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sounds just like Big Country
😆 You're right! It really does.
I've gone right off KofL after seeing them live a V Festival. They were one of the worst live bands I've ever seen. So didn't want to be there and let everyone know it.
1st 2 albums were fantastic, 3rd was poor IMO. Shame, the 2nd tour they did was great.
loved the first two albums, thought the latest was their best, juust listening to the latest
First two albums good, ever since then they're rubbish!
Agreed first 2 albums were great, 3rd was obviously a crowd pleaser. New album is poor imo
IMO
1st 2 = very good
3rd = not bad
4th = crowd pleaser
Doubt I'll bother with the latest
They seem to be going in the opposite direction to Pearl Jam, i.e. Pearl Jam's debut album was the most commercially accessible, with future releases being more alternative with less obvious singles and anthems.
I've only heard the new KOL single which I quite like but haven't heard the whole album. I really liked Youth and Young Manhood and have enjoyed the subsequent releases as they all have some merit, but unfortunately bands often evolve to become more commercially viable and who can blame them really as it is there job after all.
first 2 were great, third sounded like Phil Collins so I'm not surprised that their fourth sounds like big country to be honest.
The new album is shite 🙁
BTW they're one radio 1 next Thursday night (on Zane's show).
@Gachet
Indeed, for them there's more to be gained by alienating the niche-mongers (myself included) and appealing to the fans that will pack stadiums (also myself on some occasions 😕 ).
The Pilot - MemberYou're right! It really does.
I've gone right off KofL after seeing them live a V Festival. They were one of the worst live bands I've ever seen. So didn't want to be there and let everyone know it.
Yeah, so I hear. Groove Armada posted a blog about them being arseholes backstage as well:
http://www.groovearmada.com/#blogs--article--Andy-Europe-England-and-the-Kings-Calvacade
Backstage again, we were outside the catering tent, about to cross the path back to the dressing rooms when loads of massive blokes in suits and shades came out of nowhere shouting "don't move, don't move, DO NOT move" whilst pushing people back to the sides of the track. Was it Obama?Tom explained that he was just crossing over to the dressing room to start getting ready.
"No you're not" said a big man.
"Yes I am" said tom.
Out came the enormous hand.
The conversation between tom and the big man got more heated. Then 4 blacked out range rovers came round the corner. One for each King of Leon. As it became clear what all this presidential fuss was about, tom gave the worldwide one fingered sign of dislike as the cars went past. The last one stopped. The drummer got out making "come on then" type gestures. "Come on then" tom gestured back. Instead, the drummer went back behind his bodyguards, and, pointing towards Tom, Paul Weller, and the various other musicians who were pinned by the side of the road, said "I want them removed."
"You will be removed" said the big man.
"No we won't"
The promoter came over, smoothed it over and apologised. Bearing in mind this was all happening backstage in the area shared by all the bands, it's hard to see what the Kings thought they were protecting themselves from. Was Paul Weller going to hound them for autographs? Was Florence going to wrestle them to the ground? Or maybe Stereophonics were going to ask them to write "your sex is on fire" on an album sleeve?
to be honest i'd like someone to punch weller for me too
Agree that the first two albums were decent.
Then they turned into Bon Jovi.
Why does everyone on here think this is their 4th album, it's their 5th.
The first 3 albums:
Youth and Young Manhood (2003)
Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)
Because of the Times (2007)
All had a southern american garage rock sound which became more refined and cleanly produced with each release.
The fourth album:
Only by the Night (2008)
Had a more mainstream rock sound but was nothing like Bon Jovi or Phil Collins as some people on here have said. Personally I still really enjoyed it, but as I said previously bands move on and their sound changes.
The latest album:
Come Around Sundown (2010)
Apparently has a more of a country rock feel to it but I need to give a proper listen before passing judgement. It seems to me that people jumped on the bandwagon with Only by the Night and pretended to like them from the start, but now if has become fashionable not to like them became NME don't rate them anymore (as they have discovered the next greatest band that starts with 'The'...) and rock music seems to have fallen out of favour in the pop charts over the last couple of years.
1st album was fun - they sounded like a fantastic bar band
they have since moved towards the "Big Stadium" sound - lots of space, ringing chords, "anthemic' (ie fairly dull) choruses.
They are now a very succesful stadium rock band - so I guess it worked. But it does all seem a bit cynical dull now
Well I think it sounds like one of the Talking Heads singles with a guitar riff that has been blatantly stolen from one of BOC's live albums. I've seen them 3 or 4 times at festivals and they've been good at best but never great. Early stuff definitely better, new stuff is just contrived elevator music background noise.
I agree with Gachet.
I still like them and enjoy listening to their songs (a lot) I am looking forward to the new album and am likely to buy it as soon as it is released.
It seems to me that people jumped on the bandwagon with Only by the Night and pretended to like them from the start, but now if has become fashionable not to like them became NME don't rate them anymore
I saw them just before the first album came out and again just after the second album and loved them live - my comments about 1st & 2nd album being good then turning rubbish is fair I think.
yoshimi, that's fair enough, I wasn't saying everyone who doesn't like the new album jumped on the bandwagon, just some people who don't know much about music. Whether an album is good or not is very much down to personal taste and I can see why some of their original fans would have gone off them. Personally quite a few of my favourite bands have drastically changed their sound and I don't have a problem with it.
BTW is your user name a reference to the Flaming Lips?
Got into them on the back of "Molly's Chambers", but change in direction and overplay of Sex on Fire has put me off them.
I know I said "Doubt I'll bother with the latest" but I'll probably pop it on Spotify at some point but not in any hurry to do so as the new single hasn't grabbed me and it too seems to be suffering from over-play.
EDIT: Oh, and I've never bought/read NME in my life...
BTW is your user name a reference to the Flaming Lips?
Not directed at me, I know, but mine's a Pearl Jam reference 🙂
Gachet - I do know where you're coming from - it didn't seem long ago that some young 'hipster' asked me if I'd heard of this band called Kings Of Leon, apparantely they're really good and I sjhould listen to their song 'sex on fire' 😯 😐
Yeah, the username is after the Flaming Lips - one of my all time top 5 fave bands.....fair to say their sound has changed a lot over the years but they're still great 🙂 And seeing them live takes you to another place completely 🙂
Verses and yoshimi, you have very good taste in music as Pearl Jam and Flaming Lips are two of my favourite bands aswell. You can also add Sonic Youth, Faith No More, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Primal Scream, Midlake, Weezer, Doves, Radiohead, The Strokes, Band of Horses, Silverchair, Alice in Chains, Live, 3 Doors Down and many more...
What got me with Kings of Leon was when girls at work who purely listened to r'n'b and boybands started to claim they were into Garage rock as they liked a couple of singles from Only by the Night....
verses - I've got the original pressing of Vs that doesn't have the name on it, making it a self titled album, strangely. I think they had a few name changes before it was released resulting in the confusion. (Grunge history nerd alert) 😯
Great album though.
Re your post, retro83, Jesus!
I knew they were a bit up themselves but by that account they sound like total, ahem, wallies 🙂
Kings of Leon really do think they are Guns n Roses with behaviour like that.
Crap drummer too.
They're alright. Don't mind em when in the wife's car. Downloaded all their stuff illegally for her cos didn't think it was worth spending money on. Bloody glad I did after reading retro83's post!
MrsDezB has actually been doing some work for GnR getting their visas sorted ove rthe past few weeks. Now the band (hired musos) are ok fellas, thick as shite, but ok. But that Axl Rose, bejeeeesus, you wouldn't believe a human being could be such a complete & utter dick! You know he travels everywhere by private jet while the band go economy? Always an hour late for everything too. Its beyond me why any person would pay to see this garbage peddlar!
Anyway, those with decent taste on this thread need to contribute to the Tune Association one on the chat forum. Now get to it or the KoL will be round.
Nice one on the Vs early pressing, bet that's worth a bob or two! I have a copy of Bleach on 12" on the Sub Pop label rather than Geffen (£4 from Track Records in York), I've no idea if it's worth anything but I like to kid myself that it is 🙂
However, I'm perfectly willing to accept that my 12" of Little Angels' Too Posh to Mosh EP (once considered rare) will never be worth the £45 quid I paid for it 😳
Retro83's post makes disappointing reading...
Re: GnR, I saw Velvet Revolver (Slash, Duff and Matt) a few years back at Brixton Academy and they were excellent. The (relatively) small venue meant we were only a few tens of feet from some of my childhood/teenage heroes. We didn't expect any GnR material but they played a few and thankfully chose non-obvious tracks (Used to Love Her, Mr Brownstone etc) rather than just churning out Paradise City and Sweet Child of mine.
In contrast to this I saw GnR at Milton Keynes Bowl (94/95 ish) and was stood about 8 miles from the stage, in the rain, waiting the traditional hour or so for Axl to bother making an appearance.
EDIT: Oops, confused 2 gigs there, it was actually Hammersmith Apollo I was thinking of not Brixton Academy (although I have seen them there too 🙂 )
Verses and yoshimi, you have very good taste in music as Pearl Jam and [b]Flaming Lips[/b] are two of my favourite bands aswell. You can also add Sonic Youth, Faith No More, [b]Pavement[/b], Dinosaur Jr, Soundgarden, [b]Smashing Pumpkins[/b], Primal Scream, Midlake, Weezer, Doves, [b]Radiohead[/b], The Strokes, Band of Horses, Silverchair, Alice in Chains, Live, 3 Doors Down and many more...
Are you me? You just nailed 4 of my top 5 🙂
Currentley got Sonic Youth on shuffle, my photo of Julian Casablancas crowd surfing on top of my head has pride of place at home - I actually guest on Elbows Cast of Thousands! (along with a few other few thousand peple at Glasto - my name appearsd in the sleeve notes)
Great taste!
Anybody listen to the radio one stuff last night?
So far I've heard the Zane interview, just listening to the gig.