Worries for the new album after reading NME

[pi]

Hi everyone, been ages since I last posted here, infact it was under a diffirent username but I can't remember the password or what the hell I was called, so I've created another one LOL.
I just wanted to talk about an Interview I read in the NME magazine (UK based) from June 2008. I was actually a bit dissapointed with what I read to be honest, and a little fearful for the material that may be released on the new album, in particular the 'sound' of the record.
Words such as 'Stadium rock' which only brings about visions of Status Quo and Bryan Adams as far as I'm concened, and comparisons to bloc party and U2 do nothing to wet my appetite.
In the interview Caleb talks about deciding he'd like to sing 'properly' and really trying to let his voice be heard in a way that shows off his vocal talents. Thats all fine and good, he's got an awesome voice, one of, if not the best frontman's voices around for years, but when he mentioned that he'd like to get away from the style of first album and how he used to sing in a style that meant you couldnt really understand what the lyrics were, I was a touch confused. Thats what I love about his vocals...
For me the first two albums are better than the third. The raw sound, the unbelievable vocals on songs like spiral staircase, wasted time, the screaching on joes head, then my favourite KOL song: King of the rodeo, which sums up all that I love about the band, further examples include slow night so long, four kicks, velvet snow etc. For me the third album was summed up by knocked up. Yeah its ok, ten times better than the stuff the majority of bands nowerdays churn out, however, they'd went from two and a half minute blockbusters, to a slow building 7 minute number. Charmer is my favourite song on bacause of the times, and it was when I first heard it, but its obvious that its a far more 'produced' album than the first two, that raw sound and piercing guitar had been replaced by a bassier, more tweked sound.
I think the sound change was relected in the change of their appearance aswell. From the beards and checky shirts it went to clean shaven and checky shirts, to all of a sudden in the on call video, looking like fucking goths in black lether trench coats! Having said that on the front cover of the NME magazine in question Caleb is wearing an awesome red checky western shirt, so Im not too worried that he'd turned into Nine inch fucking nails or something...
I suppose what im getting at is that I had very high hopes for the 4th album, especially after a friend of mine told me he'd read Jared saying in an interview they were "fixing on getting back to their scuzzy roots"! HAHA what a quote! Legend! Anyway, i also heard they had recored it in nasville again, and hoped that was all pointing towards a filthy sounding 4th record, in the same vein as the first two.
Maybe I was looking to deeply into a one of article. After all, im sure that whatever it 'sounds' like, I'll like it. I just always worry when I hear the words 'stadium rock'! LOL
I'm about to go and listen to manhattan and crawl for the first time, ive seen that theyve been posted on youtube, and I shall cast first impression judgement shortly...

[Deleted]

Personally I don't think you've got anything to worry about. If you loved Because of the Times which was nothing like the first two then I'm sure you're going to love Only By The Night

Change is better than having the same album over and over, don't ya think? We've got YAYM and ASH as our more "country" sounding albums, I actually do prefer them to BOTT, but now we're getting something new which I love.

[SozzellLovesKOL]

Jul 3, 2008 16:45:11 GMT pi said:

Words such as 'Stadium rock' which only brings about visions of Status Quo and Bryan Adams as far as I'm concened, and comparisons to bloc party and U2 do nothing to wet my appetite.
In the interview Caleb talks about deciding he'd like to sing 'properly' and really trying to let his voice be heard in a way that shows off his vocal talents. Thats all fine and good, he's got an awesome voice, one of, if not the best frontman's voices around for years, but when he mentioned that he'd like to get away from the style of first album and how he used to sing in a style that meant you couldnt really understand what the lyrics were, I was a touch confused.

First off I want to say welcome back pi! And secondly, the exact same thing worried me that worried you. The way Caleb spoke about his old vocals as if they were rubbish or something, and the new ones as if there a huge improvement. I love the new ones, but loved the old ones! Sounds as if we're not gonna hear the old grating YAYM vocals anymore And I agree, he really has the best frontman's voice for a LONG time.

And that is oen thing that's gotten on my nerves from the moment I heard it, about U2 and Bloc Party. They sound nothing like either! I get sick of McFearless being compared to U2. I DO NOT see the comparison. And Bloc Party are on another universe to the Kings. Jesus these dillusional journalists

[edit] But I agree with Ben, I don't think there's anything to worry about. I think it will be amazing either way

[pi]

Thanks for trying to set my mind at ease LOL.
Ive just watched footage from youtube of firstly manhattan and then crawl. Cant really be too sure as to what they sounded like, the sound quality was OK at best but theres no denying both songs are like yous said, very much coming off the same sound of because of the times. It's good, but far more grungy, with slower guitar riffs. The bass, as always sounds fucking awesome, he's an amazing live bassist Jared like, totally under rated, never mentioned really, and obviously the vocals are incredible, however diffirent hes trying to sound from YAYM. But for me its songs like king of the rodeo being the prime example, with that awesome guitar riff banging in from the start and driving the song. On these new tracks its a bassier, more calculated, balanced style, and slower tempos. Im sure Ill grow to like them, after all theyre still my favourite band, with ease, but this may take a little getting used to... Ild also just like to, in the most random way ever, say, how fucking awesome are creedance and in particular john foggerty HAHAHA!

[Nacho's main cheese...]

I totally agree with the whole vocal thing as well. Caleb does not have a "pretty" or "proper" voice. It's certainly is delicious, but not pretty. It drives me absolutely CRAZY to hear him sing, for, example, King of The Rodeo, in the style that he's doing it now. It's simply not right and I CRINGE everytime I hear it...................Caleb, if you're reading this, I love you to pieces, but please stay with your delicious, filthy growl.......................

[pi]

For me, one of the best vocal performances by Caleb is on spiral staircase. How he changes from the bridge, to the lightning fast vocals and scream in the verses is amazing, and sounds brilliant!
"A-Gettt yohr act together, yah bettta walk walk walk walkkkaa ya cannnot ruhhhn"
AMAZING!

[Bornagirl76]

I love the Kings' BOTT-style direction and really love Crawl and Manhattan. But I agree with y'all - the one thing I miss most, and regret losing, is Caleb's old singing style. I want vocal temper tantrums godammit!! He can sing pretty too if he wants to, but I want both.

[lauralimonada]

I actually thought about all this after reading the NME interview.
I noticed that Caleb's voice is really different--almost lovely when they played Glasto. Personally, I like it. He's experimenting with his vocal range, it's a nice treat.

Sometimes bands forget that raw original energy that made them great. I really doubt (and hope) that this is gonna happen to the Kings. Based on appearance alone (and remember the saying, "dont judge a book by its cover?") it seems like KOL is sorta back to its original roots but with a twist.

They would be critisised even more harshly if their whole career consisted of imitating "Spiral Staircase" and "Joe's Head"

They're trying new things and I'm thankful, not worried.

[mcfearless8]

nah, don't think we have anything to worry about.
In KOL we trust!haha.Btw: does anyone has the links to the other songs of only by the night, besides: ma nhattan and crawl.?

[Pex On Fire-]

That opening post is scary.

Why?

Because apart from the fact I haven't read that NME magazine every fear, opinion of previous albums and views, are 100% exactly the same as mine.


Give me more Trani, more Red Morning Light, more Four Kicks and more Velvet Snow.

I just don't want any more Camero, Crawl or Manhattan.


I may soon be jumping ship to the Red Light Knights.

[kultbert]

nathan ones said: you cannot do the same thing over 3 records

and i'm totally with that. i love to see them develop even if it means that probably more people will know them and more people will like them (not for sure..) but i'm proud that i have the opportunity to grow with this band. well, thats how i feel.

i love this band and their music.

[mrsbrightside]

i think we just need to wait until we hear the finished product, theres many of us that wish they could go back to the days of YAYM, ASH these are cracking albums but if they tried to go back to that sound people would write them off as not being original and just churning out that same old stuff (its happened to Oasis have they found theyre 4th chord??) I think KOL are one of the most exciting bands around and for the fact that I can safely say every albums different its a progression that they have to make.
Calebs voice has become more mature he's trying new things i think his voice is amazing one of the best rock voices in the last decade, Matts guitar playing has become more confident, Jared is on another level with his bass playing and Nathan is just the man on the drums nothing phases him!

Lets just remain positive, our boys wont fail us!

[mrsnfollowill]

I don't care what the fourth album sounds like, I just wanna f*ck Nathan!!!


Okay, so that's not strictly true, well the bit about Nathan is, but in my eyes the boys can do no wrong! Kings of Leon ARE the best band in the world.

[benief]

Jul 3, 2008 16:45:11 GMT pi said:

Hi everyone, been ages since I last posted here, infact it was under a diffirent username but I can't remember the password or what the hell I was called, so I've created another one LOL.
I just wanted to talk about an Interview I read in the NME magazine (UK based) from June 2008. I was actually a bit dissapointed with what I read to be honest, and a little fearful for the material that may be released on the new album, in particular the 'sound' of the record.
Words such as 'Stadium rock' which only brings about visions of Status Quo and Bryan Adams as far as I'm concened, and comparisons to bloc party and U2 do nothing to wet my appetite.
In the interview Caleb talks about deciding he'd like to sing 'properly' and really trying to let his voice be heard in a way that shows off his vocal talents. Thats all fine and good, he's got an awesome voice, one of, if not the best frontman's voices around for years, but when he mentioned that he'd like to get away from the style of first album and how he used to sing in a style that meant you couldnt really understand what the lyrics were, I was a touch confused. Thats what I love about his vocals...
For me the first two albums are better than the third. The raw sound, the unbelievable vocals on songs like spiral staircase, wasted time, the screaching on joes head, then my favourite KOL song: King of the rodeo, which sums up all that I love about the band, further examples include slow night so long, four kicks, velvet snow etc. For me the third album was summed up by knocked up. Yeah its ok, ten times better than the stuff the majority of bands nowerdays churn out, however, they'd went from two and a half minute blockbusters, to a slow building 7 minute number. Charmer is my favourite song on bacause of the times, and it was when I first heard it, but its obvious that its a far more 'produced' album than the first two, that raw sound and piercing guitar had been replaced by a bassier, more tweked sound.
I think the sound change was relected in the change of their appearance aswell. From the beards and checky shirts it went to clean shaven and checky shirts, to all of a sudden in the on call video, looking like fucking goths in black lether trench coats! Having said that on the front cover of the NME magazine in question Caleb is wearing an awesome red checky western shirt, so Im not too worried that he'd turned into Nine inch fucking nails or something...
I suppose what im getting at is that I had very high hopes for the 4th album, especially after a friend of mine told me he'd read Jared saying in an interview they were "fixing on getting back to their scuzzy roots"! HAHA what a quote! Legend! Anyway, i also heard they had recored it in nasville again, and hoped that was all pointing towards a filthy sounding 4th record, in the same vein as the first two.
Maybe I was looking to deeply into a one of article. After all, im sure that whatever it 'sounds' like, I'll like it. I just always worry when I hear the words 'stadium rock'! LOL
I'm about to go and listen to manhattan and crawl for the first time, ive seen that theyve been posted on youtube, and I shall cast first impression judgement shortly...

ur opinion was completely void after u related stadium rock to bryan adams.

[groupielove]

Jul 3, 2008 16:45:11 GMT pi said:

Hi everyone, been ages since I last posted here, infact it was under a diffirent username but I can't remember the password or what the hell I was called, so I've created another one LOL.
I just wanted to talk about an Interview I read in the NME magazine (UK based) from June 2008. I was actually a bit dissapointed with what I read to be honest, and a little fearful for the material that may be released on the new album, in particular the 'sound' of the record.
Words such as 'Stadium rock' which only brings about visions of Status Quo and Bryan Adams as far as I'm concened, and comparisons to bloc party and U2 do nothing to wet my appetite.
In the interview Caleb talks about deciding he'd like to sing 'properly' and really trying to let his voice be heard in a way that shows off his vocal talents. Thats all fine and good, he's got an awesome voice, one of, if not the best frontman's voices around for years, but when he mentioned that he'd like to get away from the style of first album and how he used to sing in a style that meant you couldnt really understand what the lyrics were, I was a touch confused. Thats what I love about his vocals...
For me the first two albums are better than the third. The raw sound, the unbelievable vocals on songs like spiral staircase, wasted time, the screaching on joes head, then my favourite KOL song: King of the rodeo, which sums up all that I love about the band, further examples include slow night so long, four kicks, velvet snow etc. For me the third album was summed up by knocked up. Yeah its ok, ten times better than the stuff the majority of bands nowerdays churn out, however, they'd went from two and a half minute blockbusters, to a slow building 7 minute number. Charmer is my favourite song on bacause of the times, and it was when I first heard it, but its obvious that its a far more 'produced' album than the first two, that raw sound and piercing guitar had been replaced by a bassier, more tweked sound.
I think the sound change was relected in the change of their appearance aswell. From the beards and checky shirts it went to clean shaven and checky shirts, to all of a sudden in the on call video, looking like fucking goths in black lether trench coats! Having said that on the front cover of the NME magazine in question Caleb is wearing an awesome red checky western shirt, so Im not too worried that he'd turned into Nine inch fucking nails or something...
I suppose what im getting at is that I had very high hopes for the 4th album, especially after a friend of mine told me he'd read Jared saying in an interview they were "fixing on getting back to their scuzzy roots"! HAHA what a quote! Legend! Anyway, i also heard they had recored it in nasville again, and hoped that was all pointing towards a filthy sounding 4th record, in the same vein as the first two.
Maybe I was looking to deeply into a one of article. After all, im sure that whatever it 'sounds' like, I'll like it. I just always worry when I hear the words 'stadium rock'! LOL
I'm about to go and listen to manhattan and crawl for the first time, ive seen that theyve been posted on youtube, and I shall cast first impression judgement shortly...

hey Pi. welcome back... lol i wonder who your former self was! we shall never know MUHAHAHA!
I would like to give you some karma, mainly coz you expressed what I have been wanting to express for about a year now.. i totally miss the sounds created on the first two records... i also hate how when KoL play live, the use the BOTT guitars for ASH and Y&YM songs -- its like dude, u cant just use a black thumbnail guitar for spiral staircase! the solos just dont sound the same! i dont know much (in fact anything to be honest) about geetars.. but i dont know these guitars produce completely different sounds..

I also have my concerns for the new record... now, I would like to say that the other day i had this huge epiphany - almost a spiritual awakening LOL. i was speaking to my older brother who lives in London, (he was watching the glasto set on tele and called me to tease me) and I was discussing with him how "I hope KoL's new album isnt too different, to the point they sound like a completely different band". i explained that, in a way, i wanted them to go back to those southern roots and make something like the first two records (although they were different from one another -- but still closer in similarities than BOTT).. now, i couldnt be more certain that BOTT is simply genius - however, i dont know why, but I have never listened to it as much as the others.. now, about my realisation - expressing my concerns, my brother (much older) told me that he was happy kol were creating a new sound with every lp -- he told me how bands who create the same stuff over and over are boring, and the albums become forgettable.. he compared this to Pearl Jam (who mind u I have never really listened to, despite that all their albums are sitting on the shelf above me -- owned by this brother)... he said that like the Foo Fighters, they became BORING. i agree with FF, although one of my all time favourite bands, fooies has lost it - the past two albums have been so damn safe, repetitive and mediocre! and then i realised - if i want something that sounds like f*ing ASH, then i should pull ASH off my shelf and listen to it! and if i want something like Y&YM, then i should chuck it into my cd player and blast it.. i noticed that when a band creates a sound you love, then all u need to do, is simply not kill it (by playing it over and over and over), and play it when u crave it.. thats the beauty... good bands (this is my philosophy), will create a body of work which will remain timeless - that is, each album is suited to a different mood, with a different style, with each album being different from the last. i think i went through KOL depression when i noticed KOL wouldnt be making the same thing forever... but im slowly appreciating that they can change with every album. it will be a good thing.

as for caleb's vocals, i like not understanding him reminds me of the first time i ever listend to a KOL album, when i had to get out the lyrics book just to be able to sing along.. o'course, it when i read the lyrics that i noticed how dirty they were!! hehe, at least he is subtle unlike rappers!

oh and mrsn, i also wanna get with nathan.. i mean, i aspire to be a groupie. i joke i joke.. but seriously, i envy his wife to be!

[anners]

haha the last bit of your post g-love

i think with gathered that you aspire to be a groupie... groupie love after all haha

im not worried about the nbew album its going to be freaking sweeeet in the words of peter griffin

[benief]

wot are u guys worried about..
they wont sound like a diff band..its not like theyve taken 5 years off and are making a comeback

they were writing these songs whilst BOTT was being released.

[pi]

First off, Bryan Adams is a pile of monkey spunk!

Secondly, yeah I totally understand what everyone is saying with regards to the 4th album being a progression, a development or experiment with a new sound, and almost as theyre growing older, their sound and or style is adapting.
Having said that even if they did try to keep a similar style to the first two albums nothing would ever sound 'the same'. Look at the stones from the late 60's to the mid 70's. About 7 years and I think atleast 5 albums of absolute filthy rock and roll. Granted that all went out the window when they released dirty work which is a jamaican tinged piece of shite but before then it was awesome.
What I mean is i love the raw sound of the first two albums, that filthy sounding guitar, theres no need to change that, its like saying, 'ahhh theyre going wild for these filthy rock and roll numbers like, love my screamy vocals and your dirty guitar matt, lets get that straight out of there, put on some black leather and turn into pearl jam'. Theres no need for it man...
They could easily go back to a bit of filth, it wont be like flogging a dead horse, I mean who out there is doing it at the minute? The only bands I can think of off the top of my head who've come out with a song in the style im on about are maybe the courteeners - not 19 forever, and a couple of numbers by the wombats.

[benief]

hahaha
yeah, i see your point

they did say this album would "rock harder".... but it still wont be the lo-fi scuzz of YAYM and ASH

however..i did read somehwere on this forum a week or so ago about a song on the album being called "Sex On Fire"

i'll eat my hat if that doesnt rock everyones socks off. ( wow 2 cliches 1 sentence)

[Deleted]

Without being too blunt, if you like the sound of Y&YM and ASH over BOTT and potentially the new album, then listen to them?