Track Listing

1. Closer
2. Crawl
3. Sex On Fire
4. Use Somebody
5. Manhattan
6. Revelry
7. 17
8. Notion
9. I Want You
10. Be Somebody
11. Cold Desert

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Already on course to be one of the year's biggest sellers, Only By the Night has sealed Kings of Leon's unlikely position as Britain's favourite American rock band. The Followill brothers (and cousin) have always been tagged as part of a southern rock tradition of family bands such as the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, a label they vehemently refuted. But the skinny lads certainly looked like a classic rock act, even as they took musical inspiration from indie contemporaries The Strokes and eighties new wave acts such as The Cure and New Order. Only By the Night is effectively a sequel to 2006's terrific Because of the Times, their third record and the first where they nailed their own sound, a striking amalgam of bluesy vocals and post-punk primitivism. In comparison Only By the Night consolidates rather than advances their style. The appropriately incoherent "Sex on Fire", already a chart topping single, is catchy but sounds lightweight next to songs like the fierce "Crawl" and the stadia-ready "Cold Desert" and "Manhattan". The dissonant, almost amateurish "17" is most out of place, though Caleb Followill still bawls it with the same passion he brings to even the clumsiest couplet. More notable are several sparse romantic pleas that often borrow licks from classic Southern soul. The yearning "I Want You" is little more than its title, but it certainly convinces, while "Revelry" and the vulnerable "Use Somebody" show signs of impending maturity. Only By the Night's simplicity certainly has a wide appeal. --Steve Jelbert

CD Description
The fourth album from the Followill brothers finds them re-connecting with their Southern roots. In a similar vein to 2003's 'Youth and Young Manhood', Kings Of Leon reaffirm their country origins while still writing powerful rock numbers that sit comfortably next to some revealing down-tempo material. Although this is Kings Of Leon's heaviest to date, fanswon't find it to be a huge departure from the band's already impressive back catalogue.

Customer Reviews

The Kings
Firstly, I feel I should say that after years of buying from Amazon, and hundreds of purchases later, I have never felt compelled to leave a review. With this album, that changes. It irritates me slightly that many of the previous reviews seem to be negative, mostly written by the 'die hard fans' that believe their opinion rocks, and seemingly that the KOL should in fact, produce albums to simply suit them, and them alone. I've got all the KOL albums, yes, they are all very different in style but so they should be - i wouldn't be too happy if a group released album after album of the same old. In fact, if the albums were all along the same lines, I would imagine people will be moaning about that too. Perhaps, the critics should open their minds to the fact that the KOL have evolved. They've grown up, had a change of style, produced something different, and also probably gained a whole new set of fans in the long run. That's what a successful band does. So, to all the die hard fans who believe they've been personally ripped off and done over - the world doesn't revolve around you.

Rant over. This album is possibly the most influencial, easy on the ears, moving, inspiring, and just genuinely awesome piece of work i have ever c ome across. It's been playing in every single aspect of my life since the day it arrived. Caleb's vocals are unbelieveable. There isn't a remotely bad track on the album, although some are by far stand out winners. My personal faves are Manhattan, I Want You, and above all, Sex on Fire. It's an amazing track - sometimes you just find a song that does funny things to you...If you've read any of the reviews, and you're in any doubt at all as to if to buy this album or not, just buy it.

Best yet
I simply believe that this is their most musically accomplished album to date. I haven't been overly keen on their previous efforts, feeling that their sound was a little contrived.

I'm a fan of progressive rock and metal, Tool, The Mars Volta, Sigur Ros, Exlosions in the Sky etc...I am not a pop fan and thoroughly disagree that this is some sort of pop/rock 'sellout' album. It is beautifully written, expressive and emotional.

Well done KOL, this is the first one I've actually bought! The music also stands out live compared with their old music, this is a really positive progression for the band.

Kings of the stadium
This is probably my most anticipated album of 2008. 'Because of the Times' sent Kings of Leon deservedly into the big league and is one of my albums of the decade so far, and after seeing them storm through their Glastonbury set this year, they really were looking like a world beating band. I even got to hear Crawl and Manhatten during their set and knew that if the rest of the album lived up to these two songs it was going to be something very special indeed.

Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't quite live up to this, but its still a corker. If you listen to 'Youth and Young Manhood' you would think that they had been written by two seperate bands. Gone is the Rolling Stone-esque grooves of their first two outings, and in comes the stadium filling epics.

They do rock out on a couple of songs, 'Crawl' and 'Sex is on Fire' have plenty of energy, however this is about as uptempo as the album gets, the rest is about atmosphere, big choruses and epic guitars. Unfortuntately it seems they might have forgotten how young they still are and are affraid to let it all hang out, because thats what Kings do best. They are a pure rock'n'roll band. No frills. If their next album returns to a more rockier feel then this album will be a gem amongst their back catalogue, however if they stick with this direction they will lose a lot of fans.

Basically, the songs are amazing, the production is sublime, the musicianship is awesome, the album is brilliantly crafted, but it ain't the Kings of Leon we all have come to know and love.