Only by the Night |  | Artist: Kings of Leon
Label: RCA Records
Category: Music
List Price: £15.99
Buy New: £3.99
as of 14/3/2010 15:08 CDT details
You Save: £12.00 (75%)
New (31) Used (11) from £2.88
Seller: Amazon.co.uk
Rating:  187 reviews
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.7 x 0.4
UPC: 886973519929
EAN: 0886973519929
ASIN: B001E4QLN6
Release Date: September 22, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Closer | | • | Crawl | | • | Sex On Fire | | • | Use Somebody | | • | Manhattan | | • | Revelry | | • | 17 | | • | Notion | | • | I Want You | | • | Be Somebody | | • | Cold Desert |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Already on course to be one of the year's biggest sellers, Only By the Night has sealed Kings of Leon's unlikely position as Britain's favourite American rock band. The Followill brothers (and cousin) have always been tagged as part of a southern rock tradition of family bands such as the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, a label they vehemently refuted. But the skinny lads certainly looked like a classic rock act, even as they took musical inspiration from indie contemporaries The Strokes and eighties new wave acts such as The Cure and New Order. Only By the Night is effectively a sequel to 2006's terrific Because of the Times, their third record and the first where they nailed their own sound, a striking amalgam of bluesy vocals and post-punk primitivism. In comparison Only By the Night consolidates rather than advances their style. The appropriately incoherent "Sex on Fire", already a chart topping single, is catchy but sounds lightweight next to songs like the fierce "Crawl" and the stadia-ready "Cold Desert" and "Manhattan". The dissonant, almost amateurish "17" is most out of place, though Caleb Followill still bawls it with the same passion he brings to even the clumsiest couplet. More notable are several sparse romantic pleas that often borrow licks from classic Southern soul. The yearning "I Want You" is little more than its title, but it certainly convinces, while "Revelry" and the vulnerable "Use Somebody" show signs of impending maturity. Only By the Night's simplicity certainly has a wide appeal. --Steve Jelbert
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Kings October 13, 2008
V. Snow (Hull, Uk)
209 out of 225 found this review helpful
Firstly, I feel I should say that after years of buying from Amazon, and hundreds of purchases later, I have never felt compelled to leave a review. With this album, that changes. It irritates me slightly that many of the previous reviews seem to be negative, mostly written by the 'die hard fans' that believe their opinion rocks, and seemingly that the KOL should in fact, produce albums to simply suit them, and them alone. I've got all the KOL albums, yes, they are all very different in style but so they should be - i wouldn't be too happy if a group released album after album of the same old. In fact, if the albums were all along the same lines, I would imagine people will be moaning about that too. Perhaps, the critics should open their minds to the fact that the KOL have evolved. They've grown up, had a change of style, produced something different, and also probably gained a whole new set of fans in the long run. That's what a successful band does. So, to all the die hard fans who believe they've been personally ripped off and done over - the world doesn't revolve around you.
Rant over. This album is possibly the most influencial, easy on the ears, moving, inspiring, and just genuinely awesome piece of work i have ever c ome across. It's been playing in every single aspect of my life since the day it arrived. Caleb's vocals are unbelieveable. There isn't a remotely bad track on the album, although some are by far stand out winners. My personal faves are Manhattan, I Want You, and above all, Sex on Fire. It's an amazing track - sometimes you just find a song that does funny things to you...If you've read any of the reviews, and you're in any doubt at all as to if to buy this album or not, just buy it.
 OK but lightweight underneath slick production March 19, 2009
RamsyPak (Bristol)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Slick, well-produced and with plenty of mass appeal, catchy, seems to have balls at first, but after repeated listening, it feels rather weak and lacking in content. Pop dressed up as rock.
Best yet November 28, 2008
Disc (Bristol, UK)
25 out of 29 found this review helpful
I simply believe that this is their most musically accomplished album to date. I haven't been overly keen on their previous efforts, feeling that their sound was a little contrived.
I'm a fan of progressive rock and metal, Tool, The Mars Volta, Sigur Ros, Exlosions in the Sky etc...I am not a pop fan and thoroughly disagree that this is some sort of pop/rock 'sellout' album. It is beautifully written, expressive and emotional.
Well done KOL, this is the first one I've actually bought! The music also stands out live compared with their old music, this is a really positive progression for the band.
 good but not great June 5, 2009
bookaholic (UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have loved the Kings of Leon ever since I first heard them back in 2002, and I hate reviews which are written by those 'long time listeners' who say that once a band becomes famous, their stuff isn't as good as their early albums - but this album genuinely isn't. There's a couple of great tracks and it's really well produced, but you can hear and feel their transition from raw, passionate, knock your socks off rock to a big, polished, stadium band. I still love them, but honestly believe the earlier albums to be better and Young, Youth and Manhood to be the best ever.
Not quite all it should have been March 9, 2009
marky t (london)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The kings of Leon are an immensely talented and unique band and this is a good album. However, I'd have trouble recommending it to anyone, partly because of the overall quality of the kings work and partly because frankly, it's a lazy album. An album not lacking in tunes or heart, but one lacking considerably in depth and subtlety.
The fact that it was released only around a year after Because of the Times is an understandable move, they wanted to "ride the wave" of success while the wave was still there to be ridden. But rather than create their masterpiece, they've produced an album of lukewarm stadium fillers.
Let's start with Closer, a great opener sparkling with intent that builds to a satisfying conclusion. it's a great song, but then the kings have a habit of starting their albums with great songs (see knocked up, red morning light, slow night so long) and it's later on the album begins to suffer.
The equally excellent crawl follows this song, followed by the good, but criminally overplayed Sex on Fire and Use Somebody. Then we have manhatten, another stand out track that flutters around over a brilliant bass riff. From here, however we go down hill.
The next 4 tracks are entirely unremarkable, with the possible exception of revelry and worse still, sound far too much like eachother, a fact I can really only put down to lazyness. As for Be somebody and cold desert, they're both moderately good songs, but by no means good enough to make up for the albums pitfalls.
To illustrate this point, compare this to sophomore album Aha Shake Heartbreak where the songs:
-Are at times fast and at times slow, not just one mid tempo dirge.
-Consist of more than just verse chorus verse repeated indefinately (looking at you sex on fire).
-Don't all use the same guitar effect, but vary their sound depending on the feel of the song.
Yes I'm moaning, but those are facts, rather than opinions and at the end of the day, Only By the Night suffers from a lack of variety.
If you prefer the "stadium rock" sound to their older more up tempo rocky stuff; fair enough, but buy Because of The Times, it's a generally more exciting and rewarding album than this. If you're a new kings of leon fan, by all means buy this album, but make sure you buy the other 3 as well, they really are better. I'm not one of the "old" fans, I've been a kings of leon fan for all of 4 months and from a completely neutral perspective, this album does not live up to the standard of their previous work.
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