Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Kings of Leon Take 5

Hello Friends,

On the eve of the release of their lead single 'Radioactive' from the forthcoming album 'Come Around Sundown' I think it's important to make note of their story thus far. This release is the band's 5th studio album and comes on the heels of the one that got them the most recognition -'Only By The Night' released in 2008. Those are some big shoes to fill.

The band have not stopped touring since that release and have even been through Toronto, and surrounding areas at least 3 times on that last one.

Until last week I had to put their music on the backburner as I felt it had been overdone. The TSN turning point for me getting back on the train was an article I read in Q Magazine this month. The article features interviews with all 4 members and an in-depth look at their career up to now.

I first heard them on their second album because of Australia's Triple J radio station. It's very much like the BBC and plays music 24 hours a day. They included 'The Bucket' on their Hottest 100 of 2004 . This is a coveted chart to be on and was likely one of many things that propelled them to the next level at which time U2 took them on the road. They became massive in Europe and NME, BBC, Q and Last FM, to name a few, fell in love.

The article is well worth the read as it looks at the band's life on the road and gets all the dirt on them. Caleb, his 2 brothers may indeed be the son of a preacher - but they have danced with the devil on many occassions. It's in this issue. Caleb went to a brothal to sleep with a hooker but couldn't once he saw how innocent she was. The boys also lined up the biggest lines of cocaine one New Year's eve and raced to finish all at once on the same table. This is the tame shit - they are true rock n rollers in every sense of the term.

Here's a quick list of 5 songs I'd like to recommend from KOL
Do yourself a favour and listen to this band's albums in sequence. There's a reason why 'Closer' is the opener to 'Only By The Night'.

Thanks for reading/listening.

Gregg