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CD Review: Kings of Leon's 'Youth & Young Manhood'


Kings of Leon perfectly exhibit their individual personalities on their new LP, Youth & Young Manhood; long hair, tight jeans, leather jackets and vintage T-shirts.

The four Followill brothers somehow found a way to funnel this attitude into their guitars and drum work, creating a unique sound that could blow The Strokes away, if it wasn't for the overproduction of the album.

Youth & Young Manhood feels like it wants to explode from the speakers, but producers Ethan Johns and Angelo keep it from careening out of control, and end up playing it way too safe for a rock band with an attitude.

"Red Morning Light" starts off a tight power chord riff from Matthew Followill as brother Nathan slams down on the drums with Caleb lazily singing the lyrics from the corner of his mouth.

"Happy Alone and Wasted Time" are two good driving tracks, but it isn't until "California Waiting" that the band shows off its music writing skills. The bass line from Jared bubbles underneath, helping to make this track the catchiest of all the tunes on the album.

The fierce intensity of "Spiral Staircase" makes it the best song on the album. Caleb sings near incomprehensible lyrics after smoking one too many cigarettes, which makes him sound like Mick Jagger would if he was born in Tennessee. Combined with rockabilly sound and guitar solos, "Spiral Staircase" gives the best idea of what the Kings of Leon could be capable of in the rock world if they were to lose a little bit of control and let the guitars do the talking.

The two ballads, "Trani" and "Dusty," should have been replaced with songs that kept the tempo more upbeat.

Kings of Leon have a strong foundation with Youth & Young Manhood, but next time they need to do the producing themselves.

Reach the reporter at steven.ganczaruk@asu.edu.


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