The Kings of Leon's rise to fame
Posted on: 31 August 2009
I love the Kings of Leon. They’re easily my most played artist and they have an immense sound live. Which is why I was disappointed to hear about their performance at Reading. From what I’ve heard, they had a bit of an uninspiring set and somewhat of a meltdown at the end (expensive guitars were smashed). Apparently the same thing happened at T in the Park earlier in the summer. In my opinion it’s probably a mix of a long tour and becoming a little too Rockstar. But I sympathise...
They were reportedly unhappy with the crowd. Nathan tweeted after the gig: "Reading? What the fuck?" he wrote. "Zero love for the kings. I know it was cold but holy shit, y'all were frozen. I can only hope Leeds is in better form."
I wasn’t at Reading so I can’t give any solid explanation but apparently athe sound levels weren’t up to scratch, something Caleb was pretty vocal about. But in my opinion it was the large proportion of new fans in the Reading audience (y’know, the Sex on Fire lot) that resulted in the lack of enthusiasm.
It’s a shame that the Kings of Leon have broken into the mainstream in such a big way with their latest album. A lot of these new followers I dare say have probably not heard their first two albums. I personally got into the Kings of Leon in a big way with their 3rd album release in the summer of ’07. I quickly caught up with their earlier material and loved it. I went to see them that same summer (at Leeds festival in fact) and again in December later that year and was blown away both times.
Their 3rd album Because of the Times was the album that allowed them to break into the mainstream but I feel like the nature of the songs on the album put it just out of reach of the masses, with the biggest charting single off it reaching #13 (Fans).
The 4th album, Only By The Night showed a change of direction for them, musically. The album is a lot mellower than anything they’d previously released and I felt like they lost an edge to their sound that the original fans know and love. Don’t get me wrong, the album is still notoriously the Kings of Leon and I think they manage to pull this new sound off in songs like Closer, Use Somebody and Cold Desert. But that raw, crunchy southern sound is certainly less evident.
The positives of this new style, of course, is evident in record sales. You only have to look at their most played songs on Last.fm to see the popularity of the recent album. All well and good, perhaps, but this has clearly impacted on their live shows. They can’t expect a decent response when the majority of the crowd only know a quarter of their songs.
To anyone reading this that has only just discovered the Kings of Leon, I urge you to purchase their earlier albums and give them a listen. Aha Shake Heartbreak has some absolute gems on it. And I can confidently say Because of the Times is in the running for my favorite album of all time.
We probably won’t hear much from the Kings of Leon until they release their next album, probably at the end of next year. But I for one cannot wait to hear which musical route they choose to go down with their 5th album. Until then, do yourself a favour and immerse yourself in the musical treat that is the Kings of Leon’s first four offerings.