How the hell did Kings of Leon get so big?

245

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  • 1STmammal2wearPants
    1STmammal2wearPants Worcester, MA Posts: 3,001
    not from me listening to them :)
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  • eeriepadave
    eeriepadave West Chester, PA Posts: 43,795
    They were already huge in The UK. In the US probably cuz somehow we caught up with the rest of the world when Sex On Fire and Use Somebody became huge.

    Me personally I discovered them in '03. They opened up for The Strokes at the Tower Theater in philly and i was instantly hooked. Saw them headlining the TLA a few months later and became a huge fan (right up front, got set list and a few guitar pics :D).

    Their latest album is probably my least fav. Love their first album and Because Of The Times. Thought Because would make them "superstars" here with Black Thumbnail, Fans, Charmer, and others. I think On Call helped a lot in getting them more recognition and paved the way for Sex and Use Somebody.
    8/28/98- Camden, NJ
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  • mulva9
    mulva9 Posts: 417
    youngster wrote:
    I saw them last April at Agganis Arena in Boston which is a hockey rink for Boston University, about 8,000 capacity. By September they were playing Mansfield (where PJ usually plays) with a capacity of 19,000. That is a huge venue jump in 5 months time.

    I saw them at Paradise less than a year before the Agganis show!
  • Dru_Cortez
    Dru_Cortez Posts: 953
    When you appeal to the lowest common denominator,
    word spreads. "Your sex is on fire" is a ridiculous lyric... Oh wait, but it's
    got the word 'sex' in it, + a decent riff behind it, so it's somehow awesome.
    Yeesh... On some level, I am happy for KoL. But seriously, how did
    this happen?
    The true test will come with their next album, which might rock or might be
    another "Because of the Times."
    Will all these fly-by-night fans keep filling big venues,
    or will they band-wagon-jump like Calgary Flames fans?
    Cheers.
    'Cause you don't give blood and take it back again.
  • facepollution
    facepollution Posts: 6,834
    Because Of The Times is a brilliant album, can't beat songs like Knocked Up, Black Thumbnail, Ragoo, Fans and especially Arizona - that song is a stone cold classic.
  • Drum Machine89
    Drum Machine89 Posts: 2,157
    My sister loves them alot, i think there okay. I do think there a good live band! 8-)
    Let them wash away
    All those yesterdays
    All those yesterdays
    All those paper plates
  • nuffingman
    nuffingman Posts: 3,014
    KOL have the honour of more shite being written about them than probably most bands. OBTN had some dodgy stuff but also some really strong songs. I've seen them twice in the last 14 months and most of the crowd near me would never see a 30th birthday again. References to them as a teenage girls band is not the case in the UK.

    They'll disappear out of sight before too long as the antics of Caleb will make this band implode.
  • Jeff Murray
    Jeff Murray Posts: 1,259
    They hit it big with by writing pop songs. I've liked these guys from the beginning and caught them live a couple of times. I hope their next album is along the lines of the untitled blues song they played at the Spectrum last year. I think they could really pull of a great blues sound, it would be a great progression in their sound in my opinion.
    If there were no Angels would there be no sin?
  • lephty
    lephty Posts: 770
    i saw them live at MSG last year i think it was... damn good live show, and the audience was saturated with gorgeous females! i felt like i was at a fashion show=p

    i like all of KOL albums, the newest album is a bit poppy but its still good. i am willing to bet they will be the next Bon Jovi in that when you go to a bar in 10 years and someone puts on some rocking "bar music" that everybody knows, it will be KOL.
  • locked
    locked Boston Posts: 4,048
    how can anyone deny the power and originality of Caleb's voice???????

    I went to see them live just to confirm its as cosistantly powerful up close as on record..

    Holy Sh*T.. He is destined to be considered one of the all time greatest singers in Rock..

    Just my opinion..

    Let's argue this after a couple of more years..
    "This here's a REQUEST!"
    EV intro to Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns
    10/25/13 Hartford
  • dunkman
    dunkman Posts: 19,646
    viagra
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • Indifference71
    Indifference71 Chicago Posts: 14,933
    facepollution wrote:
    Because Of The Times is a brilliant album, can't beat songs like Knocked Up, Black Thumbnail, Ragoo, Fans and especially Arizona - that song is a stone cold classic.

    +1.
  • nigel
    nigel Posts: 267
    By being fricking amazing live!

    I saw them in late 2008 in Bournemouth and they totally blew me away - they were fantastic. Their sound was incredible. Incidentally a few weeks before I saw Oasis at the same venue and they sucked big time, they couldn't be arsed (apart from Liam). I was a MASSIVE Oasis fan - again a huge band with a following built on the foundation of brilliant live shows - but I guess it had just become routine for them.

    KOL rock!
  • craigb
    craigb Posts: 806
    musicismylife78 wrote:

    How and why did these guys blow up?

    The answer is simple:

    "Use Somebody"
    "Speak clearly if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall"

    Los Angeles 10.7.2009
  • kenny olav
    kenny olav Posts: 3,319
    dunkman wrote:
    viagra


    :lol:


    I never understood the appeal of this band. Am I the only one who thinks the singer sounds phony? Their music sounds overly calculated and false. I like my rock and roll to be raw and real, not some prettied-up bullshit.
  • facepollution
    facepollution Posts: 6,834
    Kenny Olav wrote:
    I like my rock and roll to be raw and real, not some prettied-up bullshit.

    Have you even heard their early stuff?! Pretty much the epitome of 'raw and real'.

    Case in point:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8xP4BFvA8I

    And then there is the song Arizona, I mentioned it before, but it bears repeating, this song is a stone cold classic. Hang up your preconceived notions for a few minutes and give it a listen:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PzRpe36Qls
  • vedder_soup
    vedder_soup Posts: 5,861
    they have been big in the UK for a while, even when i was there a few years back.

    globally it took 3 words for them to get HUGE

    SEX ON FIRE

    Ah Ha Shake Heartbreak is still there best album imo
    2003 - Sydney x3,
    2006 - Reading Festival,
    2007 - Katowice, London, Nijmegen, Rock Werchter,
    2008 - MSG x2, Hartford, Mansfield x2, Beacon Theater,
    2009 - Melbourne, Sydney,
    2010 - I watched it go to fire!
    2011 - EV Brisbane x3, Newcastle, Sydney x3,
    2012 - Manchester x 2, Amsterdam x2, Prague, Berlin x2, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen,
    2014 - Sydney, EV Sydney x3

    I wave to all my Friends... Yeah!
  • kenny olav
    kenny olav Posts: 3,319
    facepollution wrote:
    Kenny Olav wrote:
    I like my rock and roll to be raw and real, not some prettied-up bullshit.

    Have you even heard their early stuff?! Pretty much the epitome of 'raw and real'.

    Case in point:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8xP4BFvA8I

    And then there is the song Arizona, I mentioned it before, but it bears repeating, this song is a stone cold classic. Hang up your preconceived notions for a few minutes and give it a listen:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PzRpe36Qls

    Okay, I'll admit I'm not that familiar with the older Kings of Leon. I did know Bucket and Molly's Chambers and a few others I can't name off hand, and some of them are kinda cool, but the dude's voice has never been compelling to me. Yeah, the sound was more raw back then, but it's not something I haven't heard from a thousand other bands. Sorry. I gave both tracks and a few more all an honest listen, and they weren't as bad back then, but I'm not convinced. I understand a little better why so many people like them... they have a good sense of melody, the rhythm section is pretty damn good, and they know how to capture the right mood, but I personally can't find the point to their music.

    They've copied the sound of a lot of good bands, and they've done it very well, but listening to KOL makes me want to listen to their influences, not them. Sure, Pearl Jam has copied a lot of bands too, but they are their own thing. If that makes sense. I barely care if it does. :mrgreen:
  • Ricsard
    Ricsard Posts: 1,943
    Personally I like their music. But I'd never call it love. For me they are nothing but a decent band that got big somehow although their albums don't sound poppy at all. ... but I always thought they were a bit overrated. Until their Nijmegen show in 2007 (supporting PJ) because there they were UTTER SHITE, the only forgettable performance of the night! Their songs sounded very alike and sorry but they were boring, predictable in spite of the fact that even Eddie came out and was singing with them :x
    I was really disappointed.

    I am with The Hives and The Strokes instead!
    Budapest.Budapest.Arnhem.Antwerpen.Vienna.Madrid.Katowice.Nova_rock.Nijmegen.Rotterdam.Berlin.Dublin.Belfast.London.Venice.Prague.Stockholm.Copenhagen.Vienna.Leeds.Milton_keynes.Padova.Prague.Seattle1.Seattle2.Chicago1.Budapest.Cracow.Vienna..>>>LONDON.BERLIN1.BERLIN2
    Eddie: Dublin & London
  • Cliffy6745
    Cliffy6745 Posts: 34,075
    nigel wrote:
    By being fricking amazing live!

    I saw them in late 2008 in Bournemouth and they totally blew me away - they were fantastic. Their sound was incredible. Incidentally a few weeks before I saw Oasis at the same venue and they sucked big time, they couldn't be arsed (apart from Liam). I was a MASSIVE Oasis fan - again a huge band with a following built on the foundation of brilliant live shows - but I guess it had just become routine for them.

    KOL rock!

    Really? I thought they were fucking horrible live at ACL, absolutely horribe. Not other way to explain it. Had liked them until I saw them live.

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