Aha Shake Heartbreak

They are sometimes pretty interesting but mostly just good

Чесно кажучи альбом сподобався мені сильно більше ніж я очікував. Доволі непогано і енергійно. Не можу якусь пісню виділити для себе, але в цілому на міцну трієчку.

I’m familiar with Kings of Leon from their singles on the radio. I would not have predicted how much I dislike this album. The vocalist really is not enjoyable to listen to for extended periods! The style/genre of their songs, the sort of bluesy Americana rock is something I would normally gravitate to, but the vocals grated for much of it.

A rare 4 stars for yet another band I couldn’t be bothered with thinking they were derivative at the time. I really like the singers voice and the songs are so warm and hectic. You can feel the nod to their heroes here, the Rolling Stones and the Clash but it’s a nod only and they are uniquely themselves. Only the album title defeats me. Get rid of the Aha and that’s a great title!

Quite enjoyable listening, especially when I I only listen to this band like twice a year. The vocal affect the singer puts on would get annoying in a dose any larger than that. The song "Milk" was really distracting and would have been much better as an instrumental track.

⭐⭐⭐.49

☺️

Pues no era un disco que hubiese escuchado con atención anteriormente, pero mejor de lo que recordaba. Me guardo: "Slow night, so long", "King of the rodeo", "Taper jean girl", "Milk", "The bucket" y "Where the nobody knows".

My only previous exposure to Kings of Leon is the song "Sex On Fire". I liked the guitar tones on this album (I would consider it alternative rock). I didn't really care for the singer's voice; I found it to be too high in the mix and almost distracting. Usually I try not to worry about the vocals, just the music, but that was more difficult here. I found the whole album to be unremarkable.

There's absolutely no reason this band needs three albums on this list. I've said before that I like their sound, generally, but I can stand the singer. But this one pushed me over the edge. I really hated this album, probably because the vocals are more front and center here but also because the songs are just bad. I don't hate you Kings, but holy god just keep the fire sex album and ditch the rest. This album is actively bad, and worse yet, inessential.

1.38

Rejoice! It's a band I know. Another frequent flyer on the MTV2 Rock Countdown, although I didn't really like them that much (I'd say: more than the Mars Volta and Cyprus Hill, less than Incubus, for those keeping track).

They do have a distinctive sound, which I guess is a pro. A little bit Boomhauer-coded. The songs are also short, and the album is too. But the lyrics are kinda ???, and I don't just mean the delivery.

Slur count = 3.

Highlight: 'The Bucket'

994 albums in and not one by Tupac, Tool, Bill Withers, Ani Difranco, Pantera, Ornette Coleman, Bone Thugs, Failure, Babe Ruth, Mercyful Fate, Stone Temple Pilots, Opeth, etc. but 3 from these abysmal schmucks and this is the worst one yet.

Instrumentally, this was a marked improvement over the Kings of Leon I'm most familiar with – some actual vigour, crunch, energy, skill, looseness and passion to the playing came as a welcome surprise to my ears, posing the question of how they slid so drastically and rapidly from here into the soulless radio fare of their latter-day career. The vocals on this, however, are a complete deal-breaker for me. I can't stand them whatsoever, and on that basis I shall'nt be revisiting.

Three Kings of Leon albums? And no Florence and The Machine by the way, though I think of the latter as significantly better and more impactful , as well as in the same time frame as KOL. I’ve not heard a single song off of this album. I know “Sex On Fire.” I know “Use Somebody.” Those are both pretty good songs. This… uhhh… is its placement necessary? The first two songs are alright, though “Taper Jean Girl” blows, and so does “Milk.” It becomes apparent quickly that this band would be better if literally anyone else was singing. Well, not literally anyone else. If Brian Johnson hopped on this it would suck. And this doesn’t suck, not at all! It’s just… the singing sucks! And it’s a very unimaginative album. Very fragile instrumentals. They feel like they could be completely dismantled if you tried hard enough. “The Bucket” has a couple of great melodies to latch on to, and is probably one of my favorite songs on the album, if not my favorite. The singing is still indulgent, but then the concept of the song is pretty indulgent in and of itself, and the storytelling and imagery is actually really great. Really I can’t say I have a great amount of qualms with this album, when it’s slower and less dancey it’s a really pleasant album. The more dancey parts recall its betters too much to enjoy, such as Arctic Monkeys, and The Strokes, and even Modest Mouse at times. Oh, and the singing SUCKS. Honestly though, at the end of the day I can’t really hate this at all. Well, maybe I can.
5.0/10

Not bad, but also pretty average, I quite enjoyed it but did not really feel I need to explore more from them. Most 3, maybe 2 stars, 2.5 on RYM as average.

This was awful. Out of tune hardcore vocals slapped onto wanna be strokes music

Alright, third and final Kings of Leon record on my album journey, and at this point I might be running out of defense for this band's catalog in its prime. I am once again having to reconcile with the fact that for as much as I dug their early raucous mixture of Southern rock and garage, I'm just not as into the lyrical content that gets badly horny and undercooked in places. That much is apparent from the jump on Aha Shake Heartbreak with the opening track "Slow Night, So Long", where the girl being hooked up with is seventeen years old, but the guy "plum forgot about it" and was with her just for the sex. It sucks that this band fell prey to these bad Southern rock writing tropes, and it's the same deal for the likes of "Taper Jean Girl", "Pistol of Fire", "Milk", "Day Old Blues", "Where Nobody Knows", and especially "Soft," where the guy is dealing with his erectile dysfunction.

There are at least a few tracks that keep this album afloat. "King of the Rodeo" is a jaunty tune for bringing on those good times, "The Bucket" is decently poignant in detailing Jared Followill's struggle attaining fame in the band at such a young age, and "Four Kicks" certainly played well into the rough-housing sensibilities. But overall... look, there's only so much underwritten, unchecked horniness I can handle, even if I enjoyed some of the instrumental work. So, cherry-pick your favorites and go from there.

can you sing like a normal person maybe or barring that even just bad in an interesting way

A nice throwback

I still don't know why they have three albums on this list.