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Youth and Young Manhood - Kings of Leon

 


Year Released: 2003

Label: Hand Me Down

Year Bought: 2005

This is when Kings of Leon were great. Could you tell what Caleb was saying? No, but who cared. It all added to the mystery. The group looked like they'd stepped out of a Louisiana swamp (yes I know they're from Tennessee) and were doing it all purely for their own enjoyment.

Red Morning Light is a great opener and then Happy Alone just ups the pace and incomprehensibility.

The whole album bounces along with such a tightness and simplicity. All the guitar lines are straight to the point. There's nothing particularly inventive about the production and recording.

The record wears its influences on its plaid shirt sleeves - you can hear Bob Dylan (Trani in particular sounds like a Blonde on Blonde track), CCR, and Lynyrd Skynyrd all over the album - but Kings of Leon were never about trying to reinvent the big wheel that keeps on turning.

It's all painted in primary colours, which over the course of an entire record can be a little grating. The follow-up addressed this with songs like Milk, but even so, having a mid-album run of tracks like California Waiting, Spiral Staircase, and Molly's Chambers is pretty fantastic.

Probably the second best album they made - although I stopped listening after that Sex on Fire album so maybe there's a great one tucked away in their later releases. 

8/10







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