When I noticed that Kings of Leon (and The Black Keys!) were descending on Cincinnati on a Saturday night of Labor Day weekend, I immediately began to hunt for tickets. The Kings delivered one of the defining performances of Bonnaroo 2010, and frankly, their career, this past June, so I reveled in the opportunity to relive that night and see them once again.
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| Kings of Leon @ Bonnaroo 2010 |
Vito and I saw Kings of Leon on the initial leg of the Only By the Night tour, (for their most recent studio effort), and we witnessed a band that was truly on the cusp of becoming massive. Everyone is familiar with their Top 40 hits "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody", two songs that were overplayed to the point of disgust much like any songs that reach a top spot on the chart. The fact that Kings of Leon were capable of reaching such a wide audience is the truly amazing part about their most recent album. They had little to no buzz in the United States except for a hardcore following before Only By The Night released, and as a new twist to their body of work it became one of their greatest critical successes as well as the obvious financial and popular victory.
With the major label marketing that came along with this newfound fame and success, the band was thrust into arenas instead of small clubs and theaters, and became one of the new generation of headlining festival bands. This also brought negativity in droves by those who simply became annoyed by their music and also from elitist fans who claimed they "sold out." I must take this opportunity to put the focus back on what got this band to where they are: their music. In particular, HNW will begin to focus on albums that need to make their way back into your iPod rotation, and with the concert on Saturday, Kings of Leon's sophomore effort Aha Shake Heartbreak represents a perfect starting point.
This album captures a band at the peak of their creative vein, where they managed to build off of their exciting debut and yet still tighten and advance their sound to create one of the tightest Southern Rock albums this side of My Morning Jacket. The beauty of Aha Shake Heartbreak is that it showcases their catchiest songwriting coupled with stories and themes of a band who was truly engulfed in their music. The Followills, including brothers Caleb (lead vocals/guitar), Nathan (drums), and Jared (bass) along with cousin Matthew (guitar), represent a unique story of a family who ventured through European success after American rejection and lived a rock lifestyle that goes unseen in this modern era.
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| from left: Matthew, Nathan, Jared, and Caleb Followill |
Next time you see or hear Kings of Leon, take a moment to appreciate them for how far they have come, for both the mature direction they inevitably must head as well as the reckless, youthful music they never would have survived. To begin the Album of the Week series, the Album of the Week player is now filled with music from Aha Shake Heartbreak.
