Only by the Night - Kings of Leon

Hey. Sorry for the leave of absence. I promise to update a lot more frequently now, especially in this period between school and work. Not only will there be new posts, but I can promise you there will be more recent albums. I can't wait to get my hands on the new albums coming out soon, especially Relapse, Eminem's new one.

But let's look at Only by the Night by Kings of Leon. Before this album came out, the Kings were actually more famous in Europe and Australia than here in the States. But with this album, the band has cemented itself as one of the last great American rock bands. There are obviously some fans and critics who resent the changes they've made in order to become a band of commercial note. The minimalism that made Kings cult favorites on the early albums Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak was scratched on their last album, Because of the Times. Only by the Night follows the style of the latter. So, which is better? I guess it depends on one's temperamental tastes. You could love this new style at one moment and then crave their early work the next. I personally like the band's early style, but the better production values put them in the status they are in today. And this makes the tracks on this album, especially in its first half, not good but great.

An example of one of these tracks is the opener: "Closer." Singer Caleb Fallowill channels his inner Poe to hauntingly describe a ghost town in the calm before what should be a tumultuous storm coming from the sea. Listen to this: "Do you think of me? Where am I now? Baby where do I sleep? / Feels so good but I'm old, 2000 years of chasing taking it's toll / And it's coming closer." Couple that with an eerie keyboard loop and echoey riffs, you've got a powerfully moving song. But, what it means is anybody's guess. Is it a commentary about America's twilight? Are the Fallowills reading too much Twilight? Regardless if it's a doom prophecy or the ode to the vampire fetish, it's still a great song.

This leads into the well-known single single taking the world of Rock by storm: "Sex on Fire." If you haven't heard it, why not do your ears a favor and check it out. It's a perfect track for this band. It just clicks.

"Use Somebody," the album's ballad, is also quite good, but not for everybody. Fans of Youth and Young Manhood may be advised to skip over this one; Because of the Times fans may be inclined to go right to it. It sounds a lot like a track from the previous album. Drummer Nathan Fallowill is most present on the track, still managing to take the lead just by keeping the beat with drum fills. Besides for Caleb's lead vocals, everything seems to converge in the background except for a bass breakdown in the bridge and a closing guitar solo.

However, the second half of the album is not as good as the first, which is the difference between what the album is and what it could have been. "17" sounds like it was put together at the last possible minute. "Oh, she's only 17 / Wind and wind and wound up over everything," sings Caleb. Didn't that awful hair-metal band corner the market on songs about barely legal chicks? "She's only 17!" Don;t lie. You know what I'm talking about. How about "Notion"? This sounds is just a victim of the overproduction. It could have been a good backslide into early Kings if it weren't for the reverb in the background. To add to that, "I Want You," aside from a nice little string-pickin' solo in the middle, sounds like someone is milking a cow with a bass. Seriously, I gotta have more cowbell? That was just a skit. Ease off, please. The worst, however, is honkey-tonk/Godsmack concoction called "Be Somebody." The song musically makes no sense musically, teetering forever between tribal dance and inspiring hymn.

Even so, there are some gems hidden in the album's second half. "Revelry" is a wistful, candid track, allowing the listener to straddle between a slow and rapid tempo at the same time. Even if you weren't born in the Fallowills transient upbringing in the South, the Kings whisk you away to a strangely familiar place among the kerosene lamps and down-home heartache.

Overall, though, this is a really good listen. I really had to put my cynicism hat on to say anything bad about these guys. But, as I said before, this could have been great. I would have liked the band have some longer time out of the studio to stew over this. They were at work on this as soon as they stopped the brief touring for Because of the Times. More time definitely translates to better songs, which would have helped the album's second half. But, I hope I didn't scare you away from this. Only by the Night was one of the best albums released last year. I am just saying it could have been the best.

4/5