Aha Shake Heartbreak - Kings of Leon

…and their cousin. After the fair success of their debut album ‘Youth and Young Manhood’ the boys from the deep South, USA, are back with a second album. The arrival by the Kings Of Leon onto the rock scene went pretty much unnoticed by me to be honest and whilst I was aware they were the newest ’big thing’ I didn’t buy or really listen to their debut album. I think the only 2 songs I heard from that album were ’Molly’s Chambers’ and ’Holy Roller Novocaine’, which I liked but never pursued the interest further than that. My interest in ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’ was quite by accident really. You see my 15 year old son is at an age where his ...  Read the complete review

PISTOL OF FIIIIRE!! PISTOL OF FIIIIRE!! Man I love that song! No-one else's vocals sound quite as forced or constipated as Caleb Followill's do, but no folks, I wont let this stymie my appreciation for The Kings of Leon. I think it is far from luck that Caleb's vocals somehow manage to fit the band's musical style perfectly. If you would put any voice to these songs it would be Caleb's. I think he knew for a fact that his vocals sucked more than the latest dyson so he adjusted his brethrens alternative southern blues to match his vocals. This doesn't mean that everything is perfect though. Milk is painful to sit through, his voice makes me cringe ...  Read the complete review

The four Followills have certainyl come far from their second album Aha Shake Breakheart. The Kings Of Leon are a very curious band, the three brothers born in Oklahoma to a travelling preacher and his wife, inviting their cousin to play lead guitar after they were signed to RCA in 2002. What I find so interesting about the band is their ecclectic range of influences which is so apparent from this record. Caleb dropped out of school to pursue a career in country music and the blues influence is undeniable, this album shows a moulding of these sounds into a rock record. The album opens with Slow Night, So Long, scuzzy multi-layered guitars leading the way, ...  Read the complete review

The Kings come back with this, their second album, and boy are they back with a bite! I find this album to be absolutely listenable all day everyday! I have yet to get sick of listening to this on my phone on my way to work. There are 12 songs in all and I have tried to do a mini review for each song below: Slow Night, So Long is a cracking opener to the album with a twisting change 2/3 of the way in to the song when it sounds like its going to end only to come back on a completely different vibe (much calmer, more of a guitar solo). King Of The Rodeo is a very dancy tune and one that everything can sing along to (even if you ...  Read the complete review

Two years after the release of Youth and Young Manhood, Kings Of Leon gave us an album even better than the first, and if you've heard the first album you will know there is a massive change in the music. This album has a country feel to it although it is still raw it isn't as raw but is just as 'dirty'. Following the massive success of 2003 debut Youth and Young Manhood this album had to be amazing and Kings Of Leon didn't disappoint. The first single off this album 'The Bucket' is an absolutely awesome song, just watch out for the sreech about six seconds in that really kicks this song off. Another one of the singles from the ...  Read the complete review