Youth & Young Manhood

It's a shame KoL decided to call it quits after making two really good albums.

Okay, so this takes me back! I remember loving this when it dropped in 2003. It was such a cool, raw sound, all Southern garage rock with Caleb's voice. Tracks like "Red Morning Light" and "Molly's Chambers" had this awesome, scuzzy charm that stood out.

But listening to it now? It's a bit mixed. That Strokes meets Lynyrd Skynyrd thing still has some nostalgia, but it feels a bit generic. The songs blend together, and it's just a mid-2000s garage rock album. It's a snapshot of those particular days, but it's not quite as essential as I remember.

great sun sitting album

I’ve got weird nostalgia about this band, but this one was never my favorite.

Okay, I was not expecting this to happen so soon. I just finished reviewing Only by the Night last week, noting that Kings of Leon used to be a lot more raucous and energetic early on. Well, time to put my words to the test.

Giving their debut record a spin, Youth and Young Manhood definitely boasts some of that dense mixture of Southern rock and garage blues that the band employed early on. The obvious highlights are the songs carried over from the Holly Roller Novocaine EP and further refined in composition. However, there are plenty of other rocking numbers to be found, like the hard-hitting opener "Red Morning Light" and the upbeat "Joe's Head". Even when the momentum takes a back seat, like with the piano-driven showtune "Talihina Sky" or the more pensive ballad "Trani", those tracks are still at least intriguing in contrast.

That said, once again, with examining Kings of Leon lyrics, I find myself conflicted. So much of this record comes off as horny, which I get that the members were young adults at the time of recording, but that doesn't excuse the egregious manner in which they wrote about women, such as with the conquests made on "Happy Alone" or the weirdly scripted orgy on "Spiral Staircase". Thankfully, it's not all like that, as there are some genuinely good observations made here and there, like the frustrations of dealing with label executives on "Genius", the revenge fantasy of "Joe's Head", the yearning for one's life before a sour relationship on "California Waiting", and the negative feelings that the Followills had of their hometown of Talihina on the closing track. But it is hard to ignore how this is the debut record of a group that seemed so young, having not fully fleshed out their songwriting.

I still consider Youth and Young Manhood a solid record overall. It does leave me curious how the other early Kings of Leon record turned out.

Not bad. Not really a fan of the vocals, but the music was at least decent. 3/5

This is #day590 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… here's my second Kings of Leon album. I'd already forgotten that there are three of theirs you supposedly must hear before you die. Now, as the title of track #3 suggests, it's wasted time. This feels like that Black Keys record I had a while ago. The vocals and the delivery are particularly off-putting. This is a 1 out of 5. Looking forward to #day591.

alright

There was like 30 seconds at the beginning of this were I thought maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as I was expecting, but then the singing started and it was all downhill from there

actually pretty fun.

The album was okay, but nothing more. I don't feel like listening to it again. 3/5

1.92

Clean, modern rock. Nothing to love or hate.

This album felt really familiar even though I'm pretty sure I've never listened to it before. It's almost really good, but (and this is probably not an original opinion) I just really don't care for dude's voice.

Not a fan of the southern classic rock sound here.

There’s absolutely no way I need to hear one KoL album before I die, let alone three

Finally, the long awaited final shit stain on this list of albums.
To its credit, the fact that it leans more toward rock-'n'-roll and blues rock is marginally better than the audience-pandering pop-rock dribble they'd fart out years later, but my gripes with this band remain:
I hate the singers voice, the guitar solos are basic and weak, there is no cohesion to the album and it sounds like a bunch of bad singles, I hate the singers voice.
Now I can sleep well, knowing I will die before I willingly listen to another KOL song or album. 1/5

Decent. This is their first album and the bones of what they become are definitely there, but it’s much more raw than future albums. There are also songs that remind me of like, Jet and The Strokes in that sort of generic early aughts alt rock k sound. It’s not bad, I just think of Kings of Leon as a bit more unique than those bands, which I think they grow into.

The thing is, this is my second Kings of Leon, and neither one is their best album, which suggests there are at least three Kings of Leon albums, but no Deftones and no Tool. That’s outrageous.

That’s not the fault of the band or album though. I’d give it 3.5 if I could because I enjoyed it, but there are too many songs that are sloppy or annoying to bump it to 4 stars.

Why do these fucks have 3 albums on this list?

Nothing super special, but its not bad.