HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Only By The Night – Kings Of Leon

You might not be familiar with the name KINGS OF LEON, but you have definitely heard of their most popular song, Sex On Fire. It was the first single off their fourth album, Only By The Night (2008), and it launched the band into the mainstream. KINGS OF LEON is definitely a family business as the band are comprised of vocalist Caleb Followill, his two brothers, drummer Nathan Followill and bassist Jared Followill, and their cousin, Matthew Followill, who is their guitarist. The band from Nashville, Tennessee have been around since 1999, and had released three albums prior to their breakout album. Now Only By The Night is celebrating fifteen years, let’s take a trip down memory lane and reminisce about what could be KINGS OF LEON‘s magnum opus.

Starting off an album with a gothic story about a vampire is unique. On Closer, singer Caleb Followill‘s haunting and mesmerising voice leaves you spellbound, which is helped by the synths, guitar, bass and drums that are mixed together to create a sparse backing track. This allows the story to take centre stage. The song was so popular that Rolling Stone included it in their 15 Greatest Songs About Vampires.

Whilst some people might complain about the lack of energy that the opening song brings, this continues onto the second song, Crawl, whose grungy guitar drives the song alone. It also has the misfortune to be in between two of KINGS OF LEON‘s most popular songs, so it often gets overlooked.

Sex On Fire needs no introduction. From the opening guitar riff, the song is instantly recognisable. However, when listening to it on context of the album, the song is rather weak lyrically and it is sonically repetitive, which is a shame because the album got off to a good start. Unfortunately, Use Somebody also falls into this trap. On its own, it is a really good song, but in context of the record, it doesn’t stand out.

Thankfully things pick up a lot with the indie-rock of Manhattan, Revelry and 17. All the songs are different, pacing-wise, but they all work really well. Manhattan is a mid-paced indie-rock song, Revelry is a slow-paced song and 17 is a fast-paced song. However, none of these tracks affect the overall pacing of the album. In fact, the pacing of the album is mid, and fits neatly into a 42 minute runtime.

However, it is the back end of the album that might be its shining glory. Notion mixes the slow verses with a fast-paced chorus, and I Want You is a bass-heavy song. On the other hand, Be Somebody is perhaps the highlight of the album. It is an experimental song with a fast-paced drum beat that carries the song. Furthermore, the production on the song means that it sounds very unique, as the outro of the song is the drums and the guitar. This leads nicely onto the closing song. Cold Desert is a slow-paced, guitar-driven song that is sparse when it comes to the vocals. It is a perfect mirror flip of the first song. The song shows the journey that the album has gone on. Furthermore, it also acts a full circle moment, as the opening song and the closing song lead into each other.

When it was released, Only By The Night reached number three in the UK Album Charts, and it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. It also won Best International Album at the 2009 Brit Awards. Review-wise, it earned mixed to positive reviews upon its release. Spin gave it 4/5 stars, Rolling Stone gave it 3/5 stars and The Guardian did the same. However, Pitchfork gave it 3.8 out of 10, and said that Caleb Followill “sings terribly on Only By the Night”. However, AllMusic were a little kinder, stating: “Only by the Night remains a potent Kings of Leon record, and the guys have never defined their ambition so clearly.”

The album did get a few bonus songs when it was released digitally. Japan received two bonus songs, and the iTunes version ends with one extra song. There was also an edition for Target, which had some songs from their 2007 appearance at the Hammersmith Apollo. However, for those that brought the album as a physical copy, then they would only get familiar with the eleven songs that have been covered here. It does make you wonder why the extra songs were included in the first place, as they cannot be found anywhere now.

The band have released four more albums since 2008’s Only By The Night, and have also taken a short hiatus in 2011. Whilst their later work has received positive reviews, their albums haven’t had the lasting impact as their fourth album has had. When comparing the YouTube views for their songs, Sex On Fire and Use Somebody reign supreme, with Sex On Fire having 499 million views and Use Somebody having 312 million views.

Overall, it is clear that Only By The Night is the definitive KINGS OF LEON album. Fifteen years down the line, it is still the band’s best work. Whilst their most famous songs might not work in context of the album, individually, they are amazing. Furthermore, as an album, there are so many hidden gems that you only discover when listening to it in full. From the opening riff of Closer until the closing riff of Cold Desert, the album never loses momentum. The pacing is wonderful, and it still holds up to this day. Believe the accolades and the love that this album receives; it is truly KINGS OF LEON at their very best.

Only By The Night was originally released on September 19, 2008 via RCA Records.

Like KINGS OF LEON on Facebook.