Album of the Day — October 21
Kings of Leon — Only by the Night
Kings of Leon — Only by the Night
21.October.2020
Kings of Leon
Only by the Night
2008
Oh no, I get it.
This is “that” album — the divisive one.
Only by the Night found the Kings of Leon embraced by the mainstream and consequently shunned by the bearded cognoscenti.
I won’t wade into the discussion about who was right and who was wrong. I’ll only say this is the only KoL record I have ever listened to with regularity …and I have a beard.
Something tells me I’m not an anomaly.
After three albums produced by Ethan Johns and Angelo Petraglia, the band brought in Jacquire King (and kept Petraglia). And with that, KoL began toying with a “new” sound.
This “new” sound was just cleaner than the other albums. As opposed to deliberately attempt to sound lo-fi, on Only by the Night, the band actually used the recording studio as it should be, a tool to make the songs better.
And the songs on Only by the Night are better.
Like the lethargic after-effects of a monster bong rip, the album opens with “Closer” — a song that all but tells you to shoegaze and nod your head.
And while your head is bobbing to “Closer,” the next song, “Crawl,” kicks in, distortion and all, and now your head is bobbing a little harder. The lethargy of the bong rip subsides as you begin to feel the glow.
And then …and then … “Sex on Fire.” Now, even I’ll admit that the song title is dumb, but it works. It shouldn’t, but it does. And if you’ve ever had a partner in which everything physically just — fucking — clicks, then you can understand the song better:
Hot as a fever
Rattle of bones
I could just taste it
Taste it
If it’s not forever
But there’s just tonight
Oh we’re still the greatest
The greatest
The greatest
Your sex is on fire
Somehow, over the course of 13 months, RCA Records pushed out five singles off Only by the Night:
“Sex on Fire”
“Use Somebody”
“Revelry”
“Notion”
“Crawl”
The critical reception of Only by the Night was noticeably different between the U.S. and the U.K...
In the U.S.:
Pitchfork — 3.8/10
PopMatters — 2/10
JustPressPlay — 4/10
Across the pond:
The Observer — 5/5
Virgin Media — 4.5/5
NME — 7/10
CRITICS:
In Cohen at The Guardian wrote: “Surely, we can do better for the platonic ideal of a rock band than four guys gunning for a spot rightfully inhabited by My Morning Jacket but instead coming up with the best songs 3 Doors Down never wrote.”
Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly said: Throughout Only by the Night, frontman Caleb Followill wails forlornly about cheap thrills and true love while his two brothers (and a cousin) bash out spooky, raw-edged riffs that rarely go where you expect them to. The highlight is ”Use Somebody,” a too-cool hipster’s cry for comfort.”
Andrew Leahey at AllMusic wrote: “Like many big-sounding albums, Only by the Night is a polarizing piece of work, one that targets new fans at the expense of those who wish Kings of Leon had never shaved their beards or discovered post-’70s rock. To rope in the skeptics, the strongest tracks are pushed toward the album’s first half. “Crawl” flexes the band’s rock & roll muscle, melding Led Zeppelin-styled crunch with the experimental guitar buzz of U2’s Achtung Baby, while “Sex on Fire” makes up for its goofy title with a meteoric chorus tailored to Caleb’s voice. (He sounds fantastic throughout the record, even if his vocals continue to be garbled by some untraceable accent as if he’s auditioning for the Jodie Foster role in a Broadway adaptation of Nell.)”
I get the fact that change is hard, and I get that you have a favorite band, and you wanna keep them all to yourself. AND I get that if an artist chooses to spread their wings, it’s dangerous territory (we all remember Chris Gaines).
BUT, for every Chris Gaines, there is an Only by the Night. So, for all of you that are still whinging about this album, please STFU. This IS a good record …just because it’s a departure and sounds better, that doesn’t make it bad. You’ll see. It may take another 12 years, but you’ll come around.
Although I can say listening to the song “17” in 2020 tells you just how far we’ve come since 2008 …I’m not sure that song would’ve made the album this year.