Like a lot of people, I was a huge Kings of Leon fan around 2007. With the band of mostly brothers’ infectious hits, they were one of the most successful bands of the early 2000’s. I was in college at the height of their popularity and attended one of their concerts in 2008 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. My favorite album of theirs is called, Because of the Times. That album includes my favorite song, “On Call,” which also happens to be the first I had ever heard from them after watching the video on MTV’s Subterranean. I had no idea where they were from, but they just looked cool to me.
Kings of Leon have put out many great albums over the years. However, I seemed to stop listening after their 2013 release, Mechanical Bull. I thought I had lost of another great rock band. Or maybe I was just changing my tastes. Whatever it may be, I kind of put them in the back of my mind. But then they released their new song, “Waste a Moment,” and it brought out my old love for the band again. I feel like the song picks up right where Come Around Sundown leaves off. It feels natural and infectious. With that in mind, I’m giving their new album, WALLS, a listen. Hopefully, the love continues.
My first impression of the album is a familiar sound with some high and low moments. There are a couple songs that I personally waited to be over like, “Reverend,” and, “Conversation Piece.” I just didn’t seem to find anything memorable about them, but that might change after a few listens. Some definite highlights that I liked straight away were, “Eyes on You,” and, “Wild,” which both felt very old-school Kings of Leon to me, which I am all for. The track “Wild” also features some beautiful guitar moments, which is something that happens a lot on the album. That’s always been something that draws me back into the band. The combination of Caleb’s emotional voice and Matthew’s guitar riffs is always a winning duo.
A few songs stood out to me for their arena rock sound, as I immediately thought of them as being better live. Songs like, “Around the World,” and “Find Me,” are definitely in that category. Specifically “Around the World” creates such a danceable moment on the album with a few sing-alongs thrown in there.
A very personal song that feels that way from the very first note is, “Over.” My first thought was that it sounded a little like Joy Division, which drew me in right away. Caleb sings, “Don’t say it’s over anymore,” and that made me curious as to what he was referring to. I actually took a minute to look into this one and it happens to be about his struggle with alcoholism. You can hear the sadness in his voice, which makes for a very emotional song.
Kings of Leon have always been good with ending albums. Songs like, “Cold Desert,” and “Arizona,” finish off two of their albums beautifully. It makes the album feel like a definite ending point or as complete as it could be. At first listen, I believe the title track, “WALLS,” is their best album ending to date. With Caleb’s repetitive lyrics of, “When the walls come down,” you feel like they really tried their hardest to put out a heartfelt and true album.
And that is my initial impression of this album. It sounds truthful to their roots and to their music. I’m not sure if this album will be pulling me back into a Kings of Leon obsession, but there are definitely some beautiful and enjoyable moments on here. And maybe it’s not so much KOL’s fault that I didn’t fall in love with every song at first listen. Some of my favorites start out that way. This might be part of a larger conversation about the future of albums and how we listen to music. If anything, WALLS has given us some great Kings of Leon songs. And that’s all we could ask for.
RATING: 6.5/10
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