Kings of Leon Albums Ranked
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill with their cousin Matthew Followill.
The band’s early music was a blend of Southern rock and blues influences, but it has gradually evolved throughout the years to include a variety of genres and a more alternative, arena rock sound. Kings of Leon achieved initial success in the United Kingdom with nine Top 40 singles, two BRIT Awards in 2008, and all three of the band’s albums at the time peaked in the top five of the UK Albums Chart. Their third album, Because of the Times, also reached the number one spot.
After the release of Only by the Night in September 2008, the band achieved chart success in the United States. The singles “Sex on Fire”, “Use Somebody”, and “Notion” all peaked at number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album was their first Platinum-selling album in the United States and was also the best-selling album of 2008 in Australia, being certified platinum nine times. The band’s fifth album, Come Around Sundown, was released on October 18, 2010. Their sixth album, Mechanical Bull, was released on September 24, 2013. The seventh studio album, Walls, was released on October 14, 2016. The group has 12 Grammy Award nominations, including 4 wins. Here are all of the Kings of Leon’s albums ranked.
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7. Walls (2016)
“Kings of Leon duly deliver album number seven and yet again have produced an album of great merit. My initial impression was that this album was too glossy, too slick. I particularly like Kings of Leon when they produce music closer to their musical roots see ‘Mechanical Bull’ or ‘Because Of The Times’ for example. I was thinking perhaps ‘Walls’ is another effort at a more commercial sound? But I don’t believe so…’Walls’ features ten entertaining tracks, all of which bring something to the party. Perhaps Kings of Leon should really be called the Kings of consistency.
6. Mechanical Bull (2013)
” Not many songs reached out to me where I need to listen to it again right away. However, I went for a 2 hour walk and listened to the album again and I came away enjoying it. The more I listened to the album the more it grew on me. If you are a Kings of Leon fan, go buy this album. If you like rock music and want to listen to something new, I recommend this album. I am not going to talk about the individual songs because everybody likes something different. Just pick the album up and give it a shot.”
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5. Youth & Young Manhood (2003)
“The perfect album for driving in the country, Kings of Leon play some Strokes-like rock n roll with a touch of Creedence and southern charm. Refreshingly unique vocals (even if you can’t understand em half the time), rough and dirty guitar tones and top class songs. Some of the ballads are a little slow going though and fail to maintain this listener’s interest. Still, the garagey feel of the album is inviting, and the nonsensical lyrics add to the fun. You aren’t meant to take these guys seriously.”
4. Come Around Sundown (2010)
“Solid follow-up to an album that made them stars able to sell out area shows. I didn’t like lead single, “Radioactive” initially but I now appreciate it and its video with the Gospel choir backing Caleb Followill’s plea to “Just drink the water”. There’s no need to drink the water or the Kool Aid, for that matter. KOL are arguably the most popular current American band, selling out shows in America and across the world while being named-dropped in Kayne West’s new album among other places.”
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3. Only by the Night (2008)
“So we’ve all heard the “sex on fire” far too many times now and some will most likely agree they’ve become too commercial and therefore not quite as appealing as they once were. However, this is undeniably their finest album to date and you’d expect some commercial praise for such a magnificent piece of work. It conjures images of something darker than previous works and It’s echoing guitars and feedback are a prominent feature which set the tone perfectly. The album as a whole has a more relaxed tempo than “sex on fire” and it suits the band well. We get to see a softer approach to their song writing tracks like “revelry”, “Manhattan” and “notion” demonstrate this, the last of which has a great Christmas feel to it.”
2. Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)
“I love “The Bucket”, a groovy numba with rolling drums and a big hook (not a particularly happy song, though). The rest isn’t as good, but they do indeed sound like the Strokes with a Southern marble-mouth on the microphone most of the time. I don’t usually mind indecipherable vocals, but the Followills are actually good lyricists, so I wish brother Caleb would e-nun-ci-ate better. There are some slow tracks (“Milk” being an especially good one) and I can’t picture the Strokes coming near some of them, like “Day Old Blues” where you can tell these guys are coming from someplace else, and which features the couplet “Girls are gonna love the way I toss my hair/Boys are gonna hate the way I seem”. I thought for sure it was “Boys are gonna hate the way I sing”, and now the song is not as funny.”
1. Because of the Times (2007)
“Kings of Leon have made a wildly diverse album which has considerable musical depth. There is everything from LCD style funk rock (My Party) to their peculiar style of warped reggae (Ragoo). These guys are fantastic players, especially Jared who must be one the best bass players on the contemporary scene and the arrangements are superb. The album is best digested as a whole. I don’t think BOTT is quite as good as the predecessor -Aha Shake Heartbreak is a classic and with in any justice the album’s reputation will grow in time. I cannot think of another modern band who have progressed so much with every release and are still releasing shit hot albums three albums into their career. In summary, this album is fucking ace!”
