Band to watch

It was a boring Saturday night in September of 2008, and I was watching SNL, trying not to think of the paper I was supposed to be writing (watching might be exaggerating because of the fact that SNL hasn't been funny in a long time.) My eyes were starting to glaze over until I heard loud music coming from the SNL stage. The singer's voice was one of the most unique gravely sounding voices that I'd ever heard. The guitarist, bass player, and drummer all had their own unique sound as well. I instantly loved the music and fell in love with the band. Any guesses?



KINGS OF LEON


The three brothers Caleb (vocals and guitar), Jared (bass), and Nathan Followill (drums) and their cousin Matthew (lead guitar) were rocking out on stage. They might be a family band, but don't go thinking they're like the Jonas Brothers. The rock band from Nashville, Tennessee sang their singles "Use Somebody" and "Sex on Fire" off their new album "Only by the Night." After hearing Kings of Leon's performance, I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of them before. Thinking they were a new band, I went online and looked for their one album, only to find that they had already made 3 albums! I was shocked! After doing some research that night, I found that Kings of Leon had achieved widespread fame in Europe. In the UK albums chart, all three of their earlier albums had peaked in the top 5.


What I want to know is, why weren't Kings of Leon getting any airtime in America before their 4th album?!! After all that was their home country.

I can only guess that it was because of their different sound. Their 3 earlier cd's sounded like nothing I'd ever heard before. The popular music that's played on the radio in America is usually Taylor Swift, rap music, or pop singers (Lady GaGa.) There's nothing wrong with this type of music, but where's the variety?

All 4 Kings of Leon cd's had the variety that the radio's should've been DYING to play.

Their first cd "Youth and Young Manhood," was released in 2003. I wouldn't recommend this cd if your used to their "Only by the Night" sound and aren't open to new things. Caleb doesn't pronounce the words too clear and there is some screaming if you're put off by that. I personally loved the cd because of it's hard southern rock sound, (and use of the cowbell :p)

Favorite tracks: California Waiting, Red Morning Light (you might recognize this song from an old Ford commercial) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv7vr6oE3U8, and Trani


Kings of Leon's second cd "Aha Shake Heartbreak," was released in the US in 2005. This cd still had some of their old sound from "Youth and Young Manhood," but a little more put together. I have to say, that I like every single track on this cd, so favorites were hard to pick.

Favorite tracks: Slow Night So Long, King of the Rodeo, Taper Jean Girl, Milk, The Bucket, Four Kicks


Their third cd "Because of the Times" was my favorite out of all four. Every single song from that cd is amazing! Seriously, buy it, you won't be dissappointed.

Favorite tracks: Knocked Up (You have to listen to the whole 7 minutes!)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mzklb9nkXM, On Call (the bass sounds really cool in this) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBZsGsie5uI, Charmer (Yes, Caleb screams in this but it's awesome. And Again the bass is great.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCd1vXsvkV4, Fans, and Arizona

Their fourth and most recent cd "Only by the Night" is amazing as well. I also loved all the tracks on this cd and have probably broken the cd from playing it so much. It still has some of the "Because of the Times" sound, but a little different. Buy the cd, and decide for yourself :)

Favorite tracks: Closer (Distorted bass, enough said) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkGhDHP093M, Use Somebody, Sex on Fire, Cold Desert, Revelry.

Reports from Nathan Followill's official twitter confirm that Kings of Leon have been in the studio working on their 5th album.

On April 26th he tweeted:

doctorfollowill Morning. Starting week 4 in the studio and we are getting to the fun stuff.

I think that the timing to start their new album is perfect, because now they have Europe and America watching.

I could ramble on about Kings of Leon forever, but I'll cut it short and say that I think they're gonna be around for a long time. Maybe the majority of America wasn't paying attention to them before, but I think with their 4th cd they've won most people over. I would love to see them bring back some of their old "Aha shake" and "Because of the Times" sound to their next cd. Whatever they do, I'm sure that it'll be amazing, because let's face it, they're the kings ;]