Kings Of Leon have had number one albums, rave critical notices and boast a remarkable array of A-list fans (U2, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones). Over the course of their three album career to date, they have written some decent tunes, and played powerful live shows. With Only By The Night the challenge is to see if they can continue their relentless upward trajectory.
The group have said that their arena gigs with the likes of U2 and Pearl Jam have influenced the sound of this album, and the songs are undoubtedly tailor-made for huge venues. Unfortunately, they also reveal a tendency to lapse into stadium rock cliché. There are admittedly no such problems on the opening number, ‘Closer’, a moody, atmospheric track that – like the title – recalls Joy Division.
However, proceedings take a nosedive on ‘Crawl’ and ‘Sex On Fire’, songs that boast the kind of slick widescreen sound perfected by Snow Patrol and Coldplay – fine as far as it goes, but any enthusiasm I had for either of those groups has been seriously on the wane of late. ‘Use Somebody’, meanwhile, is quite simply arena rock overkill, all echoey effects and guitar solos.
Only By The Night largely continues in this vein: mid-tempo rock distinguished only by the odd imaginative stylistic flourish such as the Stones-like use of cowbell on ‘I Want You’, or the forlorn guitar notes on the closing ‘Cold Desert’. To be fair, long-term Kings fans may find much to admire here but I remain unconvinced.