I'm a music obsessive Physics student who can be somewhat picky about grammar. Most of my reviews ha...
I'm a music obsessive Physics student who can be somewhat picky about grammar. Most of my reviews have high scores because I tend to review what I like as opposed to what I don't.
Member since:02.03.2007
Reviews:14
The third album from Kings of Leon starts in a less-than-expected manner, with the 7-minute-long 'Knocked Up'. Building up gradually it's most similar to 'Milk' out of anything they've done previously, which is a good sign. Guitars are clean, the bass lines are simple, and the song really suits its place as opener, with its gentle opening. After around two minutes the pace picks up slightly, and it gains a 'rockier' feel. The vocals are as you'd expect, the distinctive southern drawl which seems to suit them so well.
'Charmer' is much darker than the usual KoL, a menacing bassline driving the song along for the main part, with some palm-muted riffs giving it a slightly disturbing feel, and the vocal wails doing the same. It may not be their typical style but they certainly pull it off much better than I'd expect.
This track fades directly into 'On Call', the first single released from 'Because of the Times'. It's again a much darker, perhaps heavier, sound than the previous works, not as well performed
as 'Charmer' though not especially poor. Caleb's vocals again feel more powerful than on previous releases. After the chorus comes a section (including a guitar solo) which feels more like familiar territory, which is certainly welcome. Not a bad song, but probably an odd choice for single as I think it's probably one of the weakest on the album.
The interestingly named 'McFearless' is next up, some heavily distorted, dissonant guitar lines through the verse give way to a more typical sound for the chorus, which has little going on but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Not one of the better songs on the album, however.
'Black Thumbnail' has more classic rock, blues, and country influences in it, as with a lot of this band's output. In keeping with the rest of the album it does lend a darker edge to this but this song is much better than a number of tracks from the other two albums, which says quite a lot. The only problem I have is that there's not enough variation during the chorus, but overall this is certainly one of the standout songs not just from this album, but also as one to show what this band are about throughout their career.
'My Party' again shares more in common with 'A-ha Shake Heartbreak' than the first 3 or 4 tracks, though very definitely belongs on BoTT. Caleb's voice is processed, sounding almost as if he's singing over a PA speaker, which takes a little getting used to, but the song's infectious rhythm soon puts that to the back of one's mind.
'True Love Way' is full of yet more palm-muted guitars and driving bass lines, now paired with more open lyrics ("I'm still shakey when I see your face"). The end of this song feels like it could have been written during the 'A-ha Shake Heartbreak' period, and the lyrics seem to make reference to the 'Youth and Young Manhood' album - it may be coincidence that the phrase 'happy alone' appears regularly though the capitalised 'H' in the printed lyrics (despite not being the start of a sentence or line) suggests possibly not.
'Ragoo' is a more downbeat song, some blues-y guitars and Caleb's voice again sounding very 'honest'.
'Fans' gets out the acoustic guitar for a lighter feel, more like the earlier output. The bass from this song particularly stands out, for the most part just following the chords but occasionally throwing in some relatively simple but fantastically written fills. The song, like 'Knocked Up', builds near towards the end, and is arguably the best on the album.
'The Runner' is another more more gentle song, though not so effective as 'Fans', but it is given a hard act to follow, and would probably sound better than it does were it placed elsewhere.
'Trunk' begins with an almost 'western' feel, echo-y guitars and vocals couple with a repeating bass riff. It's an unusual song but it almost instantly made me want to pick up my bass which is always a sign of a good track.
'Camaro' may not be the most intellectual lyrically (basically about a girl looking cool because she owns the car it's named after) but the song's infectious enough, and Caleb's delivery is great, as per usual.
'Arizona' brings the album to a close, and appropriately slows the pace a little from that of 'Trunk' and 'Camaro'. The intricate bass-line shows that these boys can write great stuff even when doing slow songs, an ability too many bands today don't seem to have.
All-in-all, this album's a worth addition to the collection, there's probably less of a mass-market appeal than the two preceding it but the change in direction's nothing to get upset about, the band carrying off the heavier sound with aplomb. After hearing 'On Call' on TV before the release of the album I wasn't sure what to expect, as that song - while not bad - didn't sound at all special, not really up to the standards I'd expected, but it's far from the best track here, and from the very first listen 'Because of the Times' is well worth the money.
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Aha Shake Heartbreakmay have blown open the doors of fame for Kings of Leon, but their ... more
third full-length album (named for a United Pentecostal Church ministers' conference) could well usher the Nashville foursome directly to rock and roll's zenith. The...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Aha Shake Heartbreak may have blown open the doors of fame for Kings of Leon, but their ... more
third full-length album (named for a United Pentecostal Church ministers' conference) could well usher the Nashville foursome directly to rock and roll's zenith. Th...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Advantages: Every song is completely different, original and like nothing you'll have heard before. Amazing! Disadvantages: I wish there were more tracks!
Advantages: Every song is completely different, original and like nothing you'll have heard before. Amazing! Disadvantages: I wish there were more tracks!
Advantages: High Octane album packed with explosive and fantastic guitar riffs Disadvantages: Lead singer Followhill's sometimes garbled lyrics are hard to understand
Apr 4th, 2007
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