Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night

It’s good times to be a Followill these days. The three brothers and one nephew from Nashville, TN quickly headed up the rockstar ladder to find themselves almost at the top with 2006’s “Because Of The Times” thanks to tracks like “On Call”.

They’re back now with “Only By The Night” which opens immensely strong with “Closer”, “Crawl, single “Sex On Fire” only to be followed by the beautiful “Use Somebody”. There is a bit of mid-album lull then with too many slow songs and too few memorable riffs or choruses before picking up momentum again with the melancholic “I Want You”, “Be Somebody” and closer “Cold Desert”.

The Followills have long outgrown the revival meetings where they used to bang on drums while their father preached and are now ready to fill stadiums. They’re raised on whiskey and cornbread rather than Guinness and potatoes but it’s true, they’re coming awfully to being the Southern answer to U2 on “Only By The Night”.
Score: 8.5 out of 10
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