Customer Reviews: Read 71 more reviews...
 Great Album, Great Band November 20, 2008
This is an excellent album. The highlights for me include "sex on fire", "manhattan", "revelry", and "notion". Caleb's vocals have never sounded better, and the rest of the band is outstanding here, especially the bassist. Sure they may have "sold out", but with melodies as good as are on display here, who cares? I'm not sure this is their best album though, their previous album "because of the times" is an absolute classic, but nevertheless I recommend any fan of rock music to buy this and you won't be disappointed. I can promise you that.
Only By The Night (****1/2) November 18, 2008
Kings Of Leon-Only By The Night ****1/2
Only By The Night is the closest to a picture perfect album as it has got in 2008. Melodic and true; polished but with grit, in other words fantastic.
This group of family members have despite what some may think, reached a high of their career surpassing all their previous efforts. Vocalist Caleb sings with a gritty linear voice with just the right amount of smooth to please everyone within listening distance. The subtle musicianship compliments his vocals nearly perfectly.
'Closer' opens it and really encompasses everything the album is going to do in the one song. 'Crawl' is the hardest and deserved second single. 'Be Somebody' and 'Manhattan' have both been done esthetically but Kings Of Leon give it a new twist and do it very well. 'I Want You' breaks hearts while the closer 'Cold Desert' evokes every other emotion known to man. It is however the albums lead single 'Sex On Fire' that shows the power of the band both lyrically and performance wise.
Only By The Night is a fantastic record and among the very best of 2008.
 KOL > MMJ November 16, 2008
So this year two pretty major developments took place in Southern Indie Rock. Cult favorites My Morning Jacket and now Kings of Leon crossed over into the mainstream with their newest releases. But these albums are totally different and say a lot about the bands respectively.
I won't rehash my harsh criticism of the MMJ album, except to say that it was not consistent with their previous efforts - in any way, except their penchant for experimentation. It is a terrible album, but to their credit, they make some of it work very well live because they are a truly great band (see the recent Austin City Limits performance) .
This effort by KOL, on the other hand, is not experimental. It is growth. Think the difference between Death Cab's latest and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's latest (which was just experimental piffle). If you were around from the beginning with KOL and you did not see this coming, I'm sorry but you just weren't paying attention. With each album and successive tour this band has shown tremendous growth by expanding their sound, not changing it. The sonic elements that dominate this album are easily discernible in "Trani" from Youth and Young Manhood and others along the way. Will they make a more rocking record next? I hope so, but they deserved to make this album. And it stands on its own as a very solid, and at times, brilliant effort.
Sure, KOL could have made jingle jangle albums for a few more years. I would have bought them and I would have checked out their shows whenever they were in town. But from the beginning, like many of us I loved this band not just for what they were, but for what they could become. They continue to defy our expectations, in a good way. KOL is now a great band. Baby's all grown up, and I'm so proud.
Closer November 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This song is a plea from someone trapped beyond the past, calling closer.
A trembling and cascading marriage of words and music, truly beautiful are both, and never has a song been more defining as a reminder that there are those who are shaking the bars of invisible prisons and those listening to the rattling who are holding the keys. This is the embodiment of that longing to be free, that unconscious urging in all of us for something unseen, something lost in eternity, lost in a dream, but sung sweetly and heard clearly in this, The Kings of Leon: Closer.
let us out. and bring us closer...
Sin Cerely
~ D
 Stank November 12, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
In with the new fans and out with the old...
I don't care who likes change- this is definately not an album I can actually ENJOY cleaning my house to.
What a waste of an awesome voice... I loved the tennessee pervish twang of "the old Kings."
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