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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Enjoyable but his voice is just so affected…

It's ok. Don't think I could pick out any single song that stood out. Only By The Night was much better.

Most of the songs sound the same but not in a way that’s exciting to me.

Overall it still sucked but I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would

Did not like at all

Yo….this shit suuucks.

I love this album! super southern, a bit grungy, really really good. To be fair I am an early Kings of Leon head. The sound hits my ears just right! Whole thing hits, but especially love: Red Morning Light, Happy Alone, California Waiting, Molly's Chamber, Talihina Sky

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).

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.

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.

Good album, really liked all of it.

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.

Joe's Head is their best song

Excellent alt rock album

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

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

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.

Love it

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

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.

Fucking love their early work. So many bangers

Fun album. Still their best.

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.

Nice

Very very good

Very nice album - I like it. Great debut!

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.

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

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.

LOVE THE OLD STUFF!

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.

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!

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

Love this album

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

ace

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.

I definitely prefer the earlier, bluesy Kings of Leon to the later version who focused on arena singalong anthems. This is nothing groundbreaking but it's a good time

Chilly

Actuyally lit

Talihina Sky was a pleasant surprise at the end. I played this to death when it came out, but my copy must have been missing the extra track at the end.

What a blast! Kings of Leon were really fun and wild in their early days! They sound particularly influenced by The Rolling Stones and AC/DC (the latter band’s style showing in lead singer Caleb Followill’s wild rock star screaming) with plenty of blues rock played at lightning fast speeds. A lot of young bands rely on pastiche on their debut albums but few have as much fun with it as Kings of Leon do here.

Great sound. Upbeat; pretty solid but a few tracks keep it from 5 stars

Early Kings of Leon has that rough, raw, garage rock sound that suits them really well - I still think they got so much worse when fame got to them and they started making radio safe almost-pop and Jared got condition lessons - give me fuzzy guitars and even fuzzier lyrics, dammit!

I wasn't not in the mood for this but I wasn't in the mood for this either... think this was a little hit or miss for me??? enjoyed the overall tempo tho

I've never listened to these guys, other than their radio singles. Was pleasantly surprised by their sound on this debut album.

Decent album. They didn't have that specific Kings of Leon sound yet, which I actually liked better.

A really fun, raw, energetic debut from what would become the biggest band in the world for a minute. I prefer this version of KoL to their Sex on Fire high points, but they’re a good band with an interesting story. As the kid of a Baptist preacher myself, I’ve always felt a connection to the members of this band and have often wondered what my life had been like if pursued music and had a successful rock band like this. I don’t know if I would have survived like they barely have.

absolute heater

Listened Before? N I only knew of these guys from their very, very, very overplayed hits. This album has none of them. It's a breath of fresh air and a very solid album. I love the throwback feel of it. It's like White Stripes meets Skynrd. Really enjoyed this record. Added to Library? Y Songs added to playlist: Red Morning Light

Pretty enjoyable. Low 8.

Pretty good.

4.0

I dunno man. I really dig these jams and I like his voice. Going with a 3.6…

Post strokes garage rock goes southern rock. Energetic and raw. The bombast of their later work is present if you listen for it. A fun record.

Like this album. Raw and fast beats. Good songs in this album.

Did not think I would enjoy this one, but someone described this as being Southern Strokes, which is fitting. 4 stars.

Decent album. Kings of Leon’s early stuff I have enjoyed a little bit just with how raw and unpolished it is and this falls right into place there. 7/10

Still my favourite Kings of Leon album. Love the rawness, the amateurishness of the vocals, the cowpunk feel. Reminds me of Jason and the Scorchers. This is KofL before they went all arena rock. 4 stars

Man, this guy's voice stinks. I mean, it certainly has a draw (or should I say drawl) to it that makes me keep listening, but only in a "can't look away from a car crash," sort of way. That being said, I still enjoyed my time here. I find this to be more monotonous than what I remember of Aha Shake Heartbreak, and the sound of garage rock revival bands I do like is absent more than that album, too, but there is just enough rocking southern anthems to keep me engaged, and I quite like the softer, almost folksier stuff, even if they are still going in too hard sometimes. A different singer and some better, more understandable lyrics and I think this band would've been just as critically liked as commercially. Not LOVED, just liked.

This is actually quite good- assured in execution and distinct in sound.

another chunky album from a not yet revived area of history - some very good songs on here

Kings Of Leon are one of my favourite bands. I’m not sure I’ve ever told anyone that. They were one of the first bands that I discovered on my own as a teenager, and I’ve awaited and bought all of their albums since Mechanical bull in 2013. They were one of the first bands that I actually listened to critically, picking out the rhythm and lead parts, listening to how the rhythm section played off each other. I think Caleb Followill is one of the most underrated lyricists of the 21st century, and I absolutely love his vocals. So I’m much more sympathetic to their albums being in this project than probably the majority of people are. That being said, I don’t think Youth And Young Manhood is their best album. It’s still pretty good, but it’s all pretty raw. Caleb’s vocals are rawer, his lyrics are less mature, and the music is simpler. The rawness is certainly appealing as a countryfied cousin of the contemporary Indie Rock scene, and so in hindsight, I could see the case for Youth And Young Manhood being quite influential, Indie Country being one of the more dominant trends in Alternative music at the moment. But on the other hand, as a fan this is the album that I return to least, and while I admit that I’m maybe not the typical KoL fan, I think that that counts for something. They haven’t quite found their footing yet

Ich kannte diese Band nicht finde sie aber mit ihrem erdigen Sound gut.

Enjoyed this. Red Morning Light is a pure FIFA banger so that helps. Simpsons: No

Ég er brenndur af tónleikunum í Laugardalshöll sem voru hreint út sagt leiðinlegir, og þessi rödd gerir ekkert fyrir mig, en annars er þetta merkilega skemmtilegt. Já, mér leiðist næstum að segja það, en samt ekki.

I liked Kings of Leon when I first heard "Use Somebody" and "Sex on Fire" - they have a unique sound and I like his voice. It's different. I had never heard their debut album (I also never knew they were all related). It did not disappoint. Even not knowing a single song going into it, I found myself really into it.

Nice Rock album.

4.5

“Youth and Young Manhood” is a great debut, but Kings of Leon needed a bit more time to refine their sound and find their identity. Caleb Followill’s vocals have always been one of my favorite parts of KoL, but here there is a little too much Bob Dylan in the vocals. Some bands catch lightning in a bottle with their debut and are never able to reach those heights again. KoL, debuting as teenagers when some members hadn’t even learned their instruments yet, still had time to grow and develop.

Really liked this when it came out. They went very badly to shit but this is still pretty good

4 - Enjoyed, I think these early albums deserve to be here. However who else is missing out because they take up album numbers in the list

It's alright, better than average but eh

This was a nice coincidence, since I just saw this band live in Dublin a few nights ago. I was a big fan of their first 3 albums as a teenager, so this was quite a nostalgic listen for me. In their early phase, their records captured a very youthful and debaucherous energy, which I understandably identified with strongly at the time. From their 4th album on, however they started writing very hook-driven songs with football chant style choruses. Sex On Fire was particularly offensive - it almost sounds like a different band from the one that recorded this album. Apart from an occasional song on the 4th and 5th album, I pretty much lost interest from then on. They still put on a surprisingly good live show though. But this first album still really holds up, it's a fantastic debut. I guess it could be considered a bit derivative, since it is so rooted in 70s rock, but it was all new to me at the time! Some of the songwriting is a bit immature, which is to be expected, given the album title. But they improved on that massively on the 2nd album. I think people will be listening to the likes of Red Morning Light, California Waiting, Molly's Chambers and Holly Roller Novocaine for decades to come. Even if the only one they played live on Saturday was Molly's Chambers.

Take me to a bar and play this music

This is a cool album. And I don’t really like these guys. Or do I? I’m definitely no fan of Sex on Fire. Hate hearing it actually. How can I like these guys? I can’t. I won’t. But I like this album. Oh yeah, I’ll spin it again. Go figure.