Listen Here
By Bobby Beebe
@howamibobby
Kings of Leon have been on a slow decline since their debut Youth and Young Manhood in 2003. That is not to say that they haven’t put out some decent records along the way, but nothing has really matched the intensity and chaos supplied on their first LP. Hopes were not high for their latest record WALLS — given their last record, Mechanical Bull, was nearly unlistenable. Gaining and subsequently fading from rock-star fame seems to have left the band completely complacent, making watered down versions of former songs that were honest and raw, now stale and forgettable. Take, for example, “Muchacho” the obligatory lazy beach song. While the sounds are reminiscent of great folk songs like “Talihina Sky” the song reads more like Jimmy Buffett than Bob Dylan. Similarly, the record’s slow burner “Conversation Piece” stands pale in comparison to similar songs from past records like “Arizona” and “Pick Up Truck” which managed to pull you in with a sort of storytelling that is all-but-gone from Kings of Leon’s present songwriting. If you like any of the first Kings of Leon records, my advice would be to skip WALLS completely, pretend it didn’t happen, and re-spin the back catalogue.
1. Bon Iver – 22 A Million
2. Bear Hands -You’ll Pay for This
3. Glass Animals – How To Be A Human Being
4. Drive By Truckers – American Band
5. Kings of Leon – WALLS
6. Air Traffic Controller
7. De La Soul – And the Anonymous Nobody
8. LVL Up – Return To Love
9. Local Natives – Sunlit Youth
10. Mac Miller – The Divine Feminine
