Kings of Leon...are they really that good?

Thoughts_Arrive · February 2009

I've not yet had a go at listening to their albums but keep seeing TV ads here promoting their albums.
The ad hypes them up, so I am wondering are they worth a listen?
Excuse my ignorance I ignore what's hot and mainstream.

mert · February 2009

Well, it's all subjective. I think they are that good, but a lot of people don't.

If you do want to check them out, I would probably start out with either Because of the Times or Aha Shake Heartbreak, depending on what you tend to listen to... Aha Shake is more raw, BOTT is more polished. Their first album, Youth and Young Manhood, is very raw, and (natural progression) their latest album Only By The Night is the most polished and mainstream.

You may love them, you may hate them. You'll never know until you try it.

And all the criticism they get, they are all extremely talented at their instruments and amazing live.

ZosoCat · February 2009

they have some good tracks in their early albums but that's it to be honest... I think they are pretty typical type of mainstream band: hyped and overrated.

soulsinging · February 2009

They're good. Their most recent album (Only By the Night) is great. It's got kind of a U2/Afghan Whigs thing going on... dark grooves and soulful vocals on very catchy songs with soaring choruses. Good stuff. The album before that (Because of the Times) is similar and also very good.

Their first two albums (Aha Shake Heartbreak, Youth & Young Manhood) are very different from their last two. Much more garage rock sounding. Kind of like the Strokes only with balls, southern weirdness, and a hard rocking edge.

thunderDAN · February 2009

the first couple albums were awesome, but the last one sucks

Red Lukin2 · February 2009

thunderDAN wrote:

the first couple albums were awesome, but the last one sucks

SomethingCreative · February 2009

thunderDAN wrote:

the first couple albums were awesome, but the last one sucks

I dig the new one...

I checked out their early albums when they toured with PJ but I just couldn't get into them.

mfc2006 · February 2009

soulsinging wrote:

They're good. Their most recent album (Only By the Night) is great. It's got kind of a U2/Afghan Whigs thing going on... dark grooves and soulful vocals on very catchy songs with soaring choruses. Good stuff. The album before that (Because of the Times) is similar and also very good.

Their first two albums (Aha Shake Heartbreak, Youth & Young Manhood) are very different from their last two. Much more garage rock sounding. Kind of like the Strokes only with balls, southern weirdness, and a hard rocking edge.

i agree with this. they're at their best when they mix up the setlist with old & new.

soulsinging · February 2009

thunderDAN wrote:

the first couple albums were awesome, but the last one sucks

FYI to the OP: this is what you say if you want to appear cool. This way you can acknowledge their goodness while still maintaining your "I'm too indie and unique to like anything remotely poppy or mainstream" edge.

mfc2006 · February 2009

personally, i love their first two records. but i'd take their last two over the first two anyday. esp Because Of The Times. "My Party" is fucking badass rock n roll.

ZosoCat · February 2009

soulsinging wrote:

thunderDAN wrote:

the first couple albums were awesome, but the last one sucks

FYI to the OP: this is what you say if you want to appear cool. This way you can acknowledge their goodness while still maintaining your "I'm too indie and unique to like anything remotely poppy or mainstream" edge.

remotely pop or mainstream? this is a PJ board.. Pearl Jam are mainstream to a point and popular. I'm one of many who say the new sound sucks but I mean bands like the hold steady and MMJ are more popular now... They never changed their style to be more popular... This is what people are getting at. I'm fine with KOL before their last album but they sought after this huge fame unlike no other indie band before. Even one of the Gallagher brothers from Oasis said they sold out (which is saying a lot).

You can still play big stadiums like MSG and keep your integrity (i.e MMJ, Neil Young etc. etc.). KOL have changed their musical style for the bad. PJ, Silverchair and a lot of other bands changed their styles but they didn't sacrifice their integrity for a few more dollars and teeny booper fans. I have seen KOL live many times before they became huge but the last time I saw them I noticed a shift in their fan demographic. Like what you like but a lot of people have been turned off them now because of the choice they made to change their image, music and what the stand for.

soulsinging · February 2009

TW97526 wrote:

remotely pop or mainstream? this is a PJ board.. Pearl Jam are mainstream to a point and popular. I'm one of many who say the new sound sucks but I mean bands like the hold steady and MMJ are more popular now... They never changed their style to be more popular... This is what people are getting at. I'm fine with KOL before their last album but they sought after this huge fame unlike no other indie band before. Even one of the Gallagher brothers from Oasis said they sold out (which is saying a lot).

You can still play big stadiums like MSG and keep your integrity (i.e MMJ, Neil Young etc. etc.). KOL have changed their musical style for the bad. PJ, Silverchair and a lot of other bands changed their styles but they didn't sacrifice their integrity for a few more dollars and teeny booper fans. I have seen KOL live many times before they became huge but the last time I saw them I noticed a shift in their fan demographic. Like what you like but a lot of people have been turned off them now because of the choice they made to change their image, music and what the stand for.

What good is being in a rock band if you're not going to be able to get away with nailing jailbait all the time on tour? More power to KoL for going where the action is. They're still writing the songs they want, so who the fuck are you to decide that they're faking? Maybe they just changed as they grew up from teeny boppers themselves into young musicians. Nirvana did the same thing from Bleach to Nevermind.

I love the damned if you do, damned if you don't approach. Radiohead changes their sound and they're innovators. Hold Steady doesn't and they're just staying true to themselves. Oasis doesn't and they're just one-trick ponies. KoL does and they're clearly selling out. I will never be able to figure out the indie rules of etiquette for when you're allowed to change your sound and when you're not.

I went to a KoL show recently on Halloween. The band rocked, but man did their demographic fanbase suck (because that's what's important... if their fans aren't cool, the band can't be either right?). I would have had a much better time at the show if instead of being surround by smoking hot girls in slutty halloween costumes shaking their asses all night, I could have been in a crowd with REAL music fans... you know, single pale white dudes with emo glasses and funky clothes all standing and taking notes for the review they'll write on their blog that no one reads tomorrow. Now THAT is what I call rock and roll!

mfc2006 · February 2009

soulsinging wrote:

I would have had a much better time at the show if instead of being surround by smoking hot girls in slutty halloween costumes shaking their asses all night, I could have been in a crowd with REAL music fans... you know, single pale white dudes with emo glasses and funky clothes all standing and taking notes for the review they'll write on their blog that no one reads tomorrow. Now THAT is what I call rock and roll!

restlesssoul · February 2009

soulsinging wrote:

TW97526 wrote:

, single pale white dudes with emo glasses and funky clothes all standing and taking notes for the review they'll write on their blog that no one reads tomorrow. Now THAT is what I call rock and roll!

wow :P

Red Lukin2 · February 2009

TW97526 wrote:

remotely pop or mainstream? this is a PJ board.. Pearl Jam are mainstream to a point and popular. I'm one of many who say the new sound sucks but I mean bands like the hold steady and MMJ are more popular now... They never changed their style to be more popular... This is what people are getting at. I'm fine with KOL before their last album but they sought after this huge fame unlike no other indie band before. Even one of the Gallagher brothers from Oasis said they sold out (which is saying a lot).

You can still play big stadiums like MSG and keep your integrity (i.e MMJ, Neil Young etc. etc.). KOL have changed their musical style for the bad. PJ, Silverchair and a lot of other bands changed their styles but they didn't sacrifice their integrity for a few more dollars and teeny booper fans. I have seen KOL live many times before they became huge but the last time I saw them I noticed a shift in their fan demographic. Like what you like but a lot of people have been turned off them now because of the choice they made to change their image, music and what the stand for.

I couldn't have said it better myself..you nailed it.

a5pj · February 2009

I think that their music is good, not great. But their music is great when you compare it to a large portion of what else is out there right now.

Their new album is pretty decent, i've listened to it more than a couple times after the initial first few listens, so that says something. And they were very good at lolla before pj in 07, one of the better bands I saw at the festival.

As for them selling out and such, I don't really know any of their stuff prior to them touring with pj... I did see that they looked like tools on SNL, (and by tool I mean clothes and haircuts that looked like the Jonas brothers) hehe.

PJGARDEN · February 2009

Here we go again......I guess it's time to beat the dead horse.

To the OP, I say stop reading this thread, go listen and see if you like them. If you do great, if not, that's ok too.

swede · February 2009

I really enjoy their music - aha shake heartbreak is currently my favourite album of theirs

thunderDAN · February 2009

soulsinging wrote:

thunderDAN wrote:

the first couple albums were awesome, but the last one sucks

FYI to the OP: this is what you say if you want to appear cool. This way you can acknowledge their goodness while still maintaining your "I'm too indie and unique to like anything remotely poppy or mainstream" edge.

What is your problem? Seriously, you sit on this board all day and attack anyone that has an opinion different than yours. Didn't you get banned from the old board for doing the same types of things. You have a response to 95% of the threads on this board and most of them are attacking someone who doesn't think along the same lines as you.

thunderDAN · February 2009

and Radiohead changed their sound to a sound nobody has heard before. They took instruments and effects that have never been heard before. Kings of Leon made an album of everything they thought their fans liked off the previous release, while trying to make a CD that would make them blow up in the States. It's no different than what Coldplay has become- so involved in your own desire for fame while you forget your craft. They never were an 'indie' band, and it's funny that you are accusing me of being 'too indie' on a Pearl Jam board.

WashMyLove · February 2009

I really like them. Some people say they sold out. I really don't care if they are considered mainstream now . I like their old and new music. They are def. worth seeing live. Awesome band!

Kings of Leon...are they really that good?

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