Stone Magazine, Followhill pointed to pain relievers as his inspiration for this latest album. He was drugged up after a fistfight with his brother Nathan while he wrote the songs. No wonder their songs are they way they are.

The one song that stood out the most was "Sex on Fire." The song was released early on their Myspace page and it reached the U.K. singles chart. They repeat the phrase "You... your sex is on fire..." again and again and again. Despite by the apathy I feel for this song, many magazines praised it. Spin Magazine, however, agrees with me as they think it's a bit 'silly.'

My favorite track of the whole set was "Use Somebody." The song just actually works. It's a sentimental song with the chorus going "You know that I could use somebody/Someone like you." The song makes good use of their great guitar-playing abilities and every aspect of it makes for an interesting song. It's another one of their more popular songs, reaching No. 29 in the UK charts.

The album itself has received mixed reviews. Many mainstream sources think it's the best thing ever. The band grew in popularity after The Strokes and U2 chose the band to tour with them. The mainstream media thinks the group is on the way to the up and up. However, the independent media didn't take as well to the band.

But there's no mistaking that Kings of Leon is growing in fame. Mainly in Europe, though a little bit in the U.S. as well. Only by the Night is an okay album. Not something to write home about but it's good for easy listening - despite the band's comments from before saying they were going to rock out harder on this thing than ever before.