Youth And Young Manhood

I recently saw a reel that described Kings of Leon as “Southern Fried Strokes.” I thought it was a stretch. Then i heard this album. It is not a stretch.

I feel like Jeff Winger when he found out the study group was abbreviating Barenaked Ladies' name. Wow, three albums for Kings of Leon, really? They're so fundamental that we're celebrating their debut album? Call me a selfish, jaded ass, but that's too much. Best track: Joe's Head

I feel like I should have enjoyed this more than I did. It was fine, but something just felt off for me which causes me to like it a lot less. Maybe it's the vocalists voice which I find just a little bit annoying. 2.5/5

There is a received wisdom that KoL were good in their early days, but declined when they went mainstream and got popular. This, their debut album, blows that theory out of the water and proves they were pretty bad from day one. Rating: 1.5/5 Playlist track: Red Morning Light Date listened: 21/12/23

Painfully boring. Annoying vocals and cliche instrumentation. Feels like the mix between Lynyrd Skynyrd, The White Stripes, and The Strokes went rancid in the fridge. And those were all, at best, 3s themselves. Cold garbage, solid 1.0

Very generic mid-2000s rock. I'd heard a few of these, you know, they're fine, but I can't see how they've achieved a billion streams on one of their tunes. The singer had the sound of a less committed Damon Albarn.

If you actually like rock, you won’t like this.

Bland guitar rock with grating vocals. Never understood the appeal of this band and this album only made my opinion of them worse.

Go to your dad's car and find his CDs. I guaranteed you can find something better than what's in this album. You've heard this kind of rock before in bars, parties, and festivals. The lead singer has the voice and charisma of a goldfish with the band providing filler instrumentals. There's no passion to it; one song leads into the next and some do sound different (especially the pop sounding songs on here). It's by the numbers southern rock about the sad things in life. It's not enough to get a recommend from me though. Spend your time with something else.

I've never really been the biggest fan of Kings of Leon, this album definitely backs this statement up. I felt each track sounded very similar to the last, making my listening experience rather boring. Not to mention, I cannot stand the frontman's vocals; it sounds as if he's screaming with a bunch of marbles in his mouth. Long story, short, this album is just a bunch of distorted noise.

This album is fucking awesome, I am bias and I will fight you if you disagree.

This is the Kings I remember before they got pretty and had their sex be on fire

Is this a true 4 or does it just remind me of a happier time in my life? I guess we will never know.

Dull as heck. Why recommend this one when it's neither their best nor their most popular album?

I wondered if this might make the list. I long for the days of old KoL.

Hands down their best album. I mean COME ON these songs are so EXCITING! They captured a raw energy that was still present in their second album, but by albums 3 and 4 had shifted into something else - not something bad, but something different and less magical that what they captured here on their debut. I watched some YouTube video the other day where they attributed the shift in sound to opening up for U2 on tour, which made a lot of sense to me. They were new to big arenas, and after listening to U2 play mid tempo rock arena jams night after night, how could their sound not change? So what they captured on this album was a specific moment in time in their development, and I'm glad we have it. I love ALL of these songs and will continue to come back to this album as I have over many years.

I think it says a lot about an album when the final track makes you want to listen to the album again. Red Morning Light is a great start, Joe's Head certainly grabs your attention, California Waiting, and Molly's Chambers are great tracks but there's something I really love about Talihina Sky.

23rd June 2023 Listened while driving to camping with Joe and Adna outside Leicester. One of the cornerstones of my teenage years, an absolute stone cold banger.

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Red morning light, Happy alone, Wasted time, California waiting, Molly’s chamber, Holy roller novocaine

Enjoyable but his voice is just so affected…

I gave my friend some serious side eye when he recommended this album to me a while back. "Kings of Leon? Seriously?" But to my surprise, it was a seriously great album. And I still really enjoyed it on this listen. So much better than their later stuff. More bluesy, more punk rock, grittier. IDK, just better.

Did not like at all

Yo….this shit suuucks.

ace

Love this album

A fantastic album, been listening to it for years. Favourite tracks are: 'Red Morning Light,' 'Molly's Chambers,' 'Holy Roller Novocaine' & 'Talihina Sky'

LOVE THE OLD STUFF!

I like this one. Had heard a few of their songs before. Really liked this.

não tinha direito de ser tão bom. Quando bandas fazem um álbum simples com bom rock, não tem muito erro. Aí os cara vão e me meter umas música pretensiosa como Sex is on Fire num álbum futuro e acaba com a reputação

Yes yes yes. No nonsense, full energy, distinct style. Came through like a breath of fresh air at the time. I saw them live after this album, then after then album that followed. The first gig they literally said nothing between the songs. Absolutely loved it. The second gig you could tell they hit the big time as they had a glitter ball on stage and I think they may have introduced themselves!

Excellent alt rock album

No private session used for Spotify. I have this CD somewhere, used to listen to this album a lot while on road trips or getting pumped up at the gym. Note to self, listen to this album more. This album just rocks.

Great album. I haven't returned to it for a while and I'd forgotten how good it is. Not as good as Aha Shake Heartbreak, but still far better than anything else they have produced since. There was an intensity and a rawness to their sound that they lost when they became more polished (and when they began to sound more and more like a Strokes tribute act).

Maybe I‘m boring, maybe I‘m nostalgic but this one is awesome! Never heard it before but it got the typical 2000s rock sound and is completely different to the KOL that became mainstream.

So many classics! I didn't know they were all on this album. Feels like Bob Dylan crawled into a punk basement in the UK in the 80s/90s.

fun rock album.

This was a big album for me when I was 15 so it’s impossible to hear objectively. I used to turn my stereo balance all the way to one speaker so it would cut out one guitar part (that had been hard panned to one side) and play along on my guitar for hours. I never really got the strokes comparison, in my teenage brain this was more a mid 70s credence style sound rather than late 70s post punk sound like television, that the strokes seemed to be going for. I love the live sound of the album and the short impactful guitar solos. It’s an easy 5 for personal reasons but I do wonder why it’s on the list.

So much better than I expected this to be. Wow. Great rock and roll that sounds classic yet modern, and a totally different sound than their poppier 2009 smash (which I also like). His voice was awesome and this just fun to hear.

Good album, really liked all of it.

Don't care what anyone thinks about KoL but this album is so good

Nice

Fucking love their early work. So many bangers

Love it

Fun album. Still their best.

01) Red Morning Light - 10,0 02) Happy Alone - 8,5 03) Wasted Time - 10,0 04) Joe's Head - 8,0 05) Trani - 8,0 06) California Waiting - 10,0 07) Spiral Staircase - 8,5 08) Molly's Chambers - 10,0 09) Genius - 8,5 10) Dusty - 8,0 11) Holly Roller Novocaine - 10,0 12) Talihina Sky - 10,0 TOTAL: 9,13 (91/100) Current ranking: 22/267 Kings Of Leon are one of my favorite bands from the early 2000s, this album is one of their better ones. "Molly's Chambers" is my favorite song on the album, and I had the opportunity to listen to them live twice.

Na al die jaren blijft het een topalbum, veel lekkere nummers, echt een goede sound

Joe's Head is their best song

From when KOL kicked ass! So much energy. Red Morning Light one of the top 3 all time uses of a cowbell! Surely? Can’t argue with that. Caleb’s vocals occasionally scream like a mad lunatic, sometimes completely incoherent but I still love them. The album captures all of their live energy - simple party rock and roll.

Great debut album from the Kings of Leon. It is a much rawer bit of southern garage rock and much less polished than their later efforts

Very very good

Very nice album - I like it. Great debut!

My favorite Kings of Leon, when they were raw, hillbilly-sounding rock. Everything later was more polished and produced. Still great, but this first album is the most fun.

Really liked this album. It had me wanting more and had me going to Only By the Night. I think its a 5

A wise old sound engineer once told me there are two things a great album can be made of. Great songs or great memories. And sometimes both. Well, the songs on Youth & Young Manhood are regularly great (Dusty, Trani, Holy Roller Novocaine, Red Morning Light…) but the memories are what make this an easy 5 for me. I went to university in 2002 believing nightclubs to be somewhere you went reluctantly so as not to be the only one home on a Saturday night, danced ironically to bad house music and tried desperately not to waste all your CD money for the month on sickly alcopops or horrible lager. I left in 2005 with great memories of nights at Fuzz Club and the Leadmill spent in my ripped jeans, t-shirt and tie, listening to great indie rock’n’roll and drinking (horrible AND sickly - but I didn’t care) snakebite til the early hours. It only takes the opening chords of Molly’s Chambers to transport me back. Yes, I grew out of those days around the time KoL grew out of them too and became a shit U2 tribute act without the tunes. But in those heady days of my own youth and young manhood, this was a firm favourite.

I don't know what my problem was with the prior Kings of Leon album we listened to but this one was totally my jam. Well, one of my jams at least. I dug it start to finish.

Like being a sophomore in college all over again.

Oh hell yea Kings Of Leon were my band for while in the 2000s into the 2010s. Come Around Sundown was maybe the last new album I bought on CD (at my beloved MusicWorld). Wild how they were a band that didn’t really last past that era though, even though they are putting out new music and are seemingly trying to build an audience on TikTok. This album is amazing. I go back and forth on which of their four albums are their best. This pretty much keep the momentum throughout so this is a likely winner.

Just a huge series of bangers

As someone that’s only listened to the biggest hits of kings of leon, this album was more interesting from the perspective of being a blueprint for the magnum opus work later in the decade that they would come out with. Outside of that, this is an unapologetically early 2000s alternative rock album that has a couple of duds but is still a fine listen. Holy roller novocaine is probs my favorite.

Not as bad as I was thinking that it might be. 3.5 bumped to 4 because I went in with a bad attitude towards the band and got humbled

Very lively. Nice sound. The lead singer doesn't have a range, but he has a quality. Very guitar heavy.

It was okay, would give it three stars but then the last song came and now it’s four after all

Way more enjoyable than their follow-up album, inexplicably on this list. An entertaining southern rock album full of energy and a bit of grit.

I hadn’t heard of KoL until sex on fire. Very interesting to hear their early work which sounds a bit less refined but more rockier. I really liked it.

I've always really liked their album "Only By The Night" but hadn't ever gone back to listen to their first album. I liked this one too, just a little less. Sounded a bit less polished than some of their later stuff. But still love this dude's voices and the style they play

Great album

This album is some nice southern rock that is the south’s equivalent of The Strokes. I used to hate the vocalist when I listened to Sex on Fire, but now I kinda think his voice fits more with the vibes of this album than that song. 4.4/5 Fav: “Happy Alone” Least Fav: “Trani”

Definitely not bad. Most surprising find so far

I almost couldn't bring myself to type the name of the album into Skype. Who named this? Anyway, better than I expected. Moved right along in a sprightly manner. The band is spot on. The singer is ... a bit much. 3.5 rounding up for energy.

Quite liked this one.

Such a solid record

Sort of Southern rock's equivalent of The Strokes. The aesthetic is loose but the overall effect is actually quite tight and polished. Spawned quite a lot of pale imitations but this is a very good, consistent record.

Kings of Leon, what a great debut album, Youth & Young Manhood is a fantastic testament to early 2000s alt-rock/garage-rock. There are so many great singles on this that you can't help but do at least a little head-bop to. With songs featured in TV Commercials, in Movies and as part of the FIFA games soundtrack, it's easy to see why this album is part of this list. Best: Red Morning Light; Molly's Chambers Worst: Holly Roller Novocaine

I wasn’t really sure where this band came from when they had gotten as big as they did - but I always enjoyed listening to them as I did this album. Solid rock and roll that leans on the band’s southern rock roots. Will listen again.

8/10 versatile and interesting

These guys started out so well. Forever tainted by the sex on fire phase. This is a good listen though

Overall decent album but absolutely loved Red Morning Light. First song I’ve downloaded so far! Insanely good intro to the album but nothing really matched it subsequently.

A timely reminder that the Kings of Leon didn’t always suck.

Definitely the best Kings of Leon album. Such a belter. Before they got really bad, this is such a nice fresh, simple sound.

Such a great album! I wish they'd kept up with this feel more in later years. Just so much more fun! Upbeat and solid rock, but still airs of pop that would be accessible to a lot of people.

Super fun! Definitely good ol' indie rock with a Southern influence. I liked the energy and song writing. Definitely want to revisit more of Kings of Leon.

Garage rock. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

Don’t think it was Wasted Time listening to this album in the Red Morning Light. I liked it, but not as Genius as some of their other albums.

What an incredibly surprisingly album, really it's average rock with an odd singer but infectious energy pushes this up. If I wasn't in the mood this would be a low 3. When in the mood songs like "Joe's Head" really hit for me. 4

great job then, almost last good

J'ai trouvé ca super rafraîchissant même si c'est une recette plus à l'ancienne Je ne croyais pas que ce bande faisait ce style 5 4.90

Iets meer rockabilly dan ik dacht dat ze waren. Goed album met een paar toffe riffs

Full of energy, probably from amphetamines, this a genuinely great debut. Some of the lyrics are a bit dated these days. The music has a redneck jangle that is irresistible in the right setting.

Young rock from the 2000s. Nice and energetic. Not perfect but pretty cool.

If I wanted to listen to Absolute Radio I just would: jokes aside this wasn't that bad. I have to say the vocals do start getting slightly jarring towards the tail end on the album but it felt just like a solid all-round album. The songs sounded familiar and they just kinda banged. Yk what I have to say I weirdly enjoyed it.

Actually way better than I expected, not a fan of their later stuff as much, but this rocks!

Liked this, had only heard a few kings of Leon songs before this. Good stuff

I had never listened to Kings of Leon before, and they were very different than I was expecting. But this album is great - I really enjoyed it.

This is much better than the "Aha Shake Heartbreak" I received some months ago on the 1001 list. It's still not so remarkable, and it will be lost in the history of indie rock from the 2000s, but it's unfair to rate it with three stars when compared with the "Aha Shake Heartbreak." I'll rate it with 4 stars, but with some effort and considering the best songs, it's a 3.5 album.

Wow this album was a real surprise treat. This is not the Kings of Leon I know! The “Use Somebody” / “Sex is on Fire” overplayed and overhyped pop rock band has its origins in some really jammy 70s-rock-esque tracks that I really enjoyed. I would absolutely put this album into my rotation, and I particularly loved “Holy Roller Novocaine,” which I do feel like I’ve heard before but it was great to re-experience here. I’m sad this band on this album did not end up becoming the Kings of Leon that exists today, because this shit rocked.

Great first album. Shame they went down hill quickly from here and just became a commercial band focussed on money making

Great trip down memory lane. Loved their early sound.

4.5 :)

Decent debut.

It stands up pretty well, but Im sure he's putting that accent on!