Only By The Night

Yoo this is on here? Instant 5 "Use Somebody" has such a special place in my heart.

Love this album.

so meh

Boring really.

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.

Rock's last classic. A masterpiece

Really surprised to see this band on here. I remember listening to a few of their songs when I was a kid and never would have painted them as a super influential or well-received band. This is an ok album. Nothing really screams that this is something that would belong on this list. "Use Somebody" was a huge song for a while, and still gets used in shitty TV. This kind of feels like a band that got bastardized by the music industry and Hollywood corporations. It's either that or they got fed up with all that and decided to make music that appealed to the band members instead of the music labels or whatever. This is a solid 3/5

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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.

This album defined early 2000s rock Sex On Fire and Use Somebody are bangers. Let's forget about 17 tho...

Étonnamment not bad at all. Use somebody et sex on fire très connus sur cet album. J'ai bien aimé la première moitié, mais la 2ème un peu moins.

Fairly boring but some songs were quite good

This is a nicely crafted straight up rock album that is a solid listen, if not super memorable. Fave Songs: Use Somebody, Sex on Fire, Manhattan, Closer

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.

When it came out I would have given it 1 I hated it so much. Now that time has passed where I'm not forced to listen to it I can concede that at least the songwriting is quite good. It came at the end of and to me represents a full stop to the mid 00's era of bland mainstream indie bands. Now leave me alone and don't make me listen to it again. 2+/5

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

An album that was everywhere for a while, and rightly so, as it is great! Falls just short of a fifth star, partly cos it is a bit samey, partly cos I prefer their rawer earlier stuff.

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)

It's a bit pompous and overblown but it also does an epic rock thing that gets pretty catchy. They're no guns and roses but it's still a 3/5.

I really like this album. Good indie rock and some very catchy songs. 5/5

Multiple listens confirm the strengths of this effort and the band itself – fully committed vocals in a relatable classic rock vein, slightly melancholic undertones to even the wildest songs ("Sex On Fire" sounds is sung like the singer is in fact frightened by the fiery-ness being described). It all works well, if there are only a few tracks that truly jump out to distinguish themselves. Still, seems like this was a real rock and roll band at a time when the market needed one. Indeed, one is pleased that they achieved considerable commercial success, and would even go so far as to say they deserved it.

It's that slow vocals vibe lounge singing vibe. Definitely makes you feel like you're sitting in the rain with flowers in your hand watching your high-school sweetheart kissing the quarterback of the football team vibes.

This album had it’s moment and is still a good listen.

Maybe a 4.

Ooft. Those opening few bars of Closer transported me right back to high school. Kings Of Leon really blew up in the late 00s and epitomised the alt-rock sound of that era. With four songs from this album making Triple J's Hottest 100 for the year including "Closer" which didn't even get an official single release goes to show the pull of the Kings at this point in time. Best: Crawl; Sex On Fire; Use Somebody Worst: I Want You

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

It starts strong with the hits, but I think it loses steam by the end. This was when they began to sell out.

This was everywhere back in '08 and still holds up now as a decent play. Pretty good crossover rock album with some big singles. It does sound same-y at some points, but the music doesn't overstay its welcome.

Vocals reminded me of the lead singer of Highly Suspect and Kaleo. Like the synths and instrumentals sounds almost experimental with traditional electric guitar mixed in. After finishing I recognized a lot of the songs featured, but never knew the band.

mehhh

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.

It has the important big hits, but is a bit too waily in a U2 style. Nonetheless not bad.

Kind of departed from the swamp rock into some almost Springsteen territory. I liked it but like the previous entry from this band found it a little middle-of-the-road alt-rock.

One of the last if not the last big crossover rock album hit. Famous singles, widely accessible compared ti previous works, strong production. This nailed it with this one.

Now finally a Kings of Leon album that deserves to be on there because it's actually good music!

Love, love, love this album! Brought back childhood memories ❤️

KoL is an under-rated band in my opinion. Especially with this album, they forged a pretty unique sound that is somehow fun and sad and rocky and poetic all at the same time. And they're consistent - a few tracks off this were "hits" but they all sound equally great.

I knew two songs on the album, which was 2 more than I was expecting. Even without the 2 tracks, I dug the album. It was pretty good. Both "Closer" & "Crawl" worked as opening tracks. They gave you a pretty good idea of what you were in for for the entire album. Then you have the one-two punch of "Sex On Fire" and "Use Somebody". Both pretty good songs, but having them right after each other, thae makes a pretty solid block of music right there. The singer is... limited, let's put it that way. He seems to be yelling more than singing, but at least he's in key. I didn't detect autotune, so that's a start. There wasn't a song on there that I would throw out, but because of the singer's limited range, some of them did start to sound the same. (Although "17" was a little creepy.) So if someone asked me where to start with the band, I would probably say this album would be your best bet. It has two of their biggest songs on it, so it should give you an idea of their sound.

I think three of the first four Kings of Leon albums were all on this list and have subsequently been removed. Funny enough it's their one before this (#3 - Because of the Times) that is my favorite. Still, this is probably my second favorite and where I first discovered the band. I remember when Sex on Fire was all over the radio and I was not interested at first. And then I really listened to it and I loved it. Still do; it never gets old for me. Some of the other songs have got old/tired - Use Somebody is one I now radio surf when I hear it and 17 was always a bit of a reach. But I still love how they open and close the album with Closer and Cold Desert (both eerie and awesomely haunting). And Notion still rocks every time while I Want You is one of those great cheeky songs with an off-kilter beat they seem to have on every album. It's not a perfect album but it's a solid piece of rock during an era where rock was dying (and has continued to die). These guys were a breath of fresh air and this album was massive. I don't think I can bump it up to a 5 because they had already started to blaze a trail in the early 2000's with their first two albums, it's just that North America wasn't paying much attention (England was). But in 20 years when we look back and ask what did we define as rock after 2000-2002 and where did rock go by 2020, this is one of those albums (and bands) where we can say, ah there it is. I'm saving my 5 for album #2 (Aha Shake Heartbreak) where they first really figured out their great sound and were still pretty new.

Started out promising - the first two tracks (Closer and Crawl) had a pretty cool sound. But then the rest of the album (including the "hits" that I'd never heard) got pretty generic 2000s-rock. Not bad or anything, just nothing I'd seek out again. It's removed from the 1001 albums books now, which was a good choice.

Singles are maybe a 3. Rest is a 2.

Reminds me of college

(On first song) These vocals kinda good though? Wait I thought this had the quality of the top song but it ain’t? This album might actually be good. I now know why it wasn’t the top song. Turns out Sex On Fire, despite the name, is a very well known song. Still good though. Yeah this is at least 4 stars. Multiple so close to being bangers. Man just one banger and it would’ve been a 4.5. Oh well, 4 stars. Also man the first song wouldv’e been so much better if the backing track didn’t last the entire song. Its distracting at best.

Ummmm wtf is that song 17

It's easy to mock Kings of Leon and the whole mid 2000s era of Alt Rock, but I do have to admit this is actually a pretty decent album. The hitters, while overplayed, still hit and some of the deep cuts are better than they get credit for as a band.

Meh. Some good songs but did not grab me and scream "Greatness!!".

The album tracks for the most part were as good as the smash hits. Enjoyable listen.

Modern classic

ovo nisam čuo pun kurac, vratilo bi me u srednju, početak.

Liked it, especially their hit "Sex on Fire".

This album is really heavy soft rock. Perfect for the dentist office. None of the songs have definition and all sort of just bleed into each other. Honestly this sounded like one song with breaks throughout to me. It's not really bad or anything. Just nothing ear cathing.

4/11, 36%