Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon: the South's answer to rock and roll. Their dirty, sometimes bluesy, sometimes alternative rock can get even the drunkest college kid pumped and ready to roll. That drunken college kid "“ I call him Joe Jack "“ won't be disappointed with their newest album Because of the Times.

On Because of the Times, the rock-o-meter is definitely turned up. The guitars are a little rough around the edges, but very artfully done, so that it doesn't bring down the album at all. Singer Caleb Followill's vocals got even more ridiculous and hard to understand, especially in the song "Charmer."

There aren't many standout songs on the album, but then again, no songs on the album is bad or weak in any way. The first three songs are probably the strongest on the album. The opener "Knocked Up" runs seven fully satisfying minutes. It's followed by "Charmer," which reads, "She's such a charmer oh no. She's always looking at me," typical Kings of Leon. The third track on Because of the Times is the popular single "On Call," which has yet to disappoint.

The next ten songs that fill up the album are a mixture of good and not so good. Sometimes while listening to it, you'll find your self singing along (if you can understand the lyrics) and at other times you'll find yourself slightly bored with the music. I personally enjoy the slower songs like "True Love Way" and "Fans," but even those hardly qualify as slow songs. Other songs just aren't as good. Take "My Party" for example. It's not a terrible song, but the beginning riff does get a bit boring and the lyrics throughout the better part of the song are just "Ooooh she saw my party. She saw my party" repeated over, and over, and over again.

What can I say about this album? It stands up to the standard set by Kings of Leon, but that's not saying very much. I don't have much to criticize, but I don't have much good to say either. Many of the songs seem to blend together and some of them are not immediately distinguishable from each other. After listening to the album in its entirety six or seven times, I can still only recognize several songs by name. Because of the Times has its moments, but maybe it doesn't have enough of them.

6.7 / 10 — Frank