Post by ukkolfan on Sept 30, 2008 15:22:40 GMT
In depth review.
After about a week I thought I would now have a fair analysis of the album now, I didn’t want to do this straight away because I knew my view would change.
One problem I have a out only by the night is the lack of rockers, Kings of Leon should stick to what they do best in my opinion, not to say their slow songs are not as good, because the like of wicker chair and Arizona are definitely amongst their best, the reason people got into kings of Leon are because there a rock band, and you expect to hear songs like Red morning light and four kicks.
When I listen to songs of because of the times now, I cant help but remember the excitement I felt for absolutely ages after buying this album, songs like Knocked up, Arizona, on call, and Mcfearless, unfortunaly I just don’t feel the excitement with this album, maybe that’s just me.
I think overall Matt is certainly not used enough. Compared to BOTT, you would think it’s a different guitarist, you would think he was showing off with all the riffs and guitar licks he came up with that album and the way he looks so casual live while doing complex stuff on his guitar.
Caleb told us all about the melodies in this album and how he really likes them, and I agree I think they are very good but they have always had really good, partially from the second album onwards.
Closer- I love this song, vocals are great, the keyboard (or is it a guitar with a special sound) really drives the song, and brings a creepy edge to the song, not too sure about the lyrics- 8.5
Crawl-The thing with this song for me, is the way I see it is that this is very similar to Camero. In the way that I can admire them from a musical point of view, but I just don’t deep down love it, like I do with say sex on fire, with that catchy melody. Matthews solo is very impressive at the end though, probably his most impressive to date, showing what skills he has gained on the guitar from the first album. I also love Jared bass line in this.-7
Sex On Fire- What a song in my opinion, I know some KoL fans don’t like, basically because its hardly vintage kings of Leon, which is absolutely true however, it is still an amazing song. First time I heard I fell in love with it, which rarely happens for me, I also knew it was going to be a number 1, because it had all the credentials. Love Caleb’s rhythm guitar part. This song really makes you want to dance around and go crazy, what’s lacking here is a good guitar solo from Matt, that would have game it a more kings of Leon edge to it. Possible one of the most addictive melodies I’ve ever heard in the chorus. Maybe Caleb was right that the drugs helped him think of some great melodies.-9.5
Use Somebody- Again this is another song, out there to gain more commercial success more then anything, I do really like it. Not the best on the album far from it. Good thing about this song is there is a lot of backing vocals, which is a very good thing; whenever Kol have backing vocals in a song it’s a massive success like in knocked up. Also there’s is a nice solo towards the end, which doesn’t happen often on this album.-8
Manhattan- Easily one of my favourite Kol songs, its amazing, as soon as it kicks in I love it and I get goose bumps, Love the bass, vocals and most importantly matt’s guitar parts, sounds really beautiful, his parts also fade out as the song is coming to its end which is a nice touch in my opinion.-9
Revelry- I really like the drum beat in this, why does it sound so computerized though? Some really nice lyrics, and good catchy chorus, many say the same thing about this album, they say the first 5 songs good then the standards drops. I can’t see why this doesn’t belong with the first 5 songs, its good. Also like the backing vocals.-8
17-Now this is very interesting, I cannot believe people don’t like this song, ok the bells maybe a little annoying, but who cares, I think it’s a really good song. You can’t help but love the bass after each line Caleb’s sings. There’s like 3 very decent melodies in this song. To be absolutely honest my first time I played this album, this was the stand out track. It does not deserve the stick it is getting. The bells only really occur on the intro and at the end.-8
Notion- Probably my least favourite on the album which says a lot because I actually really like. Mainly I like the aggression on Caleb’s voice for the “don’t knock it” part, which is the best part of the song. I suppose for me there’s just not much about this song, which gets your attention.-7
I Want You- Another strong track, I’ve heard people saying that the bass is a boring in this and sounds a little like charmer. It’s certainly not boring in the context of the song. If you were playing this yourself at home of course it will be a little boring, but as I said it really suits the song and gives the song a bit of drive. Once again love the vocals in this song.-8
Be Somebody-Like the aggression in the verses, which then quickly change rapidly into the addictive chorus. The best thing in the verses for me is the drumming, got to say I really like them. Then there’s that instrumental part of the song, which at first I didn’t like, but they really excel with here instruments here like they should , driving bass, amazing drums, good lead guitar.-8
Cold Desert-Well what can I say about this song, this is one of the most beautiful songs I have probably ever heard. Give me goose bumps, absolutely love the lyrics. Love the fact there he was drunk while recording the lyrics and he heard it over and he cried. I don’t know many bands who can pull of these atmospheric sounding songs like this and Arizona. Each time I enjoy it even more. The best melody on the album, in which Matthew plays it on his guitar to give it more effect. The infamous “Jesus don’t love me…” is really emotional. If I had a problem with this song, it would be the way its volume goes right down and then it comes back up. The solo suits the song perfectly. A mention to the bass as well I really like that. What a song!.-10
As you can see by my ratings, I clearly rate the album highly, but in my mind, the next album should sound like the previous stuff, with a couple of songs like Cold Desert. Hopefully the next album won’t have as many commercial songs, even though I love Use Somebody I would prefer a True Love Way or Black Thumbnail.
I think for the next album, they should take longer to get the quality as high as possible. Also hopefully the next album will have about 15 songs, I love all Kol songs, so why not have as many as possible. When the track listings came out and 11 tracks were named, people got exited. I was fairly disappointed because I want more than 11. But we cant have everything can we.
I think I read on this forum somewhere that Caleb don’t care if the songs are good as long as they get commercial success, which disappointed me, it means his heart might not be in the right place and in a way he’s betraying his fans who have loved him for so long.
After about a week I thought I would now have a fair analysis of the album now, I didn’t want to do this straight away because I knew my view would change.
One problem I have a out only by the night is the lack of rockers, Kings of Leon should stick to what they do best in my opinion, not to say their slow songs are not as good, because the like of wicker chair and Arizona are definitely amongst their best, the reason people got into kings of Leon are because there a rock band, and you expect to hear songs like Red morning light and four kicks.
When I listen to songs of because of the times now, I cant help but remember the excitement I felt for absolutely ages after buying this album, songs like Knocked up, Arizona, on call, and Mcfearless, unfortunaly I just don’t feel the excitement with this album, maybe that’s just me.
I think overall Matt is certainly not used enough. Compared to BOTT, you would think it’s a different guitarist, you would think he was showing off with all the riffs and guitar licks he came up with that album and the way he looks so casual live while doing complex stuff on his guitar.
Caleb told us all about the melodies in this album and how he really likes them, and I agree I think they are very good but they have always had really good, partially from the second album onwards.
Closer- I love this song, vocals are great, the keyboard (or is it a guitar with a special sound) really drives the song, and brings a creepy edge to the song, not too sure about the lyrics- 8.5
Crawl-The thing with this song for me, is the way I see it is that this is very similar to Camero. In the way that I can admire them from a musical point of view, but I just don’t deep down love it, like I do with say sex on fire, with that catchy melody. Matthews solo is very impressive at the end though, probably his most impressive to date, showing what skills he has gained on the guitar from the first album. I also love Jared bass line in this.-7
Sex On Fire- What a song in my opinion, I know some KoL fans don’t like, basically because its hardly vintage kings of Leon, which is absolutely true however, it is still an amazing song. First time I heard I fell in love with it, which rarely happens for me, I also knew it was going to be a number 1, because it had all the credentials. Love Caleb’s rhythm guitar part. This song really makes you want to dance around and go crazy, what’s lacking here is a good guitar solo from Matt, that would have game it a more kings of Leon edge to it. Possible one of the most addictive melodies I’ve ever heard in the chorus. Maybe Caleb was right that the drugs helped him think of some great melodies.-9.5
Use Somebody- Again this is another song, out there to gain more commercial success more then anything, I do really like it. Not the best on the album far from it. Good thing about this song is there is a lot of backing vocals, which is a very good thing; whenever Kol have backing vocals in a song it’s a massive success like in knocked up. Also there’s is a nice solo towards the end, which doesn’t happen often on this album.-8
Manhattan- Easily one of my favourite Kol songs, its amazing, as soon as it kicks in I love it and I get goose bumps, Love the bass, vocals and most importantly matt’s guitar parts, sounds really beautiful, his parts also fade out as the song is coming to its end which is a nice touch in my opinion.-9
Revelry- I really like the drum beat in this, why does it sound so computerized though? Some really nice lyrics, and good catchy chorus, many say the same thing about this album, they say the first 5 songs good then the standards drops. I can’t see why this doesn’t belong with the first 5 songs, its good. Also like the backing vocals.-8
17-Now this is very interesting, I cannot believe people don’t like this song, ok the bells maybe a little annoying, but who cares, I think it’s a really good song. You can’t help but love the bass after each line Caleb’s sings. There’s like 3 very decent melodies in this song. To be absolutely honest my first time I played this album, this was the stand out track. It does not deserve the stick it is getting. The bells only really occur on the intro and at the end.-8
Notion- Probably my least favourite on the album which says a lot because I actually really like. Mainly I like the aggression on Caleb’s voice for the “don’t knock it” part, which is the best part of the song. I suppose for me there’s just not much about this song, which gets your attention.-7
I Want You- Another strong track, I’ve heard people saying that the bass is a boring in this and sounds a little like charmer. It’s certainly not boring in the context of the song. If you were playing this yourself at home of course it will be a little boring, but as I said it really suits the song and gives the song a bit of drive. Once again love the vocals in this song.-8
Be Somebody-Like the aggression in the verses, which then quickly change rapidly into the addictive chorus. The best thing in the verses for me is the drumming, got to say I really like them. Then there’s that instrumental part of the song, which at first I didn’t like, but they really excel with here instruments here like they should , driving bass, amazing drums, good lead guitar.-8
Cold Desert-Well what can I say about this song, this is one of the most beautiful songs I have probably ever heard. Give me goose bumps, absolutely love the lyrics. Love the fact there he was drunk while recording the lyrics and he heard it over and he cried. I don’t know many bands who can pull of these atmospheric sounding songs like this and Arizona. Each time I enjoy it even more. The best melody on the album, in which Matthew plays it on his guitar to give it more effect. The infamous “Jesus don’t love me…” is really emotional. If I had a problem with this song, it would be the way its volume goes right down and then it comes back up. The solo suits the song perfectly. A mention to the bass as well I really like that. What a song!.-10
As you can see by my ratings, I clearly rate the album highly, but in my mind, the next album should sound like the previous stuff, with a couple of songs like Cold Desert. Hopefully the next album won’t have as many commercial songs, even though I love Use Somebody I would prefer a True Love Way or Black Thumbnail.
I think for the next album, they should take longer to get the quality as high as possible. Also hopefully the next album will have about 15 songs, I love all Kol songs, so why not have as many as possible. When the track listings came out and 11 tracks were named, people got exited. I was fairly disappointed because I want more than 11. But we cant have everything can we.
I think I read on this forum somewhere that Caleb don’t care if the songs are good as long as they get commercial success, which disappointed me, it means his heart might not be in the right place and in a way he’s betraying his fans who have loved him for so long.
i can't imagine caleb saying that! he's always saying they try to improve for themselves as they're perfectionists, not for commercial success! 
), i dont like the Coldplay comparisions some reviewers etc have made but in my opinion they do it better than Coldplay and Chris Martin will be wetting himself that he never wrote half of these songs.
hehe