Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this Southern garage rock band is suffused with a not-so-catchy rock twang that speaks to those who seem to be stuck in warped drama. Major themes are breaking free from small-town doldrums, courageous manifestos that either make or break careers, and the gratifying, gravitational pull of women. There are also placid moments, like one crystallized in the song "The Runner" where they sincerely appeal to Jesus for salvation. Real life through the lens of this band is a turbulent rollercoaster of romance, but at least it's a band that manages to pull off an entire album with only one questionable word ("asshole") and little else to be worried about.
Families can talk about how this band expresses themselves in songs that are one-dimensional time capsules. What does the lyricist believe in and why? How accurate is this portrait? Families can discuss the difference between subjective (emotional and abstract) and objective (words with rational, fair aim) content. Families with teens can also talk about how music portrays love. Why do some bands only talk about love as angst-ridden if it's also multi-faceted?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Karen Fu
A weird thing happened to Kings of Leon on the way to the recording studio. Brothers Caleb, Nathan, Jared and cousin Matthew threw out their former rock sound for darker, deliberately obtuse rock with a slight pop-punk feel. What results is music worthy of teeth-clenching and fist-pumping swaying throughout an entire album.
Much like the lightbulb-shattering album cover, Kings of Leon opt for melodrama in lyrics, but cushion the blow with expansive instrumentals that add a spaciousness to the other content. There are placid moments, like one crystallized in the song "The Runner" where they sincerely appeal to Jesus for salvation. But the album otherwise zeros in on soulful but lost themes that are on the tormented, pessimistic side. The final track, "Arizona," is a lighter, well-balanced song stripped down to an organic sound resembling a meeting between Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young.
Songs like "Knocked Up" and "True Love Way" exhibit a heart-wrenching perspective about love as all-or-nothing. Words resound over guitar riffs that slowly build up as the tale of hurt reaches an apex in "True Love Way" ("For a young man it's a heck of a wage/ I'm still shaky when I see your face"). Lovers in "Knocked Up" believe in having a baby out of wedlock: "People call us renegades because we like living crazy…I don't care what nobody says/no I'm going to be her lover."
Other songs like "Charmer" and "On Call" focus on the inescapable forces of beautiful women, how they can easily wrong men, and what dire consequences follow. Hair-metal bravado is sprung on listeners in "Black Thumbnail," and "Fans" is a down-home dedication to their audience.
A weak track, "McFearless" (as mawkish as its title), is determined to stir up the listener, but is ultimately layered with too much over-the-top drama for its own good.
Fans of Kings of Leon may also like Creed, The Black Crowes, The Strokes.
Rate It!
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Sexual Content |
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ViolenceLiner notes feature spewed blood. Angst-ridden song "Ragoo" references domestic violence. A line: "She could kill me just like she did before." |
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LanguageOne swear word: "asshole." |
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Message |
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Social Behavior"Knocked Up" is a wedlocked couple's manifeso: We will have a baby -- no matter what. Thoughts that "dangerous" women lead the band into sin. Demons, dying days, blinding vision, and cold hearts are all crazy byproducts of surrendering to unrequited romance. |
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Commercialism |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoLiquor and cigarettes are used minimally as a way to shake the blues and to adapt to a rough-and-tumble lifestyle: "She's such a brat now I'm packing her cigarettes." |
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