Kings of Leon's popularity & Eddie Vedder...

DVDLUNA

Came across this article and thought it was humorous:

http://www.alternativeaddiction.com/mus ... oo-Popular

Can success be too much of a good thing? According to Kings of Leon front man Caleb Followill it can be In light of their four grammy nominations, Followill told Spin that "We definitely got bigger than we wanted to be, you feel like you’ve done something wrong. That woman in mom jeans who’d never let me date her daughter? She likes my music. That’s fucking not cool."

Kings of Leon grabbed four Grammy nominations for their song "Use Somebody" off their multi-platinum selling major label debut Only By The Night that was released in 2008. The album has been so successful that the band has started refusing to promote the album. Before Only by the Night, the group's first three albums had sold only about 200,000 copies each in the US, but Followill said he got his first inkling of "trouble" after Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder listened to the latest disc. "He said, ‘You’re about to ride a big wave.’ I don’t even think he liked the record. But he knew immediately we were about to go through something big."

Sleep.With.Innocence

Post of the day.

Reminds me of the Vs. days. Although I think Eddie like that record.

youngster

I wouldn't be surprised if the next KOL disc is something like Binaural or Riot Act. Real experimental sounds with no real catchy hooks. Although Caleb says he doesn't like the popularity, he sure wasn't trying to hide it this year with all the tour dates. I guess it's easy $$$ for them.

the wolf

good, maybe I'll be able to listen to their next record.

The EV bit is funny.

benjs

I worked at my dad's store over the summer, and there was one particular radio station which the store was set to play most of the time... sadly, Use Somebody was on regular rotation, and I cringe every time I hear that song, and get inexplicably angry every time I hear anything else of theirs. I'm not a fan

mfc2006

i really like Kings of Leon....especially everything before their last record, but their last record isn't bad. Cold Desert is a great song. but this quote is funny to me b/c they always complained that they weren't big in the states...just in Europe. now they're big on the states...what's the problem? i hope their next record sounds different from anything they've done yet.

Evil-Little-Goat

mfc2006 wrote:

i really like Kings of Leon....especially everything before their last record, but their last record isn't bad. Cold Desert is a great song. but this quote is funny to me b/c they always complained that they weren't big in the states...just in Europe. now they're big on the states...what's the problem? i hope their next record sounds different from anything they've done yet.

I remember reading that article shortly before Sex on Fire broke out in North America.

CranMalReign

When I saw them open for PJ in '06, I had barely even heard of them. My wife and I did dig their stuff tho, and considered them on of our favorite openeing bands we'd seen at a PJ show.

Then suddenly they are played every 4th song on the radio and I have become annoyed by them.

dottles

There is an interview in the latest Q magazine and Nathan Followill mentions Eddie -

Q - Who have you met that's impressed you this decade?

NF - Oh I don't get impressed by the other rock'n rollers. Jared does all that, Jared knows all the new indie bands and he gets excited and say he saw them in a magazine. But I'd be like, "who"?
Apart from Eddie Vedder, now that guy's a sweetheart.

Anarmyofpeace

Great find. I have liked these guys for a while but their latest success has turned me off quite a bit. I'm not mad the guys are getting some fame, its just when I hear 12 yr old girls singing their songs it just hurts my brain.

Their recognition that the grammys and all that isnt such a good thing gives me a lot more respect for them again.

Bugs29

Did anyone hear/read about his (caleb) tirade at the Reading festival? Well, he's a total idiot. His ego got dented when the crowd didn't budge during their set and so he responds by declaring that we are the kings of leon and said f-you to the crowd, smashed their guitars and threw them out into the crowd. This was the story...brutal, and also inconsistent with this article. I actually liked them but now I have a hard time listening to them......

Snoopy Died For Our Sins

cropduster82 wrote:

I wouldn't be surprised if the next KOL disc is something like Binaural or Riot Act. Real experimental sounds with no real catchy hooks. Although Caleb says he doesn't like the popularity, he sure wasn't trying to hide it this year with all the tour dates. I guess it's easy $$$ for them.

as a musician, playing gigs is what it's all about...doing press and interviews and playing the TODAY show...not so much

Ivn1322

I like KOl, I remember seeing them open up for The Strokes back in the day. I saw them at ATX when they're last album came out(before they blew up) and again at ACL. They sound great live but mostly play the same songs at every show and they hardly ever interact with the crowd. Their new found success is great but at the same time I hate going to the shows and being surrounded by 14yr olds and people that don't know about their first 3 albums. In the article he complains about having uncool fans(in mom jeans), if you didn't want them why the hell would you: make a album that any of the crappy bands like Nickelback could make, have a remix album coming out with the likes ofJustin Timberlake , come out with your own line of clothes. I really hope their next album goes back to their southern roots.

RiotAct10

If this is all true, and Ed wasn't a huge fan of the latest record, I think it shows that Ed actually has an ear for what kind of music can be popular, and that shows just how much sabotaging of his own career he's actually done!

Ivn1322

RiotAct10 wrote:

If this is all true, and Ed wasn't a huge fan of the latest record, I think it shows that Ed actually has an ear for what kind of music can be popular, and that shows just how much sabotaging of his own career he's actually done!

I totally agree with you. I mean just listen to Lost Dogs.

fife

CranMalReign wrote:

When I saw them open for PJ in '06, I had barely even heard of them. My wife and I did dig their stuff tho, and considered them on of our favorite openeing bands we'd seen at a PJ show.

Then suddenly they are played every 4th song on the radio and I have become annoyed by them.

why are you annoyed by them. unless they are the DJ playing the song you should blame the radio station not the band

the wolf

Ivn1322 wrote:

RiotAct10 wrote:

If this is all true, and Ed wasn't a huge fan of the latest record, I think it shows that Ed actually has an ear for what kind of music can be popular, and that shows just how much sabotaging of his own career he's actually done!

I totally agree with you. I mean just listen to Lost Dogs.

I agree with you both and was thinking the same thing.

fife

Anarmyofpeace wrote:

Great find. I have liked these guys for a while but their latest success has turned me off quite a bit. I'm not mad the guys are getting some fame, its just when I hear 12 yr old girls singing their songs it just hurts my brain.

Their recognition that the grammys and all that isnt such a good thing gives me a lot more respect for them again.

so you don't like the band becuase 12 year old are singing their songs. what about Pearl jam with last kiss? were you turned off the band then?

i guess 12 year olds should only listen to people like britney and crap like that so that we don't hate other bands. i wonder if fans of Dylan feel the same way about the young people who like "Everybody must get stoned" BTW, i know that is not what the song is called.

betterman22

KOL are absolutely HUGE here in Ireland. I really liked their first and second records but not a big fan of the newest one. Its mainly to do with the ridiculous radio coverage of them here. Every station plays them, their new songs are very saturated! They have headlined Oxegen for the last three years as well, you'd think people would be sick of them by now :x

blondieblue227

i didn't think ed liked any southern rock until he started propping KOL. so i was glad for that.

famous people, i swear.
i want to be popular. then it happens and they get all resentful.
KOL are young, let's see how they handle all this bullcrap. just wait and see.

CranMalReign

fife wrote:

CranMalReign wrote:

When I saw them open for PJ in '06, I had barely even heard of them. My wife and I did dig their stuff tho, and considered them on of our favorite openeing bands we'd seen at a PJ show.

Then suddenly they are played every 4th song on the radio and I have become annoyed by them.

why are you annoyed by them. unless they are the DJ playing the song you should blame the radio station not the band

I fully understand your point, and even considered it before submitting my post. But then I considered the fact that I'm annoyed when their super-radio-friendly-over-saturated stuff comes on my playlist at home, too... So yah, those tunes annoy me now, not the means by which those tunes are delivered to me.

It's not *all* their fault. Doesn't change the annoyance factor tho...

EDIT: The super-radio-friendly-over-saturated stuff was there before I noticed them become oversaturated.

The Rock

The fiasco at Reading confused me. From what they showed on BBC, you could see Caleb getting frustrated because he didn't think the crowd was responding. Once or twice he mentioned that he had high expectations seeing as it was the Reading Festival, and he didn't want to say anything negative that might ruin it.

Thing is, I think it was a total mis-communication, because from the TV broadcast you can definitely hear the crowd and they are LOUD. There's no way it was just a mixing thing making it sound louder on tv, they were fuckin' loud. Just listen to them belt out the first line of Sex On Fire, but Caleb looks super pissed at that point as if there was no crowd reaction whatsoever.

Watch the footage and you can see the crowd going nuts for most of the songs too. Perhaps they just couldn't hear the crowd very well for some reason, who knows.

Getting pissed and storming off at the end was a bit much though. They even asked BBC not to show the rest of the set because they weren't happy with it. Meaning they were embarassed by their behavior lol.

I've liked KOL since I saw them open for PJ in Nijmegen, and I like the latest album. There are some duds on it, but there are duds on all of their albums. It's a good album with great tracks.

mikepegg44

I get tired of the whole, we don't want to be popular non-sense, No one made them sign a record deal. No one makes them tour, no one. Either do it and learn to live with it or quit. I promise you, the only reason I work is to pay the bills, and if I was a musician or an actor or whatever else that got me fame, nothing would change. I wouldn't like to be famous either, but with any job you have to take the good with the bad. Boo f'n who, your job isn't all sunshine and lollipops, sucks to be you.
And to the guy who said something about nickelback being able to make their last record, Apparently you have never heard nickelback. (which is a good thing)

FenwayFaithful

F KOL! I knew it was the beginning of the end when I heard Sex on Fire on the radio. These guys just look like complete tools now. Guys, take a cue from My Morning Jacket...DONT SELL OUT! Would you rather have $10 million and alienate your core fans or have $8 million and still be able to show your face at your local coffeeshop?

fife

FenwayFaithful wrote:

F KOL! I knew it was the beginning of the end when I heard Sex on Fire on the radio. These guys just look like complete tools now. Guys, take a cue from My Morning Jacket...DONT SELL OUT! Would you rather have $10 million and alienate your core fans or have $8 million and still be able to show your face at your local coffeeshop?

oh my god, do we still have the term selling out? what does selling out even mean? is it making money? is it decided that even if i like this song, i should not put in on my record because we might get popular? i guess it is better if bands put weaker songs are teh record and then release a double b-side cd with songs that were better than the records. (oh damm, i ready for the backlash)

like.echoes

Has this band changed its musical identity for the purpose of making money? I mean THAT's selling out for sure. But just becoming popular, winning some awards - this suddenly makes them sell-outs? And not cool to like anymore? I don't really get it.

vital5

I hope they win a grammy and speak out against 'Sex on Fire' lovers haha

well I like Sex on Fire... the song is fucking good... but people grabbed onto it because it has the word 'sex' in it. Kinda sad that people buy into that side of things and not for the song itself...

on the last post... they didn't sell out. Their record is good.. it's the whole sex in the name of a song thing.

fife

CranMalReign wrote:

fife wrote:

CranMalReign wrote:

When I saw them open for PJ in '06, I had barely even heard of them. My wife and I did dig their stuff tho, and considered them on of our favorite openeing bands we'd seen at a PJ show.

Then suddenly they are played every 4th song on the radio and I have become annoyed by them.

why are you annoyed by them. unless they are the DJ playing the song you should blame the radio station not the band

I fully understand your point, and even considered it before submitting my post. But then I considered the fact that I'm annoyed when their super-radio-friendly-over-saturated stuff comes on my playlist at home, too... So yah, those tunes annoy me now, not the means by which those tunes are delivered to me.

It's not *all* their fault. Doesn't change the annoyance factor tho...

EDIT: The super-radio-friendly-over-saturated stuff was there before I noticed them become oversaturated.

sorry i just hate it when people say shit about bands becuase they became popular on radio. Pearl jam in the early 90's was always on the readio and i was Ok with that. you can say that you don't like a band becuase the music doesn't interest you but don't say you hate a band becuase they are played on the radio alot.
i am not a big fan of KOL but that becuase i don't liek teh singers voice and find the music somewhat boring.

FenwayFaithful

fife wrote:

FenwayFaithful wrote:

F KOL! I knew it was the beginning of the end when I heard Sex on Fire on the radio. These guys just look like complete tools now. Guys, take a cue from My Morning Jacket...DONT SELL OUT! Would you rather have $10 million and alienate your core fans or have $8 million and still be able to show your face at your local coffeeshop?

oh my god, do we still have the term selling out? what does selling out even mean? is it making money? is it decided that even if i like this song, i should not put in on my record because we might get popular? i guess it is better if bands put weaker songs are teh record and then release a double b-side cd with songs that were better than the records. (oh damm, i ready for the backlash)

Hold on, let me clarify...I see where your coming from. However, I think for 100% of the people on this message board, at least PART of the allure of PJ for them is the fact that they have always shunned the radio airplay, MTV videos, etc. We respect/admire that they politely say no and let their live shows do the talking. Bands such as KOL take a distinctly different route to success and for lack of a better phrase, that's selling out, no? What am I misunderstanding?

The Rock

It is stupid to say they have sold out. They're not in commercials endorsing razors or grilling machines or god knows what else. It's not their fault they've made good songs that the radio has latched on to.

And anyone who says Sex On Fire is a bad song needs their head examined. It's great to sing along to and has a great hook.

CranMalReign

fife wrote:

sorry i just hate it when people say shit about bands becuase they became popular on radio. Pearl jam in the early 90's was always on the readio and i was Ok with that. you can say that you don't like a band becuase the music doesn't interest you but don't say you hate a band becuase they are played on the radio alot.
i am not a big fan of KOL but that becuase i don't liek teh singers voice and find the music somewhat boring.

Nah, I don't hate them for it. I actually think they're a cool band, and I like most of what I know from them now (which happens to be older stuff since I went looking). I just turn them off when they're on the radio b/c I'm annoyed I'm listening to them play the same song again. It's a fine line.