Aha Shake Heartbreak

In the lore of the 1001 editions, Kings of Leon were given three albums and all three have been removed from the book. I managed to get all three of these flash in the pan duds in just over a month. And could there be a less deserving band? Bowie and Costello and Cave are all reinventors. The beatles and dylan and young, all classic songwriters. Kings of Leon? Absolutely nothing interesting. They aren't even diverse in last names. This project has, if nothing else, made me a passionate hater of this band. I've always found them the worst sort of idiotmusik, the simulacrum of Rock and Roll, but they are dismal. I've been fighting a cold this week and at no point have I felt worse than while hearing this album. Because KoL is not a band you listen to. You hear them. You endure them. I have, in the time since having this generate, gone to see two far better artists. I refuse to spend any further time thinking about this album. ⭐️, a Trifecta of absolute unmitigated shit.

catchy and cool, but i can’t stand his voice 71/100

Who did the Kings of Leon pay off to have 3 records on this list?

This (along with the Killers) is music for Brits who love American things. Truly dreadful It is honestly a crime to make me listen to Kings of Leon

just kinda misses every thing they're trying to hit

Landfill swill which shouldn't be anywhere near this list. I get that it must be a challenge to compile a book like this... you take a punt on a few recent releases to provide interest for contemporary readers. Inevitably, some years later, several of those records are bound to have aged like unrefrigerated pig milk. Off the back of a relatively novel and somewhat arresting debut album this one is stylised dreck. Truly inexplicable level of success. At least it's fairly short.

So something I’ve learned doing this project is apparently I fucks with Kings of Leon HEAVY. Many people would say three Kings of Leon albums on this list is 3 too many, but I can confidently say I LOVED every single one of them. I don’t know! Their combination of punk, folk, and Diamond Dogs-era Bowie just completely works for me. And I know it’s not fucking cool to like Kings of Leon this much! They’re a lame band! I didn’t know I liked them so much until forced to listen to three of their albums! But I have to live my truth here! I waffled and gave their other two albums 4 stars when I really wanted to give them 5, so I need to represent at least one with 5 stars! I’ll be taking your concerns privately! Learning you love Kings of Leon can weigh heavily on the mind.

These first two albums are great. They seemed to decide to go after a wider audience starting with the third. Interested to find out if the new album (2026) finds them rediscovering this energy.

Good tunes, but a bit long

Standard hipster music with a slight southern drawl. Nothing special. Crazy that these guys are on here thrice. Guess they didn't pan out in the long run.

This album is really nostalgic for me during my high school coming of age. Taper Jean Girl and The Bucket are just so tied to certain memories that this album could be dogshit but those singles are eternal.

Middle of the road, not bad but nothing memorable. 2.5 stars,

It's ok

They are sometimes pretty interesting but mostly just good

A solid update of southern rock music.

Holy dog shit

This band really sucks.

Перша думка була: якого тут робить ТРЕТІЙ альбом Kings of Leon. І я вже налаштувався на хвилю хейту. Проте сам альбом мене порадував, я взагалі забув про його зміст, окрім пісні Milk. А тут хороший південний альтернативний рок, з хітами, добре розставленим треклістом та достойним матеріалом. Послухав вчора і ще захотілося сьогодні разок прогнати. Чесні 3.5., тут поставлю 4 зірочки.

Чесно кажучи альбом сподобався мені сильно більше ніж я очікував. Доволі непогано і енергійно. Не можу якусь пісню виділити для себе, але в цілому на міцну трієчку.

I liked it but I still can't tell if his voice is good or bad.

I don’t know why it is on the list (two albums by Kings of Leon?). There was virtually nothing of note on it… but it wasn’t a concept album by The Who so it didn’t seem as bad. The issue with this album is more a result of them being dull and the compiler thinking it was worthy.

My Morning Jacket from Temu.

ha bim choche e saugueti ziit gha vorher, recht energievolle indierock. cool. die langsame sache sind viereel schwächer. milk hani streeng gfunde. sini stimm isch etz au nöd eini woni will stundelang zuelose. aber d gitarre parts sind alli recht cool und me merkt dass e mega igspielti band sind. uch ha s gfühl ich kenn easy viel kings ogf leon songs aber keine vo dem album? sind d hits spöter? aah jo sie sind zwei albe spöter

hmmm kenn glaub keis lied vo ihne, de albumtitel isch uf jede fall schomal krass HAHAHHA ehmmm jaa sänger krass die oubkig gitarre isch no cool okaaay churzi pause und denn ganz en andere song gfühlt? kommmisch? hmm er chan schono singe aber s isch echli fest die "indie-rock-stimm"? MILK KENNI GLAUB poah weiss nöd ich verstah wieso dassmers cool find aber es holt mich eifach nöd so ab isch andersch gsi als ich mier vorgstellt han! eigentlich isches na cool, aber die art vo indie-musig holt mich eifach nöd/nümme so ab. guets 3? vlt hetts es 4i verdient aber ja ich wird das nümme lose

Post- The Strokes rock revival music to listen to in Urban Outfitters changing rooms. There were some killer hooks and melodies throughout the album but the songs never amounted to much more than background noise for me. I didn't find the singer grating like some people did, but he just didn't do it for me. 🚫 DOES NOT BANG favorite track: Velvet Snow LEAST favorite track: Milk

3,9/5

Didn't understand hiphop

I’m familiar with Kings of Leon from their singles on the radio. I would not have predicted how much I dislike this album. The vocalist really is not enjoyable to listen to for extended periods! The style/genre of their songs, the sort of bluesy Americana rock is something I would normally gravitate to, but the vocals grated for much of it.

I really like this one, but what does it add to the already two KoL- albums from this list I had prior? They all are always a wild and fun ride but also sound very much the same. Although lacking any hits maybe this one is the best of the three in terms of an album? 3,5

I find them intolerable.

I can't explain why,but I don't like this. EDIT I know why, its the vocals. The vocals are terrible on this album.

Kind of lost interest after Youth and Young Manhood which I really liked at the time

Never liked em

A completely good solid album. 4 stars or B+.

A rare 4 stars for yet another band I couldn’t be bothered with thinking they were derivative at the time. I really like the singers voice and the songs are so warm and hectic. You can feel the nod to their heroes here, the Rolling Stones and the Clash but it’s a nod only and they are uniquely themselves. Only the album title defeats me. Get rid of the Aha and that’s a great title!

Nope.

I liked this one slightly more than the previous Kings of Leon album that I heard (Young and Young Manhood). Better energy and great album length. I would give this a 3.5. I'm going to round down just because nothing in particular stood out.

ultimately kinda boring

I liked the instrumentals but god I hate this guys voice

Bizarre

Less boring than expected. Kind of knew what it was doing and did it

67

Better than their post-2008 stuff would have you remember, but only decent, a bit repetitive and grated after a while

I mean I like this band, but there's no way this album was that essential. No surprise it was replaced later.

3 out of 5. Better than their first album.

Quite enjoyable listening, especially when I I only listen to this band like twice a year. The vocal affect the singer puts on would get annoying in a dose any larger than that. The song "Milk" was really distracting and would have been much better as an instrumental track. ⭐⭐⭐.49

☺️

I could never really get into Kings of Leon. I know they’re ultra popular but the music just doesn’t speak to me in any meaningful way. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike it, it’s just…fine.

There's a version of this record where the words mean something. I can't find it... Three ways to bury this thing. Take your pick. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - The Bucket

T d us.

Good take

This band sounds like a cross between The Black Crowes and The Strokes. They have a lot of energy and I bet their live shows are great. I love The Black Crowes. I love The Strokes. I love high energy. I love live music. I don't love this band. I can't explain it.

eher langweilig

Kings of Leon are a funny one. I quite enjoy their music but if they didn't exist then i'm not sure i'd miss them. This was a perfectly decent album that consisted of lots of 7/10 tracks but nothing better. The Bucket and Four Kicks were my favourites but they weren't essential listening.

3.5

May be too high

has everything i love as it brings about some new spice and fiery soul out of this millennial optimistic enigmas

2.75/5

I don't understand all the hate that Kings of Leon get... This album brought me back to my twenties, I loved Milk so much

Album 95 Top 3 favorites off the album: The Bucket, Slow Night, So Long; Rememo I live! I love! I laugh! Loved the bass across the album. I realized partway through that I have listened to this album before and just forgot. I don't remember anything about how I felt about it, so I can listen to it almost completely fresh. Shoutout Slow Night, So Long for the elevator bossa nova-adjacent realness in the outro. I thoroughly enjoyed that. I feel like a lot of what I've been getting on this lately has been "gritty." I feel like a broken record. I liked it on this album.  Yay! A win this time!

Not in my edition of the book! 2004. 2 stars. Perfectly adequate generic rock with absolutely no redeeming features - once heard, immediately forgotten. WTF is this doing on the list?

High-school me is loving this throwback! This was one of my top-five favorite bands back in the day, and I'm pleasantly surprised that it has held up. I kinda slept on this particular album, so it has been fun to get into it. It has all the components you want, plus their distinctive Nirvana-esque grunge style mixed with the whiny drawl that came to define 2010's era music. All these years later, I still love their garage band, summer chillin, youthful angsty vibe.

not their best one but nevermind

3,5/5

I did not pay much attention to this tune, so another album kicked in. I do not have a complete opinion

Liker det. Sangene varer lenge, men nice.

Helt average for min del dette

The Bucket

I bought this on CD when it came out they were all the rage. Nice record

I really like this band. The album is not their best but good as always.

Eh idk what to say

mmmm better than expected, but not really my thing. I just find early 2000s American rock a bit fluffy at times, with no real story or purpose and I think this applies. I think it sounded good, but lyrically fell flat for me.

Fine, actually enjoyed this more than I expected given their big hits. Wouldn't listen again.

Pues no era un disco que hubiese escuchado con atención anteriormente, pero mejor de lo que recordaba. Me guardo: "Slow night, so long", "King of the rodeo", "Taper jean girl", "Milk", "The bucket" y "Where the nobody knows".

My only previous exposure to Kings of Leon is the song "Sex On Fire". I liked the guitar tones on this album (I would consider it alternative rock). I didn't really care for the singer's voice; I found it to be too high in the mix and almost distracting. Usually I try not to worry about the vocals, just the music, but that was more difficult here. I found the whole album to be unremarkable.

I mostly only knew Kings of Leon from their later, more refined, arena rock music. After several listens of “Aha Shake Heartbreak”, I think their earlier work is better. With respect to instrumentation, many of the songs on this album have great hooks, blending genres in sometimes unexpected ways. The playing is tight; the rhythms are fun, albeit inconsistent. The album starts much stronger than it ends. As others have commented, the vocals leave something to be desired. The fact that the lyrics are often impossible to understand turns out to be a gift. The lyrics roam from being misogynistic to cheesy. I liked the album before I opened the lyrics during one of my listens for this project. Another good, if not great, album. I’m not sure why this is on the list, it wasn’t in my version of the book. All the same, it was enjoyable enough, I guess.

The Beatles if they were formed in the 90s

This isn't a terribly bad album, nor is it terribly good. I don't see why it's considered an essential listen. Inoffensive.

I thought I once liked a Kings of Leon song. I must've been sadly mistaken. Music ok, vocals annoying.

Obnoxious vocals. Unintelligible lyrics. Forgettable. DNF.

All the same.

There's absolutely no reason this band needs three albums on this list. I've said before that I like their sound, generally, but I can stand the singer. But this one pushed me over the edge. I really hated this album, probably because the vocals are more front and center here but also because the songs are just bad. I don't hate you Kings, but holy god just keep the fire sex album and ditch the rest. This album is actively bad, and worse yet, inessential.

Mortified to hear there’s two more of these

No comment, fine

I just had their debut album on this list a week or so ago, and I like this one a lot more (it might be my favorite of the 3). That being said, this is just kind of an average album at best. There were moments that reminded me of The Strokes or Interpol's Debut, but just like a worse version of it. The second half of this album become very repetitive and all the songs sound the same. An okay album overall. Mid 3.

Nah

First album I’m thinking “why is it here”

Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak. First, I don't see the link why this album should refer to Queen's A Night at the Opera by sort of mimicking the cover. Second, this is not the Kings of Leon as they would become well known with quite polished, radio-friendly rock and their super hits "Use Somebody" and "Sex on Fire" some years after this album from 2004. As clean as the cover looks, the garage rock inside is completely unpolished. It sounds like they didn't have enough money to spend a bit more time in the studio to either polish the songs or include better ones. Most of the tracks are just not good, not nice to listen to, and several times even irritating. So after today, I will not come back to this. 2/5

Mellower than expected.

These fellas grew into the stadium anthem style, nice to hear their earlier stripped down sound here.

Pleasant, solid album. Didn't feel much listening to it. 2.6.

These guys are capable of making good songs but instead made bad songs. Are they stupid?

Not my favorite Kings of Leon album but an album worthy of listen.

The music isn’t awful but the singer… 2

instrumental mix of this album would do numbers i reckon

Kings of Leon is kind of lame

Vocalist is so recognizable, Im into it. Kings of Leon are good! Nothing crazy. 7/10

Meh. Not bad, but not great either. It's really a mixed bag : some super-catchy songs, and a few bullshit songs that sound more like the rants of a drunk than actual singing. I don't know what happened to the singer since their last album - he never had a great voice to begin with, but he seems to have sunk to a new low in this record. It's a pity, because I otherwise enjoy the instrumental parts and the raw-ish garage vibe. Overall, it’s a reasonably pleasant listen, but I’m not convinced this album needed to be on the list. Three albums from what is ultimately a very middle-of-the-road band feels more like personal preference than careful curation. 5/10

Well, for once, here’s a surprise. I’m not a fan of the band, but I have to admit I actually enjoyed this album… or at least the first few tracks and the ending. There’s absolutely nothing revolutionary about their music, and their place on this list is certainly debatable, but it has energy, it moves, I love the bass, and overall there’s just a really good vibe. Not something I expected to enjoy, but here we are.

Kings of Leon aren't bad, but this album does nothing for me and was gone as soon as I finished listening to it.