Only By The Night

There's not just one Kings of Leon album on this list, which would be too much for my taste. This album is stale and whiny.

Some bangers if you ignore all the lyrics

Most of my malice towards this album was driven by radio overplay of ‘Use Somebody’ when the LP first dropped, but overall I just can’t shake the sense this was more lab-grown crossover than genuine artistic statement. There are moments where the instrumentation punches through and offers a shining moment, but most of the album feels so dreamy and lost in a fog that it kind of stumbles forward mindlessly.

Bland

Nach den dicken Hits Sex on Fire und Use Somebody hatte ich mehr erwartet. Naja, solide 2 Sterne.

I find the singer's voice to be annoying. This is fairly unexciting stuff.

Like when battle of the bands was burnt down by a sex fire

It's easy to write off Only By The Night's more familiar chords when, in fact, they have quite a bit of care behind them. Not so for the minor parts of the album. A more serious issue is lyrical mismatch: Developing sounds out of the garage works if there's abstraction at play everywhere. On this album, the themes end up flaky coating for the slick production.

Not my gig

We got the Kings of Leon’s debut recently and I thought it was a bit too raw, but the pendulum has swung too far the other way, and now I think this one is too commercial. Caleb’s Followill’s vocal style is too mainstream pop rock sounding for me, especially on Use somebody.

I was a pretty big fan of Kings of Leon, until this album came out. Although "Sex on Fire" is fire.

I think what this comes down to is if you like that ragged tear in the lead singer's voice or not. I don't think I do. It's not like fingernails on a chalkboard or anything. It's more like a hug from a drunk acquaintance that lasts just a little too long. Like he's just overexcited, but it's a little awkward. I had not really taken the time to listen to this band before 1001. Now, I feel I have listened to them far too much, and that they are overrepresented on the list. Pick an album, alright Dimery? This well may be their best effort, who knows, but because it comes so late in my 1001 journey, I basically knew what to expect, and this just didn't feel fresh to me. You know what, fuck it, those vocals are bringing it down for me. He's trying to come across all soulful, but it's really just whining in disguise. Welcome to my controversial artist list boys!

It’s fine honestly. Overhated at this point just because it got so undeservedly popular. Nothing spectacular but also nothing terrible.

Can’t say I really enjoyed this one

Use somebody is a classic, but I didn't much enjoy all the songs before and after it. But fck bro use somebody is such a classic, nah I don't wanna give it 3 stars.

2.5

slightly better than aerosmith

Not a fan really, aside from the hits.

Bof... On dirait que le chanteur chante en faisant la moue...

the album where they decided they wanted to make some money and wrote some generic stadium rock music. i think that's technically called selling out, but considering how the 2nd and 3rd album were nowhere near as good as youth and young manhood it was a bit of a hail mary that paid off. the 2000s are littered with bands with a good first album that couldn't replicate it and disappeared after underwhelming follow ups so the fact they got a 4th stab meant it was all or nothing, repay the record label with sales or fall away into memory and split up. its utter generic garbage music but i respect that they did what they had to do.

Solid, pleasant music. Nothing grand, nothing tedious nothing horrible. Nothing entirely sitting

Well, it’s certainly listenable, if not particularly interesting. “Sex on Fire” is a great track and there are some other fun moments. But it also features some of the tendencies in Top 40 rock that tends to make my eyes roll (I’m looking at you, cliche “oh-woah-woahs” in “Use Somebody”). It’s like if Hootie and the Blowfish got Blues Traveler’s lead singer and decided to write songs specifically to be played in Guitar Hero clones. Serviceable, but uninspired.

OK. Not great. Americana / soft rock and occasionally a stepped on cat.

The amount of times I’ve heard someone sing sex on fire for karaoke makes me wanna throw this album away but overall this album was aight

Radio songs or wannabe radio songs Pretty dec all around but tainted by the radio

Mids

The burning bush

Front half of the album is good, back half is a snoozer. And what does Kings of Leon do that The Killers, The Strokes, Muse, U2, or Black Keys didn’t already do better? Album is fine in a vacuum but on a 1000 albums you must listen to list? I don’t knoooow about that

Combustable intercourse

It has a couple of extremely well known and good tracks on it. The rest of it just seems bland by comparison

Really dislike his voice. Otherwise it's fine

I get why this was popular. It's fancy, well produced, and performed. Songs have hooks. It's got the requisite parts of a hit pop album. I cannot get past the singer. The Bob Seger schtick is grating to my ears. Just sounds like a complete put-on. Not for me.

Not a fan.

verrry sensible rock and roll. commercially sexy, clearly staying safe. whole album sounds uninteresting and the same. similar to other commercial schlock from early 2000s: maroon 5, coldplay, killers, john mayer. ugh not my cup o' tea.

I ended up quite disappointed with this album. Two absolutely amazing songs in Use somebody and Sex on fire but that's pretty much it. I found myself wanting to skip all the other songs.

5/10

The hits are catchy, but the production is so damn muddy and the vocals sound dumb. Not for me.

I remember the cycle around this album, the Kings of Leon "sellout" album. I remember a lot of press. I also remember hearing "Sex on Fire", what was (and still is) a decent song, and deciding not to check out the rest of the album. In retrospect, I think it's fine. The songs sometimes meander without ever getting to a destination. It certainly sounds big, but also kind of empty. Like a garage rock band attempting shoegaze. Favorite tracks: "Notion", "I Want You"

Before I listen I have to say that I hate Sex On Fire, so it will be interesting to see if the rest of the album makes up for that overblown rubbish. Closer: nope. Ponderous crap with the same vocal stylings. He sounds like he has a massive dose of constipation. Then I remembered Use Somebody is of that same turgid, earnest style. Not looking good. Manhattan is better... lighter. Sounds like Christine McVie on the synth. Revelry is very good, it has a nice laidback feel. Seventeen is disturbing but good. Notion - no. I Want You - dull. It just finished up being meh. There are a few good songs in the middle but they are flanked by songs that are just plain annoying.

A lot of the songs actually had really solid instrumentation. I found myself thinking "oh I'd love to learn this song on guitar" multiple times. Opening song had some really sick, melancholy vibes with the echoing guitar parts. Use Somebody is clearly the song everyone knows and has heard, I didn't even realize that was Kings of Leon until I got to that track in the album. I think the real problem is just the main singers voice, it felt rather polarizing. I found myself sick of it after an album of listening, but didn't dislike it nearly as much as my friends seemed to. This feels somewhere between a 2 and a 3, but since I can't do half ratings I suppose I'll give it a 2 since I will likely never come back to it.

modern guitar solos, still pretty boring.

I am quite familiar with Kings Of Leon without listening to this. My opinion of them has always been: “I really don’t see the fuss.” Admittedly, I’ve only heard the singles and never listened to an album in full, but I always found them to be generic rock music with bad vocals. I’ll try to go into this with an open mind though. Songs I already knew: Sex On First, Use Somebody, Revelry, Notion Favourites: Notion Unfortunately, I felt that my preconceptions were pretty much on the ball here. The music was quite uninspired and uninteresting, and I still really hate the vocals. Sex On Fire is criminally overplayed and unavoidable so any semblance of enjoyment that I may have once gotten has turned into frustration. I can recognised occasional parts of creativity if I push myself, but overall I simply didn’t like this.

Absolutely that person that previously thought KoL were everything and denounced them around the time of this release. Album 3 was over produced stadium rock but palatable - this is sickly sweet rock by numbers. How did we get from Youth and Young Manhood to songs for X Factor auditions and Hollyoaks outros. Maybe I’m just nostalgic for my iPod Classic. I definitely heard The Strokes before anyone that gives this five stars.

Bland radio rock

They sound effected and self important.

i think i used to like this, is just ok now...

This was pretty boring. Had one okay song and the rest wasn't much of anything. His voice kind of annoyed me as well. Maybe one of the other ones will be better. My favourite song was Sex on Fire.

The KoL album that’s cool to hate. I don’t think this album is as bad as people make out, it is just cursed given how over played sex on fire and use somebody were at the time. This album did make KoL the biggest band in the world for a short period of time but in my opinion they have never recovered since, their first 3 albums are much better and personally don’t think this one should be on the list on years to come.

First couple of tracks good and emotive. Gets very samey after the two big singles. Not really for me

Oh THIS is the one that has that Sex on Fire song on it. Pfft. The other album wasn't particularly memorable but wasn't TOO bad. This album is also unremarkable but is not as good as the other one. Why are there 2 Kings of Leon albums on this list? Why was there a need for one? Good God, don't let there be a third.

so meh

Hoping that this is the second and last KoL album I have to listen to. Modern butt rock vibe that I can politically align with. Next.

2/5. Some of the songs are enjoyable but gosh darn does it get old quick. After Manhattan, it falls hard and the only other stand out is Be Somebody. It's hard to tell what they are going for because they are not hard enough to rock out to but their lyrics don't stand out as interesting (Sex on Fire???) to be profound. Less than mid.

A common theme in the 1001 albums is that the writer tends to pick from a band's later albums, choosing one where they've had time to hone their craft and knock off the rough edges. This album is an excellent case in point; whilst it's more accomplished and polished than their earlier stuff, it's lost the urgency and energy. Less southern garage rock, more stadium-friendly big production. Their first couple of albums are 3s or maybe 3.5s. This one is so much less interesting.

Sex On Fire and Use Somebody are the moments you can see KOL disappear up their own arses.

Ok, het is wel echt leuk om deze albums te luisteren want de hits ken je natuurlijk wel maar vind het erg vermakelijk om iets beter een idee te krijgen van het album er om heen. Dat gezegd hebbende had ik prima verder kunnen leven zonder dit album ooit gehoord te hebben. Ga ik meer Kings Of Leon hierna luisteren? Waarschijnlijk niet. Vond ik het vermakelijk? Ja best wel in het begin, al duurt het album te lang. Ik begin me toch te irriteren aan de stem van de zanger. Favorieten: Toch de klassieker Sex on Fire en Be Somebody

Wat kan ik zeggen, ik ben niet echt een rocker. En dan voelt dit wel heel erg dertien in een dozijn. Natuurlijk staan er gigantische hits op, maar daar ben ik wel een beetje op uitgekeken. Verder mis ik wat persoonlijkheid en klinkt het veel hetzelfde Dan vind ik Come Around Sundown een beter album. Favorieten: Be Somebody, Cold Desert

Singles are maybe a 3. Rest is a 2.

Es el álbum más estereotípicamente yanki-conservador-que-cree-no-serlo-por-escuchar-rock que alguna vez escuché, desde ese sonido tan blando que carece de espíritu y autenticidad hasta esas letras que pasan de ser tanto misóginas como religiosas a aparentar tomar una postura política progresiva mediante alegorías al sexo. Prefiero ni meterme a hablar de la canción "17", pero esta solo termina de consolidar mi postura. Carece de sentido etiquetarlos como 'indie' cuando son más cercanos a cantantes de country con guitarras eléctricas que a otra cosa. Inentendible que hayan dos álbumes más de ellos en esta lista. ↑: Closer ↓: Manhattan, 17, I Want You, Be Somebody

all these songs sounded the same to me….. just as irritating as his voice

Lowest common denominator rock. Genuinely overrated band that everybody else seems to love, but I can't get behind them. Super overplayed and just irritating at this point.

It all feels like music you’d hear during a commercial for NBC’s ‘Heroes’

I just don’t like KOL

An utterly hollow, corporate stadium rock cash in. It completely strips away any interesting Southern rock friction the band used to have in favor of sanitized, repetitive choruses designed for commercial radio. There is absolutely zero depth, zero musical risk, and zero value here for anyone who craves complex or authentic arrangements.

Tosco e brega. Década de 2000 pode ser considerada os blunder years do Rock. Muita coisa boa saiu desse período, eu suponho, como a ressurreição do post punk, mas muito lixo saiu nesse tempo também, em álbuns como esse aqui. Essa sonoridade de comercial do novo Chevrolet Cruze me incomoda profundamente. Tudo soa tão vazio e superficial. Canções emotivas cantadas por uma voz incapaz de expressar qualquer emoção que não seja Burger e Fritas feitas por um barbudo que usa luva preta e tem os braços todos tatuados no estilo old school. Você tem uma crush na Zooey Deschanel? Que foda cara! 1/5

They were fairly enjoyable when they were cosplaying as Creedence Clearwater Revival on the first album and even a bit on the second album but this is absolute trash. “YEAAAAHHHH HAAAUUUUUGGHHHH YO SEX IS ON FIIIIIYAAAAHHH” Sadly, it turned out his sex was not on fire.

praticamente 0 redeeming qualities

"Closer" is a great song.

Put this right up there with U2, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, etc. I mean, the musicianship is fine, but it's just so bland and inoffensive. Stuff that can be easily inserted into TV, Movies, Sports Events and it just blends into the background. I will never ask to put this on and will likely ask someone to change the station.

Not a big fan. Used to love them back in 2008. But this album isn't a favourite. Two good songs at Best.

This is music for chain smoking nurses to put on when they're pregaming a Disturbed show with their cop husbands. Completely uninspired musically and vocally cloying and phony sounding. These riffs have been written 1000 times by 1000 better bands who decided to throw them out because they were tired before they even became a song.

In a nutshell: the best that bland can get. Overall: 1/10

The instrumentals are...ok. the lyrics and the voice are unlistenable, it gave me an headache

I have no words for how immediately this album put me into a fight or flight situation. It REEKS of axe body spray, chevron print fabric, gladiator sandals, and side bangs. I *can't* hang. I just can't. I was going to compare this to the music I hate the most on this album - sad boy British moaning and groaning (Rock? Post-punk? Whatever) - but this is immeasurably worse. I've come so close to ripping the headphones from my ears and ragequitting. I think the visceral response is due to the fact that I lived through 2008 a fully conscious human being, as opposed to having to hear about the so-called "greats" of decades long past. Girl, this is hot ass. I wonder if haters of The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and all their ilk felt this way both during the peak of their careers and having to hear their music coincidentally, long after they've become irrelevant. I'm considering visiting elderly care homes and shaking their residents' hands for being so brave. There were a few people here that referred to Steely Dan as "mall music" and I cannot fathom why when this is the most mall ass music of all time. Listen to this! With your ears! Please! It's so beyond basic it engenders anger in people! (People is me.) I think we all know this list is predominantly just "Dimery's Favorite Tunes" that he wants to subject us to, but this one - I can't imagine it's on this list for anything more than "oh, those two songs were in the public consciousness/commercials for a few years". Every other week I threaten that it's on sight with this dude. But today, I swear I mean it. I look forward to the day another album grinds my gears like this, but I'm praying I get at least a week of peace until then. Tracks that triggered me the most: Sex on Fire, Use Somebody.

Oh my g-d this is abysmal dogshit. Banal, muddy vocals and instrumentation. The most generic late 2000s pop rock I can imagine. I would have went wild for this in 2008 but the fact that this occupies the same list as albums like SZA’s CTRL and Miles Davis In A Silent Way is a crime. How this is on here but not a single MF DOOM album is a bigger one. Knowing there’s more kings of Leon on the way is the biggest.

Ugh! Like a soft chewy apple, it strongly disagrees with me.

28/03/2026 1. closer - okay... nice drums. spooky? jesus christ just remembered what his voice sounded like on the other album i had to listen to ages ago..... like the droney guitar. alright. *2. crawl - like the start! nice. reaaally nice bass. like the guitar towards the end. 3. sex on fire - just a bit overplayed really! 4. use somebody - his voice is a bit annoying... do like towards the end a bit more. very millenial. 5. manhattan - like the slide guitar(?). softer vibe... he just started singing, i take it back :( 6. revelry - not looking forward to this one... one of the worst things i've ever heard. bass is admittedly nice and it is getting better as it goes on. still wouldn't listen to it. 7. 17 - like the church bells sound at the start. what!!!! 8. notion - fine. wouldn't listen to again. 9. i want you - more atmospheric. nice bass. sooooo long! 10. be somebody - had a break.. really don't like his voice. like the bass in the chorus. 11. cold desert - not a fan! did not like this album at all!! the last kings of leon at least had some energy to keep it from being boring, but this was just shit!! waste of an hour!!!

Fuck this boring dreck One song caught my attention For a bad reason

#312/1001. What a load of crap.

Kings of MID

What a fall this band took. Great first album, good second album and everything else is terrible. This album just goes by at the same pace, no exciting moments or dynamism. Ugh.

Gear: ZMF Bokeh Closed Artwork: 🦜🦋🧠 Production: 🥩😖🙅 Music: 🙄🧸🏟️ Rating: 🦚(🦚)/5

Generic, bland, or any other word for basic can describe this album.

Who put this garbage album on this list?

Unredeemable garbage.

I spent a long time living in Vancouver, and once in a while things would go well & I'd wonder if I should move there for real, try to make a go of it. every year something would happen to remind me to get the fuck out. when I moved away in 2024, it was a bunch of hippie ravers at the park spinning poi blasting a dance remix of Sex on Fire. this band sucks. multiple albums on the list is a big time loser move.

And on my birthday, of all days

zero albums by Donna Summer, Autechre, Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, any trap artist for that matter, Three Six Mafia, Weezer, Mitski, Death, Bathory, Sunny Day Real Estate, American Football, Coil, Burial, Eric B and Rakim, Aaliyah, Skrillex (he's important!!), Shakira, or Neutral Milk Hotel. but enough room for three Kings of Leon albums? this one also has a really ear-piercing song about making out with a 17 year old, which is pretty funny considering this came out in 2008. also Sex on Fire fucking sucks. deserves to be one of the 1001? no! none of them do!

From my review of their other album, "Aha Shake Heartbreak": "Ooft. I thought I liked Kings of Leon... I remember back in high school, jamming out to "Use Somebody" and "Sex on Fire" and feeling like this was a pretty cool band for cool people (which I was most definitely not)." Yeah, even this album which *has* those two songs was not good. The most bland mainstream "indie" rock imaginable... "Use Somebody" is *okay*, and it's about the only song on this album deserving of even that. "Sex on Fire" and "17" are particularly uncomfortable, especially when you realise this band is made up of three brothers and their cousin... Nobody should be singing "This sex is on fire" in a band with their close family members. The only thing worse would be if their Dad were in the band. It's another 1 star from me, and I don't hand out many of those... Kings of Leon really are doing badly here.

some daqui meu

eh de cair o cu da bunda que esses mano tem TRÊS albuns na lista. esse eu até entendo porque foi um """"fenomeno"""", o que não significa que eh bom. MAS TRÊS?????? vai tomar no cu papo reto dito isso, eh bem paia né mediocre pra carai pqp. rock de arena da pior qualidade

Listening because technically I haven't and I "had to" to complete this challenge. This is a pretty solid nope from me. Even the big hooky songs fall flat to my ears. Where they WERE (Aha shake heartbreak) compared to where they landed with this turns me off the band. It's like they said "okay now we are a stadium band" and dusted their hands. That 'thwack' of a snare grates me. The playing is actually kind of loose, in a crap way. Singer's got pipes...but he's singing about 17-year-olds...*vomit* Christ, I couldn't even finish it. Kept skipping tracks bc BOOORING. Nah these guys for real fell OFF

It was okay , I’m not sure if I liked this one as much I don’t really have one that had me going back for more on this one .

Not heard this before as not a fan. Did'nt enjoy much to be honest so low rating from me.

See, the problem with late 2000s music is that big labels gravitated towards marketing indie bands as AAA-class. What this did is it gave mediocre groups like Kings of Leon a bypass highway to fame. At this point in music history, you didn't have to pay your dues as a band and win fans through dedication, commitment, and most importantly, quality. As a result, popular radio and movie soundtracks got saturated with tepid material like Kings of Leon and Mumford & Sons. What I'm trying to say is, 0/5. I actively changed the radio station enough times as a result of these guys that I'm personally offended to see this album show up here. Allow me to take this opportunity to remind you, dear reader, that Songs for the Deaf, AEnima, and Lateralus didn't make the list.

This album isn't very good. It has weak lyrics delivered through even worse vocals and backed by a bog standard rock band. The music is easily the best part here, and it isn't particularly good, just passable. If their big album is this bad, not to mention completely inessential, then I don't have high expectations for anything else they made(including their two prior albums on the list). Also, any song about romancing a teenager ("17") can fuck right off, especially when it's on a newer album such as this(not that older ones are exempt).

I liked Kings of Leon in my teenage years, but this was the point I lost interest. Bland radio friendly pop/rock, it’s listenable but mostly forgettable, there southern edge barely shining through . This band have never been good lyrically but when the music is flat those lyrics become much more present, just look at the first line to opener Closer- “Stranded in this spooky town”. The 2 mammoth hits are memorable because they have been played so many times. I hate Use Somebody. Crawl is the only song that has that dirty rock feel. Shocked that they have 3 albums on the list and totally unsurprised that they have none in the latest edition.

I read in this band’s Wikipedia article that they named themselves after their grandfather. If I started a band honoring my grandfather and played music like this, my grandfather would rise from his grave and kill me.

Why is this the third Kings of Leon album I’ve had in this. They don’t deserve one album on this list, let alone three. Absolutely miserable and a waste of my time.

Thoroughly depressing stuff really. It possesses all the edge of those wooden spoons that come with mini tubs of ice cream at service stations, and all the danger of the lint I just scraped out from my belly button. If this album was a meal deal, it would be a plain ham sandwich, bag of ready salted crisps and a bottle of water. If it was a car, it would be a Vauxhall Astra. If it was a football commentator, it would be Michael Owen. If it was a TV show, it would be Deal or No Deal. If it was a town in the UK, it would be Grantham. If it was a video game, it would be Euro Truck Simulator. If it was a book, it would be a phone directory. If it was a past-time, it would be staring at your guinea pig predicting when it will yawn. No offence intended to any enjoyers of those things, or inhabitants of Grantham.

No thanks. Sex on Fire was the bane of my life for a good 2 years. Still hate hearing it 17 years later (I'm old).

ive never understood the appeal of these guys. ive always thought their big singles were pretty average yet those were the better tracks from the album. also considering this came out in 2008, no one thought to tell these guys that grown men singing about teenagers wasn't acceptable anymore?

The big riffs and solos on this dress it up as a rock album, but strip away those elements and it would probably sound a lot more like Imagine Dragons than you'd think. The pop elements - shimmering guitars on "Be Somebody," a big pulsing back beat on "Crawl" - are just as big. Almost everything about this album is big though; it's clear it's trying to be an album of anthems and meaningful songs. It sometimes succeeds, like on "Sex on Fire," which gets into a good groove and has a chorus that feels triumphant. But elsewhere, like on "Use Somebody," it feels overwrought, like it's trying too hard. The vocals are dramatic and cloying, sometimes strained. It works at times as a pop rock album, but it usually doesn't have the songs or ideas to back up the feelings it's trying for.

Sorry this band is too boring to get through a full album.

Filth

This album, this band, should not be anywhere near a list of (top) 1000 albums. I can't believe there are enough people who think otherwise. I have wasted enough time on this crap. We really need a negative rating for albums that need to get taken off these lists. Unbelievably bad, it's not even banal, it's just shite. -infinity....

Slower rock. Definitely could’ve used somebody to listen with.

For the first couple tracks I was thinking “this may not be as bad as I expected” given how much I loathe the singles, but as the record went on I realized it really is just as terrible as I had thought. Like Coldplay, what makes it even worse is that there’s occasionally a cool riff or something that makes you realize they could have done something much better but instead chose to make this.

Sex on Fire Use Somebody Notion

Lings of Keon. 3/10

I wish I could rate this lower

ok

Well, this is garbage.

I feel like if a record sounds like it would have been played over the final scene of a Grey’s Anatomy episode it should be disqualified from the list.

I just don’t like this

A yawn in album form. Weird lyrics that sound like a youth pastor having a breakdown.

This is not the worst album i heard on this list so far... but certainly the worst listening experience. Man, i can hear the guys saying "Okay but how do we get our listeners to think this is EMOTIONAL and IMPORTANT music?". I guess one way is to make the lead singer sound like he's on the verge of a mental breakdown throughout the whole album. This is proto-Imagine Dragons, this tries to be Coldplay-stadium music without even trying to impress any real vulnerability or meaning into the music. Maybe this IS the worst album I heard on this list so far...

Yawn. Stadium indie slop. Makes me a little embarrassed that I quite liked their first album when it was released.

1001?

DID NOT NEED TO HEAR BEFORE I DIE

Only By the Night starts off kinda OK – Closer is a decent opener (yes, I know… haha). But what follows is… the rest of the album. One mediocre tune follows another until it’s finally over. The production seems to be aiming for the sweeping, echo-drenched grandeur of U2, while the whole musical/lyrical approach is apparently meant to be elusive, maybe even seductive. But especially with lyrics this clumsy (frankly, bad), the result sounds equivalent to browsing for lingerie in the clearance bin at Walmart.

Suburban mall rock.

generic "rock." I wouldn't really enjoy shopping to this.

Awful, so boring and tough to sit through.

Kings of Leon shouldn’t have this many records. This is like content music; nothing stands out and is instantly regrettable and forgettable.

This is my 1,070th album. I have neither the energy nor the compulsion to listen to this.

3/10 The opening track is actually really good but then the rest of the songs are all very samey - they all bleed into the other only really notice the progression with the singles that everyone knows. That being said, the singles are very nostalgic for me (I'm a 00's baby) but very much what you would hear waiting for your mum to finishing doing the big shop. PS - when will grown men stop singing about teenagers? it makes me feel like i'm being turned inside out through my belly button Songs added to playlist: - Closer - Use somebody

Imagine putting two Kings of Leon albums in your book about the 1001 most crucial albums of all time

I hated to listen to this with all my heart.

Musically, great. Love the use of guitars and electronic music. But the voice puts me off every time. Dude need to clear his throat and take a dump.

The amount of incredible musicians left off this list so that Kings of Leon could have two albums when they hardly deserve one. If I wasn't so far into this list, I'd be giving up on it for sure.

Dude has a cool voice, but I can't stand this band

Here we go, more dire 2000s indie rock. Another singer who sounds like they’re struggling with a tricky poo, and songs that are mostly turgid soppy bollox.

It’s not rock music; the songwriting is 21st century pop through and through. Worse than Coldplay, but maybe a little better than Imagine Dragons and OneRepublic. Decent drums, lackluster and absolutely mediocre guitar, and pretentious irritating vocals. I don’t actually hate it, but it epitomizes much of what 21st century “rock” music lacks for me

faux-anguished, pompous, mock-rock, underpinned with dull clatter and U2-style bombast - landfill indie-style rock, no better than the Pigeon Detectives. there is absolutely no reason for threadbare bands like this to have 2 (so far) albums in the list. I do not want to hear a third from them.

dudes voice is awful. you cannot convince me that i would need to listen to this for any reason.

1. clozer - 1 2. crauul - 1 3. fire - 1 4. zomebody - 1 5. manhattan - 0 6. revelry - 0 7. 17 - 0 8. notion - 1 9. you - 0 10. be - 0 11. dezert - 1 THIZ BAND ZUCKZ ZPECIALLY THE TERRIBLE ZINGERZ VOICE , UUTF !!!!

I like old KoL better :/

Sluchanie tego na spacerze było błędem - czułem jakbym robił coś wstydliwego, bałem się, że ktoś mnie przyłapie. Slop/5

Meh. All of the songs sound the same. If you like Sex is on Fire, you will love this album. If you find it redundant and cloying, then there is nothing here for you.

Cold rock with an annoying crying voice

No I will not

This sex is on fire!

I couldn't listen too it due to being too mentally scarred by the overexposure of Sex On Fire. Probably not their fault...I liked the first album tbh

This is the 23rd album I’m rating. I heard this was on the list but I can’t really judge it since I can’t remember listening to the band. I probably have listened to them though since I listened to a lot of radio music like most people over 10. Closer - Not Adding to my Playlist. This is extremely basic. Crawl - Not Adding to my Playlist. That singing is pretty annoying. Sex on Fire - Not Adding to my Playlist. This feels like a This Year’s Model situation. Use Somebody - Not Adding to my Playlist. I definitely recognize this song. I hate this song. Maybe listening to this song on the radio for years is influencing my judgement but it doesn’t change the fact I dislike it. Manhattan - Not Adding to my Playlist. I feel nothing. Revelry - Not Adding to my Playlist. Pretty basic but something feels right but also wrong. 17 - Not Adding to my Playlist. When I imagine alt rock I’m thinking of something interesting. Notion - Not Adding to my Playlist. I can’t listen to this album. I listened to all of these songs on the radio so much I can’t listen to them anymore. I Want You - Not Adding to my Playlist. This singing is pretty annoying. Be Somebody - Not Adding to my Playlist. This is more interesting but worse. Cold Desert - Not Adding to my Playlist. Antarctica or Ice Cream. All in all I liked 0/11 songs. Not as good as I thought it would be. The best terrible album. I’m getting kinda burnt out listening to new music I need a Fetch the Bolt Cutters or a Tidal or a Aftermath. I need something I know really well that’s really good. I don’t know what Björk albums are on here but one of them should be fine. Maybe Bitte Orca or Heaven or Las Vegas. Just something I know.

Nope, can't get into this at all!

För mig ett ganska ojämnt album men i stora delar tycker jag det saknas "själ", detta sångarens jämrande till trots. Ganska ofta tycker jag det finns en "frånkoppling" mellan sångens känsla och resten av kompets. Albumet har har helt klart sina höjdpunkter, för mig är det de mer rockiga bidragen i form av Crawl och Be Somebody. Men det räcker föga för att komma med på en lista med album alla borde höra innan de dör, detta är inte stor musikkonst och det är inte ett album som är av musikhistorisk väsentlighet i min mening. 1/5.

Nope. No thank you.

Why? Just why?

apsolutni klasik. junaan? ei kai. ylläpidolta aivan helvetillistä vitsiä.. paitsi ei ole minulle vitsi.. ei ole hauska jos toinen puoli kärsii toiminnasta. ja arvaa mikäpäs on hirveintä? kakkosen albumi.. EIIIIIIII. miksi tämä bändi teki lähes kuunneltavaa musiikkia... kaksi kertaa olen kakannut tämän bändin rinnalle.. nyt vaan pissaa suuhun huoh.... (tykkäävät siitä, nashvilleläisiä) ääh vitut annetaan yksi tälle ollaan nyt objektiivisia ei yritetä olla KivaKoulu esque tyyppisiä henkilöstöä. alkaa pikkuhiljalleen vituttaa tämä koko homma. I can concede that at least the songwriting is quite good. Oh she's only seventeen. closer

Да ничего особенного

I think expanding their scope to arena rock levels did this band no favors and just laid bare their limitations. This album did nothing for me and just sounded like some U2 indie rock mashup.

I can't stand the singer's constant vocal fry singing. Some of the music isn't bad, but I really wanted to shut this off after a few songs. 1.5/5

Worst selection I've seen so far (400+).

don't find it interesting enough to bother downloading to keep

Third KoL on the list, a little pointless

This music is so self-indulgent and vapid. It's marketed towards people who want to fit in with everyone else, but also feel unique.

Absolutely cannot stand dude's voice. Might be specific to this album's production because the other two albums didn't grate like this.

This is the epitome of empty, soulless pop rock. I know this was full of hits when it came out, but it does not really hold up. Best songs: Sex on Fire, Revel Worst Songs: Use Somebody, 17, Crawl

I don't get why it is such a popular band. Never really liked anything. I thought maybe Sex On Fire became a hit because it was accesible, and the other songs were more interesting, but it wasn't the case. Also, his voice is screeching my eardrum.

Three! Three entries! All gone from the book but no excuse for keep including them in the first place. This one sounds not like the shit Strokes, and instead sounds like Lenny Kravitz, but shit. I have to begrudgingly admit that Sex on Fire is a well crafted rock/pop song, as is Use Somebody, but it won't stop me hating it. Fuck me, his voice is annoying.

I absolutely, utterly hate Sex Is On Fire. If it is mate, go to the chemist, get some ointment for it. Fucksake. Anyway. This album apparently starts with Closer. Which has perhaps the most irritating drumming one could imagines. Couldn't finish it. We skip on to Crawl. Now this started on a way that irritated me, but the noise factor is compelling. It's almost enough to get me pass the drumming, which continues appalling. Then the vocals start and I'm turned off again. Is this another skip? Yes. I'm not even going to play SIOF on general principle, but going straight to Use Somebody gives me hideous Elbow vibes, and the drum still makes me want punch someone. The vocals start and is this Adele? Balls to this. Three skips in the first four tracks - and one I won't play on general principle. Manhattan - oh my god, this drummer might actually be the most talented drummer in history - if that talent is to piss me off OK, I'm 100% done with this album, I don't need to subject myself to any more. This is terrible.

Hot garbage.

Ass, ass and more ass

Why in the hell in this trash an album I should listen to before I die? Kings of Leon sucks. It is super generic. Who cares.

Ew

There is no universe where this pandering, underwhelming, sack of shit of an album should be in the top 1001. Kings of Leon clearly intended for Sex on Fire and Use Somebody to be the singles (both of which are not interesting nor good), with the rest of the album padded by bad songs with repetitive lyrics, grating vocals and basic song structures. This is an all time low on this list so far, and I sincerely hope the author removed this album to make room for other albums. 0/5 -> 1/5

No thank you.

Song by song I just kept turning the volume down until it wasn't on anymore and that was a nice change.

mid

GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE! GARBAGE!

Encuentro bastante raro que esta banda tenga más de un disco en esta lista. Sé que "Sex on Fire" es un single que fue sumamente popular, más aún en el año en el que salió, pero "Only By Night" es una entrega mucho, mucho peor dentro de la discografía de Kings ofd Leon que el otro LP de la misma banda que se encuentra en la lista, "Aha Shake Heartbreak". Con una producción que no le favorece en nada a las composiciones, este disco suena como una mezcla obscena entre The Killers y Coldplay, con unos cuantos tintes de country. Perfectamente olvidable y saltable. No te pierdes de nada si no escuchas este disco.

I could not finish as it was not good.

Screw this jawn.

not their best work

Generic sounds, annoying singing, forgettable melodies, the works. Not very good.

You know the sort of person who complains about pop or rap or whatever? This is the sort of stodgy turgid crap they call real music, because it's made by four session musicians who inexplicably made it (admittedly their first album was pretty okay). And the musicians are definitely white, which I often think is a big part of their issue with music that isn't real, ain't that right Morrissey? Like a sandwich made purely of white bread, with a white bread filling, seasoned with breadcrumbs. Bland and stodgy.

Irriterande

I'm not looking forward to this. Track 1 - It sounds like ZOO-era U2 with a shitty singer from a The Commitments tribute band. When will it end? There's still 60 seconds to go. Aargh. Track 2 - What was that album where I said it would sound amazing if you've never heard any other music before? That's what this is, again. The music is very simple, but not in a good way and the singer sucks. The guy from Terrorvision or Ugly Kid Joe were better and doing this sort of thing. I am reminded of U2 again by this track. God, it's boring. 40 seconds to go. They need to make all their songs 1 minute shorter is what I've learnt so far. Track 3 - "Yoo-ooh-ooh, my ass is on fire." Oh, no, I'm confusing it with something else. Again, it's amazing how simple these songs are. When did this come out? Do you remember the phrase "Landfill Indie"? I am suddenly reminded of that. Track 4 - Oh god, I forgot this one. "USE somebody". Again, so simple with weirdly unconvincing over-emoting vocals. Right. I don't know if I can do this whole album with out skipping. 1 minute 22 seconds to go. Oh god, this is so desperate to be arena rock. Ooh! A key change! It's over. Track 5 - skipping Track 6 - This sounds like modern country and western which is just simple rock with lyrical references to tractors and things. I suppose you want to make sure you get that Southern demographic. "Drinking Smoking." "Kerosene" Some slide guitar. But so simple still. Track 7 "She's only 17" Really? Is rock still doing that? (In 2008) Yeesh. skip skip skip. Yeah this is corporate bullshit. I can imagine tolerating it if it came on in a pub and you were a bit pissed. It's not as bad as Travis (but then what is?) so I am grudgingly giving it two stars. Or am I? Nah fuck it. GET FUCKED KINGS OF LEON!

I see why Use Somebody was the hit off this album, the rest is just meh.

I'm going to be charitable and say that at the time that this list was devised, Kings of Leon were breaking out and were considered a rising force in rock music. That's why so many of their albums are on this app. That said - this is pure dog ass, an embarrassing album.

You can fuck right off. This was the beginning of the end for KOL. The first 2 albums were great. Even the 3rd was very good. This was a wet blanket. Became inexplicably popular because people found the lyrics Sex on Fire so damn wonderful. It was a rip off of Dakota by Stereophonics when you break it down. Argh, I'm so full of hate for this album, because I used to love KOL and this was so shit. Use Somebody can fuck off and die. I'm genuinely angry that this is on here.

Idk, I hear a lot of empty earnestness. At times this album made me queasy. It feels manufactured for is time and over produced.

Not as bad as I figured considering how much I hate this band post their second record but also not good. And sometimes truly awful. Mostly it’s just boring, like the most soulless take on soulful rock ever.

Fuck kings of leon sex on fire är fine men resten är så lame, tråkigt och albumet låter som en tvättmedelsreklam

Sounds like the only thing that mattered was sounding good in a stadium - soaring, anthemic, monotonous structures, simple harmonies, slow builds. The songs are silly confections and instantly forgettable.

God no. Not my cup of tea at all. Sex on Fire can do one. Favourite tracks: no.

a bit bland. why is it on this list??

This is absolutely terrible. Corporate rock. If you took the vocals off you could use any of these tracks for a video your CEO shows you about the company’s fresh new direction before laying you off. Their first album was so good. It’s diabolical what happened to them. They should be jailed.

Boring and irritating at the same time. The singer’s intentional vocal fry and constant deep reverb on the guitar are just grating and get tired after the first song.

Utterly generic whiny-guy album of the 90’s. A genre that needs zero entries to this list.

If i could rate it less i would

This album epitomizes my criticism of this list. Just because an album had a few hits and was popular for a moment, does that make it an essential listen? What broader impact did Kings of Leon have on music, did they have any real impact at all? Overall an extremely forgettable album of boring pop-rock. Beyond that, the lyrics are cringe-inducing and awful. The entire song "17" written in 2008 should be a big enough red flag, but there are so many painfully unsexy attempts are risque lyrics. I end the review with one of those "Home-boy's so proud, He finally got the video proof The night vision shows, She was only ducking the truth It's heavy, I know The black cat with the gift down below A choke and a gag, She spit up an' came back for more, oh ahh ahh" ugh, gross. No one should come back to this album for more.

Boring really.

zzzzzzzz

Of all the albums in the history of music that made this list, I genuinely can't believe that this made it. Utter pish. It would probably sound fine in a car commercial but in no way should a band like this be on a list like this. The only positive I can give is that eventually it ended. Utter tosh, rubbish, boring

"Sex On Fire": Hum, really? To paraphrase Tony Soprano: "Cunnilingus and cheesy dad-rock played by pseudo-alternate rocker boys brought us to this." Unless the song is about blowjobs. At least if it's your thing. But I think lines such as "Soft lips are open" and "I could just taste it" make Mr. Followill's sexual preferences clear for the listener. As is that Rorschach blot of an album cover. Good for him. And good for his partner that night. "Use Somebody" is about hitting on girls in bars, it seems. Another universal theme, and another huge commercial hit by the band. Too bad the music is so damn bland and unimaginative. As it is is in *each and every* track of this record. Fittingly, Kings Of Leon's story is as boring and predictable as their songs and studio performances usually are. They went from a festival act playing the sort of soft garage rock that would be appreciated in bars in the American South, to then embrace their destiny as an arena-rock band following the footsteps of Bruce Springsteen, U2 and the Killers. Call that an upgrade if you will. Good for them as well. But not for listeners who wish to discover something more than by-the-numbers arrangements and easily-digestible--yet-totally-unmemorable--songwriting. You can sense in *Only By The Night* that the very competent Kings Of Leon go through the motions so that they could have their hits without taking any risks or following any sort of worthwhile creative spark. But can they have those, really? All of this feels very safe--lyrics alluding to oral sex and lewd attraction to 17-year-old girls notwithstanding. Honestly, I feel a little pity about the teary-eyed reviewers in here reminiscing about the good ol' days they had in high school or college dorms listening to this album (most of the positive reviews say that exact same thing). I'm probably 15 or 20 years older than they are, and yet I haven't fully embraced this dad-rock phase yet. And even if I had, it wouldn't be about bands painfully reenacting the more glorious times of past mainstream rock luminaries who were at least doing something fresh from their own vantage point. It seems fitting that the name of those brothers in the band is "Followill", since all they're happy to do is to follow a formula without adding anything personal that would be even remotely interesting. The fact that their fans can't come to terms with that idea is a tad bit frustrating, to be perfectly honest. If only they had listened to similar-sounding bands from that particular point in time that are at least displaying *real substance* in their music. I get that from their point of view, the songs of *Only By The Night* make a good soundtrack for road trips. But those rides would sound so much better with songs by The Walkmen, for instance. You see, I like my rock'n'roll with a minimum amount of danger, or at least urgency. I can't sense those connotations in the writing here, and I certainly can't sense them in Matthew Followill's over-affected whining. So I'm gonna file Kings Of Leon next to the Killers and The War On Drugs. Except that it's gonna be on an even lower shelf than those two acts. My overall take about the presence of *Only By The Night* in such a list is that something was dead wrong about mainstream pop-rock tastes from the middle-naughts to the middle-2010s. Fortunately, that time is over now. Now I can smirk at the new dad-rockers with kids that are half their age (and even far younger than I am myself). Oh, and you might tell me that other old and very predictable story that the real problem is that Kings Of Leon had sold out on commercialism with this album, yet that the ones before it are good... Well, I'm also very sorry: I've browsed to those records and they sound as bland and unexceptional and boring as the band's arena-rock era. Except for a strange number like "Milk" maybe... Thanks to Lana Del Rey for talking about that tune during an interview (I can see how the strange pace of its vocals inspired the one of "White Dress", where she even name-dropped Kings Of Leon in the lyrics). Yet it seems to me that this sort of spark is a rare case in the band's discography. And it's nowhere to be found in the disposable artefact that *Only By The Night* is anyway. 1/5 for the purposes of this list, which translates to a 5/10 grading for more general purposes (5/5 for the musicianship + 0/5 for the artistry). Next, please. Please, oh please. Number of albums left to review: 459 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 254. Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 127 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 162 (including this one)

Gross. Roommate was obsessed with this band and this album for all of the fall semester in 2008 and it was so overplayed in our house. I fucking hate Kings of Leon.