Kings Of Leon - 'Radioactive'
The story so far: scratchy rock dawgies Kings of Leon find their career has taken an unexpected yoink into stadium territory, thanks mainly to a song that they weren't even sure made any sense when it was first written. Sex on WHAAT!? My WHAAT is on fire!?
While they are clearly the men for the job, the idea of becoming defined by that one massive pop song in their arsenal, instead of the solid collection of other good songs that surround it, sits uncomfortably with the band's homegrown, family ethos. Sudden success is cool, but it can't last forever, and so you can't let it turn your head, or you'll end up lost and far from home.
So, in the recording of their fifth album, they've made the decision to scale things back, to keep away from writing astonishingly popular hit singles - which they totally could do, right, if they WANTED - and to focus on their roots.
The question is, if people really like the results, does that mean they've failed?
(. It's completely barny.)
There is just as much for the fly-by-night 'Sex On Fire' newbie fan to enjoy in 'Radioactive' as there is for those hardened fans who quietly wishes the band would write more songs like 'Red Morning Light'. OK, it's still the widescreen, U2-ish iteration of the band we're dealing with. They're bringing in the gospel choir and turning up the cathedral ambience.
But this is because these new songs are going to be played in front of a large audience. An audience who might well have come because of 'Sex On Fire', but could, with the right encouragement, be convinced to stick around for the everything else. Stadiums are boomy places, you need a boomy sound to match.
Plus, for a band who are trying to tone down their tuneful pop side, they're clearly still more than capable of coming up with songs that linger in the mind. Far from being a challenging folksy thrash, 'Radioactive' is an urgent, demanding thing. Hugely inflated, but still quietly troubled.
The difference is, this time they're not singing about astonishing sex, they're singing about astonishing family. It's almost as if this is a direct challenge to flighty people to maybe have the courage to stick around and see things through.
And not just johnny-come-lately Kings Of Leon fans either.
Download: Out now
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(Fraser McAlpine)
"Come and join the revelry as Kings of Leon crawl closer into our best band ever list."
"Possesses a more aggressive bite and a great deal more riffage than what came before it."
"The fratboys who got into KoL by drunkenly shouting the chorus to 'Sex on Fire' will hate it."
Comment number 1.
At 7th Oct 2010, spirit wrote:The guitar and bass is heavily influenced by U2.
It boasts a real melody driven chorus and has the charm to be another top ten hit .
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