Kings of Leon: "Come Around Sundown" album review.

Kings of Leon: Come Around Sundown

(RCA: 2010)

               The Followill brothers (and cousin) that make up Kings of Leon have found themselves at a crossroad. Fans of their earlier work have had no hesitation in voicing their discontent with what they see as the sellout of an immensely talented indie southern rock band. Yet their last release, Only By The Night – mainstream though it may be – shot the Tennessee group into unmatched global spotlight and success.

                Lead singer and song-writer Caleb has struggled with both the criticism and the success very publicly, one minute on a strong defensive that his music hasn’t changed; the next openly shunning the fan base that supported him from the start for which he now, apparently, has no need. On 18 October, the Kings of Leon dropped their latest release, Come Around Sundown, an album much anticipated by fans old and new.

                Come Around Sundown, to the dismay of the old, surely foreshadows a continued path down sold-out stadiums and screaming teenage fans. The album is laden with anthem-like vocal hooks and radio-rock guitar riffs, definitively stamping Kings of Leon with what many have called the “U2 Effect”.

                But mainstream doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, and in this case, it’s not. Come Around Sundown may not have the grungy, garage-rock sound of Youth and Young Manhood, nor does it have whimsical lyrics about erectile dysfunction that fans came to love in Aha Shake Heartbreak, but it does represent yet another powerful release by a band that has proven to be brimming with rock.

                Come Around Sundown has a huge sound. “The Face,” stands out as a slow-rock power ballad that conjures images of stadium crowds swaying on rhythm with thrown backs heads singing full-force into the sky. “Radioactive,” the band’s first single from the release, throws the listener into a face-paced, guitar-driven chorus where Caleb seems to question the band’s origins and its future, “When the road is called up yonder/ I hope you see me there.”

               

                The album is not without the Tennessee twist that has defined the sound of their earlier albums. “Back Down South,” features a twanging country guitar riff combined with tambourine quarter-notes and Caleb’s trailing raspy vocals proclaiming, “I’m going back down south now.”

                Come Around Sundown is sure to be another hit album for the Followills, there is little question about that. What will be interesting to see is how the band handles that success. When Caleb and his family lament over their fame and riches, it’s tempting to want to shake them and say, “You’re famous. Get over it.” As it is equally tempting to say their nostalgic, soured apostles, “They’re famous. Get over it.”

The Kings of Leon’s music has changed, no doubt, but does change really have to be such a bad thing?