I was happy to see that the Kings of Leon finally broke out with their last album but, as with all breakout bands, I was nervous that the success might mess with their heads and their music. The first look to see how success has changed them is now available on the Kings' website as they have a preview of their album online. Listen to the entire album free of charge.

First off, I have to say that it's pretty great that they are making the album available like this. It's also pretty ballsy since part of what spurs sales of post-breakout albums is the sense of the unknown. Can they duplicate their past success? Will they go in a completely different direction ala Radiohead? People won't have to spend their money to find this out now. It's a nice thing to do but business-wise, it's a definite risk.

As for my review, it does seem like the group is getting away from their original low-fiish ass-kickery, best exhibited by one of their first hits, "Four Kicks" But you know what, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Red Hot Chili Peppers matured from their original sound and it's helped make them one of the best bands in the business (and one of the most overlooked bands when discussing great groups of the late 20th century.) Not that I would compare the Kings to the Chili Peppers. The latest album does seem like it might be trying to replicate the success rather than creatively build off of it. Perhaps that has to do with the locale in which it was recorded.

Caleb recently explained, “It was kind of a depressing experience. If we’d made it is Nashville, we’d be out playing basketball or goofing off. Here, I’d wake up and hail a cab to the studio, then spend 12 hours a day in a room with no windows.” He added, “It felt like we were going to the office.” And as “No Money” winds down this ambivalence is only amplified, “And all this pissin’ around, cut me loose of this fucking town: I ain’t comin’ back.” - From Contact Music

That's a telling quote. There definitely does seem to be some life missing from the proceedings. It feels like a professional recording rather than a rock'n'roll record. It's music for hire not songs from the soul. The songs are decent enough but most of them fade into the background.

So unless you really loved the Kings' last album and can't get enough of it, I wouldn't really recommend this record. There is a major caveat to that and that's the fact that music always grows on me so this could be a record that I don't like at first but then find myself listening to over and over. That recently happened with The Futureheads' "The Chaos", an album I rediscovered after seeing the band in concert. Similarly, I think a lot of songs on this album will probably sound better live. A track like "No Money" is OK but I think when it's just the band on stage and feeding off a crowd's energy, it will feel much better. It also should be noted that I thought "Because of the Times" was a step back from the band's previous album but they then built on that experimentation with the stellar "Only By the Night".

As for me, my instant favorite songs on the album are "The End", "Radioactive" (the video for this is below), and "No Money". Hopefully, this is just a step sideways and the next album will be another step forward. If you are new to the Kings of Leon, I'd recommend getting their earlier "Youth and Young Manhood" and "Aha Shake Heartbreak". Those are less polished production-wise but I prefer those albums to this latest venture.