Only By The Night

The Rock Snobbery in the top reviews is why rock has died in the mainstream. Congrats guys

I might have given this two starts but for a few reasons: 17 is wtf. Why is he singing in cursive like a rock Dance Monkey? Why is this whole thing so flat and washed out? Usually when there are big obvious singles I can jam along with them. These sound so awful in headphones I can't wait for them to be over. This has absolutely zero appeal to me.

i don't know if it's the dude's voice, the way the songs are structured, how the guitars sound or what but this sounds vaguely too much like christian rock and not in a good way either so like 2/5

This keeps sounding like it's about to be music I like and then whatever El Ten Eleven sounding stuff there is gets that guy singing over it. Still, before this I would have thought my opinion of Kings of Leon was "negative" and I guess it's "neutral to slightly positive". I think I also confused them with Fountains of Wayne, and also maybe Train because of "Drops of Jupiter" because even though I *know* that's Train it still fits /\^w+ of \w+$/

Pretty good except it kept slipping into Brian Adam’s.

These guys started as a white hot rocket with a perfect blend of the Strokes and Lynyrd Skynrd but by the time this came out, they'd tried to clean up and go radio friendly. And it sucks. There's just nothing to match on to; every choice is hackneyed, every note is lab-designed for radio play, and everything is just off. It's a shame they were launched so fast to superstardom because if they'd been left alone for a second maybe they'd have made something amazing.

9/10 - Love this group since their early days, no filler and just great song and sound after great song and sound

Overall: 7/10 I obviously know that Kings of Leon isn't an amazing band or anything, but I can never hate those first 4 albums cause I have so much nostalgia for them. There's do many great songs on this album that I can forgive the stuff like Use Somebody and 17. I grew up on this band and they'll always have a special place in my heart. Fav Song: Closer

Average

The hits are great, the whole album is. a bit much. Not bad by anymeans

Good album yes yes

Never really listened to this band. They seem to have a thing that they do, over and over. Not a bad thing, just that it keeps happening.

Kings of Leon once left a concert after three songs because pigeons kept defecating on them. That has no bearing on my rating of this album, but it's important information all the same. As for this album, it's good, bordering on very good. A couple misses, but in general this is an album I've liked for a while. Top half of the 4/5s.

I'd rather have an STI than willingly listen to this album again. "I could USE somebod--" I could USE some Advil after listening to this. It's on sight with them because they thought 17 was a good idea. And for making this album in general. I'm fighting mad because this sucks so bad.

Again, this almost seems like it will be an interesting listen when it first starts, but that VERY quickly changes. Status quo for the other KoL I've been unlucky enough to hear. It's cliche, disinteresting, and a lot of the times sounds like it's poking fun at how crappy indie rock is as a whole. Truly worthless music made even worse by the terrible vocals.

Christian and boring

Nightmare scenario: two KoL albums in the space of two weeks. At least, on the plus side, I haven't had a Sub-3-star album since then. I am pretty confident this will break the streak. This album at least has the “hits”. I am not sure if this will improve it or not, because I hate the “hits”. And I guess technically this is growth. They can afford production this time. Sings of Leon is still mealy mouthed, but Strings of Leon and Skins of Leon sound better. I don't hate the muddy distortion on Crawl until that drunken slur of a fake southern drawl comes in. 17 starts with promising Christmas bells, and it's bleak that Christmas makes this promising, but breaker still that this isn't just another tired “barely legal” story (and less than that in any sane place), but it is a word salad of one. It's just all so banal and stupid, though. Sex on Fire isn't a thing anyone has ever said, and if they have it was definitely in a “i should get this treated” way. There is nothing sexy, ir even aroused, about it. Like, it is way too tepid a song. It should be more muscular, or more grooving, or more frenetic. Something that feels like there is excitement. But it's not. It plods like a bored handy. But if Sex on Fire is stupid, Use Somebody tries to be anthemic without having a band that can handle an anthem. “Someone like youu” fizzles out like the last word slipped out of the mouth like a raw egg. If that sounds unappealing, congrats, you've experienced the quintessence of Kings of Leon. And again, these are the BEST songs here. They're followed up by Manhattan, which could have been named Any Other City and been more appropriate, because it has nothing to do with a sense of any place, especially not one of the most distinctive cities on earth. It has nothing to do with anything. It has to do with someone writing some dance words and cobbling zero narrative from it. And the jokers immediate talk about being “a dancing machine” again on the next track. These are songs for barely sentient meat that thought it wanted to get into music like the humans do. Bored and boring and dumb dumb dumb. This would be the soundtrack to the Cavemen sitcom, and even then it would feel on the nose. It's better than Youth and Young Manhood, but that still leaves them with ⭐️. This project has left me with a deep seated hatred for this band, and I'm not even done with them. Fuck Dimery forever if this literal trash sludge shows up on my Spotify wrapped.

Straight up rock that's a little too one note for me throughout most of the album.

17 was bad vibes but the rest was good 3

Nope. Just wasn’t going to happen so obligatory 2.

Is a good band. A good version of Coldplay. Would have liked it more when it came out but still good 👍🏽

Very good

Not horrible, but just like the other two albums on this list, it's unremarkable.

I thought these guys were supposed to be good or something, ultra boring white guy "rock"

A really fun and chill album. Very easy to listen to. Caleb has a really good voice, really unique.

Great

aquele rock meio country inofensivo com alguns hits. bem ok. eu sempre gostei muito de notion. meu problema é alguém achar que precisa ter 3 (!!!) albuns de kings of leon, enquanto outros artistas só possuem 1 álbum ou até nenhum (sou amarga com o fato de não ter "construção" do chico buarque aaargh)

It's fine.

I'd probably listen to this again, but I'm writing this review the day after listening and I can't remember much besides the radio hit I heard growing up

This is a real time capsule. This is an album people will rediscover the CD and go 'oh that was a good album wasn't it?' And then leave it untouched another 10 years. Some gen Alpha kid will make it their personality for a month. On a relisten, yeah it's solid. This is nu-dad rock to the core. Highlight: Be Somebody (Having Be Somebody and Use Somebody on the same album was a dumb decision though)

It gets a lot of hate but it wasn’t overplayed where I lived at the time. I can’t argue

This Southern Rock album feels like biting into a big marshmallow: soft, sweet and easy to get through, but with almost nothing substantial to chew on. The guitars are drenched in reverb, the drums give the songs a broad arena-rock pulse, and Caleb Followill's raspy voice stretches everything into a slightly hazy, dramatic atmosphere. The songs often have the size and polish of something meant for a huge crowd, but underneath that oversized sound I keep finding surprisingly little to hold onto. Even when the guitars swell or the vocals become more emotional, the music remains soft and yielding rather than giving me anything with much weight. The result is a record that can sit comfortably in the background, but like a marshmallow, it dissolves quickly without leaving much behind.

A bit samey but nice.

Explosive rock album. Great stuff. I remember the hype on Triple J when it was released. It was overplayed, which annoyed me back then, but today it’s a nice nostalgia trip. Notion is my choice track - I’d totally forgotten about its existence, probably the last time I heard it was a decade ago and it brought back memories. Manhattan and I Want You are others I’d forgotten about which I enjoyed hearing again after so long. Revelry comes in as my second favourite. I’m giving this one a 5. The Kings Of Leon style of rock music is not my favourite but given the sentiment I feel from re-spinning this album, it’s worth the top score.

I don't like this music.

Stadionrock

I know I just talked about how overplayed Nirvana was in the 90s. The singles from this album were some of most overplayed of the 2000s. Not quite Seven Nation Army overplayed, but overplayed. I hate Sex On Fire more than that one OAR song about poker, and that's saying something. You know what, I think that also applies to Use Somebody. Crawl was listenable. The rest, not really.

No. No thank you. This hit about like a Coldplay album for me. How could someone so ok sounding be so boring? It's not quite a 1-star, but if rather not listen to it again.

Feels like ersatz Coldplay.

I've never heard any of the songs on here apart from Be Somebody and I think that was good as I read some of these reviews. I say that because for someone who never encountered their music save for a few songs, it allowed me to enter with a fresh mind and little bias. And yes, it is a good rock album. 17 is...interesting and I'm not sure what to think about it but I can say that the rest of it was pretty good and pleasant to listen to. I wouldn't listen to it if I really wanted to feel anything other than pleasant. So a good four overall.

I enjoy Sex on Fire and Use Somebody as much as the next millennial, but MAN is the rest of this album a bore. Just feels like generic “rock” without any excitement.

Crazy modern rock

BORING!!!

Two songs in, and my initial thoughts: Great rock sound, with a hint of electro pop. Very 2008. I’ve always loved the song “Sex on Fire.” You can hear the singer’s longing, wanting and desire in it. Hmm, I didn’t know “Use Somebody” was by them. I like that song, too. “Manhattan” is a good song, sort of reminds me of something that The 1975 would put out. The rest of the album blurred together. Not a bad album by any means, and I think it still holds up today. I wouldn’t be mad if someone put this on the aux.

I don’t know what gene it is that causes some people to hate this band because I do not have it. The parts that rock really rock. I think this is an excellent listen.

I had this album when it came out and was very disappointed with it after the previous album which I liked. It's just got too much sheen and verges on dull at times, and the two singles were egregiously overplayed. Time has made it less hateful though, in 2008 it would have gotten a 1

Me da mucha hueva la voz de este sujeto

I actually liked this one quite a bit. A few tracks have aged poorly (actually I'm not sure "17" was all that great in 2008), but there's some pretty great stuff as well. The bass player is a real highlight here, which is rather uncommon for albums on this list - the bassline to "I Want You" really stood out to me, despite its simplicity. This album definitely sounds like its time period, I've heard a few of these tracks before but it reminds me of a lot of other stuff I was listening to in probably 2008-2012, with the southern/folk influenced rock. Nostalgia doesn't really factor into my rating, since I don't have a connection to these particular tracks, but I could see my rating nudging a little higher with time. Favorite track: probably "Notion"

Another 'how the fuck' moment as KoL have 3 albums on this list... each one becoming increasingly banal! I'll admit that I liked their debut at the time but it very quickly fell out of rotation and I don't think I've listened to it for about 20 years. Part of that, for sure, is because of what they very quickly became.... dull radio rock!

2.95, singer's voice irritated me more than I would've thought

Great album but by the time it’s finished, I need a break from these guys for awhile.

this album probably should rate lower but I listened to it so much when I was younger it gets nostalgia points

No lo había escuchado. Me cambió la opinión con respecto a lo que conocía de ellos

Number: 245 Familiarity: Aware (2) Rating: 3 Before: ======= OK, I know this band is very popular amongst a certain segment of the population and I have also read that many people think they have too many albums on The List. Before pressing play, I will just say that I don't really have an opinion about their music other than I know I have given them a shot in the past but they did not click with me as I don't have a single song by them on any of my favorites by years lists. After : ======= So, the overall average on a song by song rating basis comes out to 3.4. That's nearly 4 if one rounds up at 3.5. But it's not 3.5 and I won't be rounding up as I see no compelling reason to do so as I don't particularity like this kind of music. It's just a personal preference.

Good stuff, but it didn’t feel particularly remarkable to me? Maybe I just don’t love Kings of Leon, or maybe I’ve heard “Use Somebody” one too many times Playlist add: “Manhattan”

A lot better than their earlier albums. 2.8/5 Favorite Songs: Closer Sex on Fire Use Somebody Notion

Mid album

I honestly don't know what Kings Of Leon did to go from being cool to like to very not cool. A bit like Muse. Feels like people just decide one day. It's impressive that they made the same album FOUR times at least (Because Of The Times, this one, Come Around Sundown, Mechanical Bull) but they're all still worth listening to. Even though every track could be on any album and fit in, literally no musical development which possibly went on for longer but I haven't listened much past those (for 13 YEARS?!). Anyway, fuck it, I love this album. Great stuff. Probably not worthy of a 5 from me but it needs its average on here pushed up a bit.

I grew up hearing people say the Kings of Leon fell off around this album, so I was pleasantly surprised when I heard this. It’s not as bad as I was led to believe. Maybe I should listen to their earlier work now so I can get some perspective on that opinion… It’s a little bland and unoffensive, but I see the vision, and overall it was a decent listen.

No private session used for Spotify. I loved the first two Kings of Leon, just fun, fast paced, guitar driven rock. And this is not that, when this album came out it was a Wilco level of disappointment: slower, lots of keyboards, more commercial and poppy. I have given it two honest listens and realize I was way to quick to dismiss this album. It's a change of direction, but it's a good album.

some great songs, couple good songs, not worth listening to the whole album

Had no idea this would be great from start to finish. Didn't give these guys enough credit years ago

Solid. 4/5

Solid album. Starts out fantastic and loses some steam by the end. Rating: 7/10 Favorite Song; Closer

This mostly sucks but the bass player sure hits some tasty grooves.

I had only heard the singles before but found the rest of the album to be nearly as good as those singles.

4 - I like this a lot even though I wish the music for Sex on Fire had completely different lyrics.

Disco clássico da banda. Produção impecável e sensação grandiosa. É um bom disco de rock. TRIxHBB Kai.

This fricken stunk. What a nothing album. The first few tracks had me in a stupor wondering why this was even here then it got to that stupid top 40 single and it all made sense. Soulless album. None of the instrumentation or vocals/lyrics felt like they had any care in them. 1/5

6/10 I'd say it's a solid album and there's a couple of pieces that remind me of other songs from other artists that I really like and am sure were inspired from this album. However I much rather listen to those than these ones, maybe it's first listen bias, whatever the case it doesn't matter. Definitely worth a listen but I probably will never seek out any of these songs again.

Fav: Closer L: I Want You 2 I don't like this fella's voice. When I went to look at the lyrics for 17 because I was like, "what did he just say?" the music stopped and youtube said you cant listen while reading the lyrics for music for kids. I don't know if it glitched out or what but that was a comedic song to do that on. Overall mostly just a bit bland but I think with a different singer I'd probably like it more. Cover: 3.5 Intriguing and I think matches the tone the album was going for. Name: 4.5 Solid name, glad it isn't one of the song titles. Fits the album decent.

This is a deeply troubling album. This is music for divorced dads. It is music for men who lack a capacity for introspection. Or perhaps their ability to introspect has been maliciously dulled by media like this. The songs feign introspection, but it ends up being shallow and literally and gross. This is for men who get married to someone they think is hot, proceed to be emotionally unavailable, get divorced, and then talk about their "bitch ex-wife" at the bar with their buddies while sexually harassing the bartender. I think an album like this has more potential for harm than an album designed to appeal to rapists and sex traffickers. An album written for Andrew Tate could at least be listened to with enough media literacy to recognize its source and its goals and its flaws. This album is designed to wash over the listener to pacify their innate human compassions until their ego is chaffed and bleeding. It is the single worst album I have ever listened to start-to-finish in my entire life. I pray that it remains the worst album and I can live the rest of my life without the cynicism it injected into me becoming malignant. There was a brief moment, during "Revelry", that I thought maybe I was being too harsh. But then it was followed by "17". W: L: Closer, Crawl, Sex on Fire, Use Somebody, Manhattan, 17, Notion, I Want You, Be Somebody, Cold Desert 0.5/5

One of those albums I listened to non-stop in high school. I hadn't heard Kings of Leon in years, but still sang along to every track with the lyrics memorized like no time had passed.

Yknow I got to Sex on Fire and giving it a real shot I thought it was better than I remembered….Use Somebody was the antithesis of that, that song huffs farts. Rest of the album was a similar mixed bag, which is more than I was expecting tbh

One of the worst bands to ever have success

Sex on Fire is a good track but there are several other gems on this record that make for a pretty good record. It’s not that Kings of Leon are mining new rock territory- they don’t. Rather this is white bread rock - no matter how you slice it, you’ll still know it’s white bread. This is that album. Faceless music made by faceless white people. They rock … on safely. Use Somebody, Notion, I Want You are actually the gems mentioned above. I think it’s these songs where you actually start to feel what Caleb is singing about. These are the songs that engage you as a listener and make you feel the messages. I listened to this record a couple of times today. It was comfortable- not too exciting but not too dull. Comfortable. I’d probably enjoy it more if it had peanut butter and jelly on it. 3/5

album #128 spent a lot of my life thinking KoL were british for some reason. i like this album but it is *very* middle of the road and i'm not sure should be on the list hahaha. closer and use somebody bang though. ಄ favourite track(s): closer, use somebody ಄ least favourite track(s): manhattan ಄ album rating: ★★⯪☆☆ ಄ number of albums left to review: 961 ಄ number of albums i agree with being on the list: 57 ಄ albums from the list that i would consider for my list: 25 ಄ albums i would not include on my list: 103

guapo

There's something I find weird about the sound on some of this record that makes It sounds to me as if they're all in the same tiny box. I don't know why it makes me think this. Anyhow, I think it's no better than just okay and that they've done better.

That was a bit better than Aha Shake Heartbreak, but I have the same issues with it. The music is ok but boring. I don't like the vocals.

(8.7) Amazing record with some classics in there

there's some good albums that i missed out on by refusing to listen to contemporary music in high school. this is absolutely not one of them, and should definitely be left in 2008.

Look deep inside your soul, and there is a tiny part singing Sex Is On Fire. 5/5

I find this yelling style of singing annoying and the music bland. There was not a single point where this held my attention or rose above the level of background noise. This is the most mainstream of mainstream. If this is one of your favourite albums, it makes me wonder how many albums you have actually heard. Two stars for me is a mark of boredom, and one star active dislike. This is really skirting that border.

Kids! This is the soundtrack to the opening chapter of your dad’s midlife crisis. He’s not as fit as he used to be. He used to be cool and carefree (in his own mind) but now he’s stuck on the downhill slide of corporate middle management. This album is what he puts on to remember… Overall it’s so generic I feel like the songs have been used in tv ads but I can’t recall what. Maybe a mobile phone plan? Maybe it was a travel agent selling package holidays? Cheap precooked sausages? Who knows? Who cares? 2/5 meh’s

Removed, as one does with KoL. The goofiest thing about this goofy list is how they couldn't decide on a KoL album and after three tries concluded there shouldn't be one

Good

I liked two songs lol

Why do so many grown men feel the need to sing about underage girls?

It wasn’t as bad as people will say

Correcto

Repeat listen

I bought 'Because Of The Times' when it was released on the basis of a single track, specifically 'On Call', and then found the album to be equally as good. Strangely, I never bought anything else by them. It's not that I didn't like their other music, I just never got round to it. This is another strong album. These guys have their own sound, and you can usually tell one of their tracks within a few bars. It probably isn't everyone's taste (theirs a statement as broad as the Amazon's estuary), but I like it.

Very nostalgic for high school years for me

this is like their joshua tree. it’s better but still largely uninteresting to me i like sex on fire

Not my thing but fine

For rock post 2000 it’s pretty good. relative to rock before that, it’s mediocre at best.

couldnt finish, total fucking garbage

Four cousins from Oklahoma, raised by a travelling Pentecostal preacher across small towns throughout the state, walked into Nashville's Blackbird Studios in February 2008 and recorded onto 16 track analog tape. Pitchfork gave the result 3.8 out of 10 and said Caleb Followill sings terribly. Six million people bought it anyway. The rest of the world made it number one in the UK, Ireland, and Australia simultaneously. This is the most useful critical disagreement of 2008. Closer opens with a gothic story about a vampire, which is either the boldest album opening of the decade or the most unexpected thing four guys from Tennessee have ever committed to tape. It works completely. Sex on Fire, Use Somebody, Crawl, Revelry, and Cold Desert follow with the confidence of a band who knew exactly what they had made and were not asking anyone's permission about it. Cold Desert closes the album by building to something enormous and then stripping back to almost nothing, which is the correct way to end a record and one of the great final tracks of the 2000s. I have seen them perform this material live. The recorded version is what they built that show around and it holds every bit of that weight. The longtime Followill fanbase called it a sellout. The rest of us called it a 5. 5 out of 5. All five stars, no deliberation, no footnotes, no stars held in reserve for albums that deserved them more. Sometimes an album just fits and this one fits completely.

had another aggressively 2.5/5 kings of leon album yesterday, which i generously gave a 3. grateful for the opportunity to balance things out. don't fuck with me like this again, 1001