Now? Now is when Kings Of Leon decide to be a
faithful classic-rock-revival band? For three albums, the band has teased fans
with bits of twangy Southern throwback, only to lose the hooks in swirls of
prog-rock, bursts of post-punk, or spacey expanses of moody atmospherics.
Conventional wisdom positioned the Followill brothers as this generation's
Allman Brothers, and they've finally relented with Only By The Night: The eerie guitar echo of
the opener "Closer" suggests that the band is sticking with its experiments,
but with the follow-up, "Crawl"—a pulsing, crushing rocker that's one of
the band's best—it's clear they're ditching the indie legitimacy for the
stadium-packing, lighter-waving crowd. Thankfully, it's a fully earnest
aesthetic, and the record showcases a variety of songs without being crippled
by the indulgent filler of albums past. At times, Only By The Night comes perilously close to
adult-alternative ("Use Somebody" could have been written by Train), and even
likeable songs such as "Notion" have something missing. The catchy track might
initially get the "power ballad" label, but the measured, calculated pacing
just doesn't have that much power. The Allmans would have let it rip.