Kings of Leon – Mechanical Bull
After an
extended hiatus the guys in denim are back with their sixth album and, much
like someone who’s just been dumped, their looking to get back onto the scene.
A lot has happened since their last album ‘Come Around Sundown’: two of the
Followills have gotten married... to supermodels, babies are coming into this
world left, right and centre and a certain ‘Leon’ had a much publicised
meltdown in 2011. It seemed as though this album was the last thing on their
mind and I’m sorry to say that comes through as clear as daylight.
The problem with Kings of Leon is that they are a ‘marmite band’, and by that I mean you either love them or hate them, an argument can be made that it’s more Caleb Followill’s voice rather than the band as a collective that really divides the public opinion. Caleb’s voice is a unique, gravel-like voice that calls back to the days of Bob Dylan or Neil Young yet it tends to have a wailing characteristic that would grate on some people. But the band have always catered to Caleb’s singing and have always managed to suit the music with the voice and is best exemplified with their fourth album ‘Only By The Night’; tracks like ‘Use Somebody’ and ‘Sex on Fire’ were partly so successful because the music and vocals intertwine so perfectly to send those songs into stratospheric heights. However the band has changed, they’re trying to recapture their early days but still keep within the same aesthetics that shot them straight into the mainstream, they started heading in this particular direction during ‘Come Around Sundown’ when tracks like ‘Radioactive’ and ‘Pyro’ had hints of ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’ interlaced within their very foundations and worked a treat because the music was still the centre of their lives, it was all they had yet now it seems that they haven’t given the same meticulous attention needed to make Kings of Leon break out of that ‘marmite’ label.
Mechanical Bull’s opener ‘Supersoaker’ starts off well, with a twanged and slightly distorted guitar riff given us a sense that their earlier work is in there somewhere and for the verses Caleb’s voice fits like a shoe but gradually as the song progresses it loses steam, it sounds like they were unsure where to take it and just decided to repeat some parts for the sake of making up time rather than for artistic reasons. The same could also be said for ‘Comeback Story’, the track starts off with a bright and sunny guitar and the harmonies at the end of each line manages to put a smile on my face but towards the end of the song it lacks that final part that would make this a great comeback song. And the same yet again could be said for the overall feel of the album; the first five songs are great at capturing your interest and contain traces of Kings of Leon’s brilliance but the second half of the album, and especially towards the end, are loaded with too many album fillers to even warrant a second listen.
There are, however, moments of pure unadulterated enjoyment within Mechanical Bull and one of the better tracks comes in the form of ‘Don’t Matter’, it’s been heavily inspired by Queens of the Stone age and Foo Fighters but with that bluesy, Nashville vibe that Kings of Leon are so good at giving off and this is a perfect instance of where Caleb’s voice works a charm. ‘Family Tree’ is a fantastic piece of work, with its funky, James Brown style Bass line and rung out distorted Guitar, it’s been the most fun I’ve had listening to Kings of Leon for a good long while and has that swagger that would make Mick Jagger shake in his boots.
Nevertheless those few gems can’t make up for the lack of real interest from the band’s behalf, the title of the album is fitting in some ways since it feels like they were on auto-pilot when making this album, they don’t look like a band that wants to get back onto the scene but more like a band who’s looking for a quick one-night stand.
The problem with Kings of Leon is that they are a ‘marmite band’, and by that I mean you either love them or hate them, an argument can be made that it’s more Caleb Followill’s voice rather than the band as a collective that really divides the public opinion. Caleb’s voice is a unique, gravel-like voice that calls back to the days of Bob Dylan or Neil Young yet it tends to have a wailing characteristic that would grate on some people. But the band have always catered to Caleb’s singing and have always managed to suit the music with the voice and is best exemplified with their fourth album ‘Only By The Night’; tracks like ‘Use Somebody’ and ‘Sex on Fire’ were partly so successful because the music and vocals intertwine so perfectly to send those songs into stratospheric heights. However the band has changed, they’re trying to recapture their early days but still keep within the same aesthetics that shot them straight into the mainstream, they started heading in this particular direction during ‘Come Around Sundown’ when tracks like ‘Radioactive’ and ‘Pyro’ had hints of ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’ interlaced within their very foundations and worked a treat because the music was still the centre of their lives, it was all they had yet now it seems that they haven’t given the same meticulous attention needed to make Kings of Leon break out of that ‘marmite’ label.
Mechanical Bull’s opener ‘Supersoaker’ starts off well, with a twanged and slightly distorted guitar riff given us a sense that their earlier work is in there somewhere and for the verses Caleb’s voice fits like a shoe but gradually as the song progresses it loses steam, it sounds like they were unsure where to take it and just decided to repeat some parts for the sake of making up time rather than for artistic reasons. The same could also be said for ‘Comeback Story’, the track starts off with a bright and sunny guitar and the harmonies at the end of each line manages to put a smile on my face but towards the end of the song it lacks that final part that would make this a great comeback song. And the same yet again could be said for the overall feel of the album; the first five songs are great at capturing your interest and contain traces of Kings of Leon’s brilliance but the second half of the album, and especially towards the end, are loaded with too many album fillers to even warrant a second listen.
There are, however, moments of pure unadulterated enjoyment within Mechanical Bull and one of the better tracks comes in the form of ‘Don’t Matter’, it’s been heavily inspired by Queens of the Stone age and Foo Fighters but with that bluesy, Nashville vibe that Kings of Leon are so good at giving off and this is a perfect instance of where Caleb’s voice works a charm. ‘Family Tree’ is a fantastic piece of work, with its funky, James Brown style Bass line and rung out distorted Guitar, it’s been the most fun I’ve had listening to Kings of Leon for a good long while and has that swagger that would make Mick Jagger shake in his boots.
Nevertheless those few gems can’t make up for the lack of real interest from the band’s behalf, the title of the album is fitting in some ways since it feels like they were on auto-pilot when making this album, they don’t look like a band that wants to get back onto the scene but more like a band who’s looking for a quick one-night stand.
·
Additional
Notes:
Mechanical
Bull sold three times as many records in United Kingdom as they did in their
home country of the US.
·
I
wholly recommend listening to ‘Family Tree’, arguably their best song off the
album.
·
If
you liked Mechanical Bull then you might like Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for
the Deaf.
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