Kings of Leon
Because of the Times
RCA
The Followill boys are tired of America’s ignorance towards their band. Though a reasonable hit with critics, Kings of Leon have not managed to garner the recognition in their own country that their brand of southern indie rock has brought them across the Atlantic. On their third effort, Because of the Times, subtlety, along with the raw recordings of past albums, is kicked out the door with the bucket and replaced with the most excessive overproduction their Euros could buy. It’s as though the Kings went and bought bigger, shinier crowns, but no matter how hard they try, cannot keep them from falling foolishly around their necks.
This unexpected grandiose attitude, immediately evident in the over-seven-minute opening track, rules over almost every aspect of the album. Each song is just another opportunity to bury Caleb Followill’s southern drawl under massive echoes and backing vocals or to crank the guitars up to 11 as though they were impatient children screaming for attention. Even the screaming, their patented whooping and hollering, loses its novelty after the painful second track “Charmer.”
The question remains, though, that if Because of the Times was actually the Kings of Leon’s first record ever produced, or even second record for that matter, would it still be as much of a disappointment? There certainly are good, catchy, rock songs on the album that deserve some merit and would make any new listener happy. But when the last track “Arizona” queues up, older fans are faced with the faintest hint of what a more “mature” Kings of Leon record could have sounded like instead of this “larger sounding” collection.
Good luck conquering America, Kings of Leon. Just come back when you’re done; your subjects miss you.
-Published in The Rutgers Review April 10, 2007
