Mittwoch, 28. Mär 2007, 22:10
Because of The Times comes out this weekend and it’s currently available for your listening pleasure on the official Kings of Leon MySpace page. The boys manage to move towards a new musical direction while still retaining their signature sound. They often cop a bit of flack for Caleb’s vocals and on this album it sounds like they’ve put them through a big compressor. I actually quite like his vocals, interesting vocals defiantly adds something to the sound of a band for me but I’m not sure about the added clarity on this album, the vocals stand out a bit. I’m sure it will just take a bit of getting used it. It’s probably a good idea for this album because the vocals are a lot more melodic rather than the howling that is present in some of their previous material.
The album kicks off with the epic Knocked Up which is just over seven minutes long. I thought that it was a bit of an odd choice for an opener, bands tend to chose shorter and catchier songs. Knocked Up build up nicely though and sets the tone for the rest of the album. The next track on the album, Charmer, is a lot more chaotic with some squealing and guitar noise. The track is faster than the album average and quite a bit darker too. This is followed by the albums first single On Call which I think was a good choice as it has a broad appeal and reflects the album as a whole. McFearless is another dark track and another stand out on the album. After my initial listening today I’d have to say that my favourite track is Black Thumbnail which is closer to the songs like I liked off the old albums such as Razz and Happy Alone. It has more of a pop feeling about it, it’s quite upbeat and features a nicely distorted guitar. Following this is My Party which is reminiscent of the work from The Bravery. The song is darker and has an almost dance beat to it. True Love Way is close to On Call in regards to it’s tempo and contrasting energy levels between sections. The solo in it is very sparse, much like a Modest Mouse solo. Fans is a more laid back and rolling track which I think would be good for mornings. Kings of Leon tend to include a slower ballad song such as Day Old Blues on Aha Shake Heartbreak and Dusty on Youth and Young Manhood, on this album the track is The Runner. However it’s not as whiny as the aforementioned tracks though the vocals don’t seem to be as clear and boosted as on some of the other tracks. Trunk is a nice track and is a prime example of what I’m talking about in regard to their experimentation with other genera. The start of the song has a western country (as opposed to southern rock) mixed with an almost swing bass line which mutates in to borderline psychedelic piece with jazzy drums all the way through. The last track, Arizona is a great closer, very upbeat and another one of my favourites off the album with some pretty epic sounding guitar solos.
As always with Kings of Leon the bass guitar is very prominent throughout the album which adds a great amount of depth. Overall I think the album is a little slower than their previous material. This makes it no worse and I think that as a whole the album is very well made and well thought out. I like the new directions that they have tried as they have done so without compromising their sound. In conclusion I’m definitely buying this album during my break on Saturday - 8.5 out of 10.