The reason why Kings of Leon have so many haters
musicismylife78
Posts: 6,116
im a fan of the band. i loved Only By the Night. But i think the hate people have of the band is not so much that they were and are now one of the biggest bands on the planet, and were once indie darlings, but more to do with how they live and act.
I see them alot like u2, obviously another band thats among a handful of biggest bands on earth, but u2 is often hated. not really for their music or the scale of it, but because how opulant and extravagent they are and how they have social consciences and how thats seem as a paradox. bono no doubt genuinely cares for helping africa out of debt and helping the poor and all that stuff but he also lives literally like a king, and like a rock star in the true sense of the word. they fly private planes, they live in huge houses, they buy luxury items.
With Kings of Leon, they never have been a political band, but i think its obvious they live the extravagent lifestyle. and thats their perogative and choice obviously, but I think people see the band as rich people who live rich and flaunt it. Or dont hide it. This isnt a band with members who live a frugal existence. they spend and live like the wealthy people they are. They are one of the biggest bands in the world and they live like that. U2 and Kings of Leon both.
remember, how many bands nowadays are on commercials and liscence their songs? A TON of bands. And none are considered sellouts. Hell the shins and modest mouse did mcdonalds and budweiser commercials respectively and both are indie darlings. Iron and Wine did a m and m's commercial for godssake! But neither band is flying private jets and smoking expensive cuban cigars either....
Thats my view of the hate of kIngs of leon. its not the sound. its not the percieved change in music style or tone. its the lifestyle. When you make money, you arent supposed to live like they do.
I see them alot like u2, obviously another band thats among a handful of biggest bands on earth, but u2 is often hated. not really for their music or the scale of it, but because how opulant and extravagent they are and how they have social consciences and how thats seem as a paradox. bono no doubt genuinely cares for helping africa out of debt and helping the poor and all that stuff but he also lives literally like a king, and like a rock star in the true sense of the word. they fly private planes, they live in huge houses, they buy luxury items.
With Kings of Leon, they never have been a political band, but i think its obvious they live the extravagent lifestyle. and thats their perogative and choice obviously, but I think people see the band as rich people who live rich and flaunt it. Or dont hide it. This isnt a band with members who live a frugal existence. they spend and live like the wealthy people they are. They are one of the biggest bands in the world and they live like that. U2 and Kings of Leon both.
remember, how many bands nowadays are on commercials and liscence their songs? A TON of bands. And none are considered sellouts. Hell the shins and modest mouse did mcdonalds and budweiser commercials respectively and both are indie darlings. Iron and Wine did a m and m's commercial for godssake! But neither band is flying private jets and smoking expensive cuban cigars either....
Thats my view of the hate of kIngs of leon. its not the sound. its not the percieved change in music style or tone. its the lifestyle. When you make money, you arent supposed to live like they do.
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Well said.Surely no one here thinks P.J live in shacks and jump in a transits to travel.Just because they aren't media darling's the way KOL are at the moment doesn't mean that they are any less extravagant in their personal lifes ... did you see picks of their "practice space" recently and Eddie's wedding pic's they clothes weren't bought at Walmart ... and why should you expect them to be.
With success comes wealth and there can be a balance of charitable work alongside personal extravagance.
It is smart to strike while the iron is hot, but it is also a good idea to go away for awhile as well (sort of what U2 does after each big tour).
...not to mention KOL are excellent and they seem like great guys to me who just like to get pretty wild...reminds me of me and my friends.
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If people are gonna hate on them then they should talk about how when they were trying to get a record deal they weren't even good enough to play their own songs.
I think the change in styles has to do with growing musical ability.
i know what you mean, however as i said, its not a universal thing we are talking about here. As I said in my original post, many "it" buzz bands of the moment liscence their music to tv shows and commercials and movies as a way to make money as a result of not being able to depend on cd sales anymore. Few, if any, of those bands are called sell outs. Why werent the Shins blacklisted for doing a jingle for Mcdonalds and to top it off liscencing their song to Garden State which made them household names? Why isnt Isaac Brock protested and shunned because they liscened a song to a minivan commercial? Why or how can Sam Beam do a commercial for M and M's and then be a critical and commercial darling?
Theres a disconnect here. On one hand you have U2 and Kings of Leon, two humongous bands with a huge following, and fan base but also a large and vocal hater contingent as well. They sell millions of records, sell out stadiums and arenas of 20/30,000 plus people and live the lifestyle of rock gods. They are considered sellouts.
On the other hand, you have the shins or modest mouse, huge groups in their own right, who do commercials and liscence songs to corporations, yet their fanbase doesnt view them, nor do the critics view them as sellouts?
Again, i dont really honestly care if you hate the kings of Leon or not. I didnt start this thread to defend the band. My position is that the band is hated because they live fabulously extravagent lives and flaunt it.
That to me is the only explanation of why bands like The National can liscence songs to tv shows and be among the most important bands of the 2000's, and then you have Kings of Leon and U2, who are considered sellouts.
On the o
Wealth is a big issue in the world and in America. And I think as a whole, our population dreams of hitting it rich, being fabulously wealthy, but we dont like people acting like it.
LOL Don't get me wrong I
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What makes you think KOL live extravagant lives?
Again, as with u2, if you think these guys live quiet frugal lives you are crazy. they are ridiculously successful and wealthy and their lives are fitting to that
I am not saying they live frugal lives, I am just asking for more proof that they live like rock gods.
As with U2, they're one of my all-time favorite bands ever. They knew from the start that they wanted to be the biggest band in the world and they are. It seems like they go into hibernation, like someone said before, after tours.
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you should share your music with us sometime. Would love to hear the extent of your talent and how innovative your music is.
especially their older stuff in particular, their music is good IMO
as to personal lives
well it's hard for people to judge, no one can judge because if we were in that position, where we were a successful band making money, whose to say that we wouldn't spend a lot and live an extravagant lifestyle?
just because someone is wealthy and successful doesn't mean they must be hated for it,
like someone said, if they weren't changed by it, that would be wierd
it's easy to say, they shouldn't live like that, rock star business blah blah, but it's their life choice. i've seen many "ordinary" people who are well off live like that too, wealthy people who live lives of luxury
so just because they are famous, they can't?
the term "sell out" has always confused me as well, who are we to say when people sell out? we don't know what's in their minds,their hearts, their intentions or what not
IMO they get haters for being mainstream, which is stupid to me.just because other people like/dislike a band you like, shouldn't affect how you see the band
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
i don't think people think kings of leon are sellouts because of their lifestyle or liscensing music to advertisers, it's because they changed their music to appeal to a mass audience. personally, i never thought kings of leon were that great to begin with, but i can see why fans of their old material would turn on the band after their last two albums. it's top 40 radio rock. if you're into that, that's fine. but a lot of people hate mainstream pop music, which their first few albums weren't.
i love some of the bands you mentioned, the national, the shins, and of course pearl jam. another one of my favorite bands, wilco, cut a deal with volkswagen a few years ago after "sky blue sky" came out as well. the difference between these bands and kings of leon, is that those bands never sacrificed their artistic integrity to sell their music to a mass audience. they simply used commercials/tv shows as a way of getting their music heard. after all, every musician wants people to listen, or they wouldn't be playing music. anyway, i think that's what you're missing here. people don't give a shit what their rock stars are driving, where they're living, or what they're drinking, they just care about the music they are hearing, and kings of leon have without a doubt changed. whether for better or worse depends on personal taste, but they certainly aren't making the same music they were making before "only by the night".
I just don't care for their music that much.
A better title for this thread might be, "One of the Reasons why Kings of Leon have so many haters."
I actually like the music they make from an instrumental stand point at least some of it.
I saw them as an opening band for the secret machines about 6 or so years ago so i've seen them live. It was in a small club and the crowd was all into it. It was when that album with "cockfight" on it came out.
They are not for me. For their sake i'm glad people like them.
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Also, the entire band has changed their image from the early days. Gone are the scruffy rednecks from tennessee...they are now clean shaven pretty boys in tight jeans. yuck.
They even started their own clothing line for christ sake.
So the hatred towards this band has absolutely nothing to do with the lifestyle they lead. It has everything to do with the shift in musical style to top 40 power ballads...and the complete transformation of their image. They have become the present day Journey minus steve perry.
Their first two albums will always be among my favorites...until they go back to that style of music they are dead to me.
but ive also pointed out, correctly, and few people have even commented on it, is this idea that in this day and age alot of artists change their image, or do this to expand their brand. And by the way, is writing anthem sing alongs really trying to go mainstream? Hell Arcade Fire, a beloved band, was writing those types of songs from the get go, even when their shows were just small club shows. Now they sell out arenas.
The point is, jack White wrote a jingle for Coke and for James Bond. Yet he is among the most revered and respected musicians working today. Damien Rice liscened his song to Lost. One of the few artists to get his songs played on the series, and he is among the most respected singer songwriters in the world. Sam Beam, whose latest album is getting mixed reviews liscened his song to Twilight and M and M's and he still released one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2007, so that obviously didnt harm him. Then you have bands like Of Montreal who do an Outback Steakhouse commercial and are basically crucified for it. As I said, if it was a universal thing that a band goes or attempts to go mainstream and is hated for it, thats one thing. But as my points indicate, it isnt universal. For every Kings of Leon who are called sellouts, there is a band who appears on Greys Anatomy or The Hills and GAINS FANs AND CREDIBILITY.
All I'm sayin is that your original point was that people dislike KOL for their lifestyle. That's not true. As someone who was once a fan of their music, my issue with them is their transformation of their image and music. They are now a band that produces top 40 garbage. Call it what you want, but that's the reason why I am no longer a fan.
I'd feel the same way about any other band I like. It would be the same thing as PJ putting out 2 entire albums of Last Kiss type songs. I would lose interest quickly. Thankfully we never have to worry about that happening