Comus

Knocked Up here represents what is good about Kings of Leon, they're not good musicians, they never will be, but they can put out a good groove. This for me in this type of music is more important, I'll make it clear but it's not something I'd listen to for a challenge. But when you just want to relax with a pint of beer or a ridiculous amount of alcohol and don't feel like a prog-fueled trip, this is what you want. The vocals are much like you'd come to expect, mixed high and pushing the point, the quiet-loud transition is very useful for live shows and I'm glad that they have incorporated this into their album. It gives the whole song a far more natural feel, the fact that it is just noise, which is all you're gonna hear live anyways. The beat is compelling and the bass and guitar work complement the vocals in such a way that they become one whole part on their own, instead of seperate entities, which is good for the casual listener.

The lyrics are not exactly groundbreaking, nor should they be. As a long song it leaves a lot of room for improvisation which I feel has been sadly neglected, every now and then there is a bit of guitar scratching but overall there's not much to it. Periods of silence here aren't used to great effect and the song does drag on a bit. The unchanging beat doesn't help, while refreshing at the start of the song it can start to grate. The groove is still good but in shorter doses please, and lets not forget this is from someone who considers a 7 minute song to be middle of the line in terms of length.

Charmer is a brilliant pop song with rock pretenses, from the girlish squeal to the powerful if oversimple riff. The riff is very memorable if you've ever focused on it, it's a pity it's underused in the song. It's an enjoyable energetic little song that will make you wonder why there isn't more like this in rock music today. It's powerful, hard rocking, not overly grating and generally 99% better than all other songs released by mainstream bands today. On Call is the albums lead single featuring some nice layering and, by mondern standards, a brilliant performance from vocals Caleb Followill. The riff is heavy without being properly heavy in the mix which will leave you hanging a bit.

The attempted guitar solo like all others in the album is well, just not right, Matthew Followill is not a great guitarist. His solos leave so much to desire after being used to the brilliance of their influences such as Thin Lizzy, and Wishbone Ash especially before them. However to the young listener today that knows nothing beyond what is on the charts, and has been since their teens, this will be mindblowing. So it's not all bad, the groove is there, the concept is there, just needs a bit of work on the soul and the true skill. And to clarify once more, I'm talking about being able to make the guitar sing, not just play if fast.

McFearless has what I can only call a very grating intro that grows on you as you go further and further into it, the riff afterwards however is unmistakably because of the times. Whereas the bands of old would have a riff that dominated and played with clear pauses between chords and notes. Today there is not much if any pause or silence and to me is one of the great downfalls in modern music. McFearless has some nice drum work though and that swagger which make Kings of Leon one of the best modern mainstream bands is very evident.

What you notice early into this album is that the tracklisting hasn't been taken into account when creating the album, it is very much about the songs themselves not the whole feel. This should detract from the score, but at the end of the day it's not something which is taken into account by non-prog bands. Black Thumbnail is wonderfully incomprehensible, brilliant live where the crowd will erupt during the chorus and that energy is transferred to record remarkably well once more. It will have your head bobbing despite yourself, and this is a good thing. The solo is made good only by the fact that you're so into the energy of the song that pretty much any form of wankery will sound good, but once you're halfway through it that feeling wears off and you're remind that yes, it's still Matthew playing. I'd like to make a note that Kings of Leon must have the best ever list of misheard lyrics ever.

That wonderful groove once again returns for My Party and my god it is wonderful. The vocal effects are too much I have to say, it becomes a bit too much pop-punk, but that wonderfull groove so very much makes up to it. Here a really nice simple riff has been created and why more bands can't just do this I don't understand. Bring back the guitar in modern music, it can never be a bad thing to have too many guitars. The best part of the guitars is that they can be played live by Caleb and Matthew, even if they have to stand and concentrate for most of the time when you watch them. I have to say their stage presence is absolutely ridiculously pathetic, even if they win over the crowd with the music and image, but that's really not part of the album so it can't really be taken into account, even if a lot of opinions towards an album includes live performances.

True Love Way continues the groove and the misheard lyrics but it works on so many levels. I'd never consider KoL to be a deep band in any way, but the way their music can connect to an audience is pretty impressive. Even with the non single songs that most modern rock bands would simply fill with... well filler it seems that they have made an effort with them, and it works, because the album holds up so much more strongly for it. The beat here is addictively simple and the silence is used brilliantly for once and I feel it adds a lot to the song. This is unfortunately offset by the fact that there is no fade, or even any consideration to what the next song is, and Ragoo very much upsets the rhythm of the album.

It's not a bad song by any means, just badly placed, that being said it's not great either, it's just there but it will stick with you. The chorus is painfully addictive, and while the album isn't very hooky I can feel some good pop sensibilities here, even if it's uninentional and not very obvious. The solo is one which is above average in the album, short and sweet and feels a bit more like a little lick. Fans introduces a nice contrast between an overdriven slowly played guitar clean strumming.

This is actually my favourite song on the album, it's the only one apart from On Call that actually manipulates emotions, the high energy beat, all the different aspects of the song all work together very well. And the vocal performance is beautifully fragile and it just works, here is the career highlight of Kings of Leon, and that has to be said, because based on their latest effort, they're never ever going to reach this level again, and that is a very sad prospect. Painfully short this is the whole reason Kings of Leon deserve to be reviewed here right now.

The Runner actually works well with the ending of Fans the retrospective song is brilliantly put together and features another good performance by Caleb. The song feels like it's coming from the heart, not just a session and that's what songs should be like. Uplifting while sad at the same time it makes you feel even more of a connection to the vocalist, and even empathise with him. However don't listen to it when tired, because you're almost guaranteed to fall asleep, whether this is a good thing or not is another matter.

Another bit of an experiment here as Kings of Leon try haunting, the atmosphere and echoes do work pretty well, and it shows a remarkable maturing from their other albums. It is a very powerful track, it will slow time down and make you think, it's hard to write even as I'm listening to it because of the energy needed to pay proper attention to it. Casuals won't like this song, but general fans might, it's a big departure from their other songs on the album, even with the eventual climax there's not much going on. For a band known for the energy in their songs this can seem a bit out of place, but I certainly think it fits perfectly here, because bands need to experiment, or music will simply stagnate.

Camaro feels very 80's whenever I listen to it I feel like I'm in a bad 80's American action movie not to say the song is bad, because some bad 80's action movies have very good songs, especially driving songs. This is the perfect driving song, high energy, topic specific and it rocks, it rocks pretty damn hard actually, and that's just what you want from the album at this point. It's the second last track and you want to wake up again after a few low energy songs.

REST OF REVIEW IN NEXT POST

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