Youth & Young Manhood

Kings of Leon were indirectly recommended to me by a friend - someone had told him they played good rock music but he hadn't listened to them yet. I mentioned them to a couple of people I know and they thought they were OK. Yet again, I thought I'd probably heard a song or 2 on the radio. I also did some reading of the reviews of their first 2 albums on Amazon.com. The reviews were quite favourable so, while the US, I picked up a copy of Kings of Leon's first album Youth & Young Manhood - partly due to the cheaper price.

Reviews of Kings of Leon hype them as the next big thing. Even the future of rock'n'roll. Sadly, I don't think they're it.

Youth & Young Manhood is a solid album of roots-based rock music. A lot of the 1960s and 1970s influences are there, such as The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, along with later bands such as The Black Crowes. Personally I think The Black Crowes do this sort of thing a lot better and sound a lot more like the future that I'd like rock'n'roll to have. The band sounds pretty darn good. However, while singer Caleb Followill has a pretty good rock singer's voice, he displays little of the variation shown by the really good ones - passable, but not brilliant. The best song on the album is Molly's Chambers, which I have definitely heard played on Australian radio.

However, I really haven't given this album a fair chance. I've listened to it once on a portable audio player and once on an average car stereo. When I get home I'll listen to it nice and loud. Maybe some volume will help lift this album to the classic status that other listeners have given it... or maybe it won't. Stay tuned...