Kings of Leon

On a recommendation from a friend, a downloaded and listened to the new Kings of Leon album, Only by the Night. While I had heard of them, I had never listened to anything by the band before, but fell in love after one listen to this amazing album. I instantly had to listen to the first 3 albums from the band, and here are my mini-reviews of them all:

Kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood (2003) 7.5/10
Blah. I was hoping for this to be as epic as the new album. I guess I should've went in blindly. While there are several tracks where the arrangements and instrumentation is great and very enjoyable, the album as a whole felt really dull and boring to me. The vocals weren't anything special and I couldn't really understand him some of the time. But with that said, its a decent album with some good songs on it.

Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak (2005) 8.5/10
Way better than "Y&YM", in my opinion. The tracks are more diverse. Vocals are more aggressive and more clear. Same great instrumentation as before. It just sounds more creative and more of a well-rounded, full album. Its still missing something... it needs something extra to set it apart from the other albums of the genre, because it would be way to easy to lump this in with everything else and forget about it. But I really liked it, regardless.

Kings of Leon - Because of the Times (2007) 9/10
I got distracted while listening to this so I really need to go back and give it more proper attention. As of right now, I really really liked it. I would say it shows definite growth from "Aha Shake..." while maintaining the same basic things that makes the band who it is. It's not boring at all, tracks are diverse with great guitar riffs. The drummer sounds really great in this one, too. I really enjoy it, but need to listen again.

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night (2008) 10/10
Wow... Now I know I might seem like an easy grader, because I give a lot of 8s and 9s, but I swear its just because I like a lot of music. While I give a lot of 8-9 range scores, its really tough for me to give a 10. An album has to be perfect, and I generally go hunting for errors. The only other album, this year, I would give a 10 to is Coldplay. This album, though, totally took me by surprise. I had never listened to any Kings of Leon, and this is their fourth album. I don't really know how to describe it, but I love it. They mix in a southern feel to their hard indie-rock sound, and I love it. The guy's voice sounds great, the lyrics are great, and the instrumentation is awesome. I'm amazed that the 4 members are related (3 brothers and a cousin)... how could there be so much talent in one family?! They have some experimental-sounding tracks, but don't push it too far and confuse people. Its great. I cant wait to hear their older material.