Kings of Leon
“Come Around Sundown”
RCA
Released: Today
6.0/10
If you’ve ascended to royalty, you’d better be ready to protect the throne.
Kings of Leon had never hid its ambitions; it wanted to be the biggest rock band in the world. The group struck gold in Europe around the time of “Aha Shake Heartbreak,” rocking arenas like it was U2, but the band was still firmly lodged in the mid-sized venue circuit stateside.
It was obvious that the Followill family — especially Caleb — was growing restless, anxious to quit supporting arena shows and start headlining them.
Then came “Only By Night,” the album that was fated to be that push to the mainstream the guys had been clamoring for. It was full of big, dumb and admittedly catchy anthems like the Billboard chart scorcher “Sex on Fire” and left little room for the down-home, roughneck rock tunes that had garnered them a rather impressive following in the first place.
It was a marginalizing album; new fans couldn’t get enough and the old ones couldn’t get out fast enough. Over night, Kings of Leon became a “love ’em or hate ’em” band, not that the group didn’t realize that was exactly what it had done.
When news came of “Come Around Sundown,” the Followill boys promised it would be a return to their roots, hoping to appease the old crowd while retaining the new. The question was whether they could do that. With the album’s release, the answer is neither yes nor no. It’s just boring.
Well, not boring, but sure as hell not exciting. It’s the sound of finding yourself out on the middle of a tightrope, and instead of moving forward or scuttling back, you just kind of stand frozen. “Come Around Sundown” is a David Blaine stunt ... it’s just kind of there.
The biggest offender may be “The Immortals.” For as big and layered as it is, I’ve never heard anything more empty and hollow. The artificially Southern-flavored pair of “Mary” and the painfully titled “Back Down South” are similarly foul — mostly because you get the sense the band has completely lost touch with its roots and, swept up in the glitz and glam of fame, is struggling to make anything honest anymore.
But it isn’t all bad. The opening trio of “The End,” “Radioactive” and “Pyro” are all equally impressive, and you start to hear the band progressing toward that huge, complex wall of noise in the vein of U2, if not quite mastering it yet.
If the band had kept that momentum rolling, it could have something on its hands, but while the scorching “The Face” and vintage Kings of Leon we briefly hear in “No Money” and “Pony Up” regain a little traction, the empty, sometimes even awkward (“Beach Side”), leftovers have the album registering only somewhere above a slight rumble.
If there is anything that could’ve been said for Kings of Leon, it was that it had never been middling. U2 never made a boring album; neither has Springsteen, Radiohead, Green Day or Coldplay. You can argue the merits of those artists and any one of their albums, but they always pushed a new idea or sound with each and every release because they weren’t afraid of losing fans; they just hoped they would tag along with whatever they were doing.
“This could be the end,” Caleb ironically hollers in the leadoff track, and while I refuse to believe Kings of Leon will let it all slip away after working so hard, if it wants to continue to play with the big boys, it had better start acting like one.
— Joshua Boydston, psychology junior
David Bowie
“Station to Station”
Virgin/EMI
Released: Sept. 28
9.1/10
The reissue of “Station to Station” — the cocaine-fueled 1976 release that introduced the world to another Bowie persona, Thin White Duke — was lauded for its movement from early Bowie work.
He played with funk and soul elements, but was equally influenced by the electronic musings and synthesizer use of German acts like Kraftwerk.
The epic, 10-minute title track is a dynamo, but it’s follow-up, “Golden Years,” is a shinier piece of groovy gold.
The original release is packaged with a two-part live album (“Live Nassau Coliseum ’76”) that spans through all of Bowie’s biggest hits, rocketing off with “Station to Station” before running through singles like “Suffragette City,” “Fame” and “Rebel Rebel.”
Bowie is one of the best musicians and biggest innovators of any day and age, and the reissue of “Station to Station” is just another reminder of that. It’s a must-have for any Bowie diehard or newbie looking to discover one of music’s greatest minds.
— JB
Sugarland
“The Incredible Machine”
Mercury Nashville
Released: Today
8.4/10
If you’ve ever listened to Sugarland, you’re aware of the duo’s quirky lyrics and charming country twang.
Its 2004 breakout hit “Baby Girl” put the band on the radar and it’s continued to release toe-tapping, feel-good country albums biannually.
But today’s release of “The Incredible Machine” shows a different side of the Grammy-winning group.
In contrast with its previous three albums, the 11-track album showcases Jennifer Nettles’ soulful, rich and deep harmonies. It comes across as more of a rock album than Sugarland’s traditional country-folk classification.
Aside from “Stuck Like Glue” and “Every Girl Like Me,” the songs shy away from the typical light-hearted lyrics about love and instead focus on life and being there for others.
As someone who’s always loved singing along with Nettles, it’s neat to belt out with her in my car as she branches into the rock genre with songs like “Find the Beat Again.”
The mega-empowering musical feel of “All We Are” includes lyrics that remind us “It’s not over / we are young” — something so simple, but often forgotten.
“Little Miss” showcases Nettles’ voice throughout and reaches a beautiful pinnacle toward the end when she reinforces the fact “you are loved.”
Rich harmonies and dynamic vocals accompany the motivational lyrics of “Stand Up” that say, “Won’t you stand up and use your voice?”
Overall, this album is sure to become a favorite, sending the group in a new direction and highlighting the wide musical capabilities of Nettles and Kristian Bush.
The songs are different from the light-hearted hits of the past and are sure to fire up a crowd live in concert.
— Meredith Moriak, journalism senior
Chiddy Bang
“The Preview EP”
EMI
Released: Oct. 12
6.5/10
Chiddy Bang burst onto the scene last year with “Opposite of Adults,” driven by samples from MGMT’s “Kids.” The mash up of the electro-dance pop indie hit with Chidera “Chiddy” Anamege’s catchy rap lyrics and Xaphoon Jones’ club beats took the duo from being just college kids to playing at Lollapalooza. Chiddy Bang followed up the single’s success with its “The Preview EP,” the band’s precursor to its first full studio album, “The Swelly Life.”
In addition to “Opposite of Adults,” the EP includes a track in the same seam — “All Things Go” — that samples from indie orchestral genius Sufjan Stevens’ road trip anthem, “Chicago.” The tempo’s upped a bit from Stevens’ original masterpiece, but it’s catchy. Really catchy.
The rest of the EP isn’t quite so impressive. The band’s original tracks — the ones that don’t harness other artists’ popular songs — are a bit lackluster. A few are a little memorable, but not quite up to par with the band’s sampling tunes. Although Chiddy Bang could still come out with better songs in its upcoming full-length album, “The Preview” is slightly more than a novelty for those who enjoy rap remixes of hipster hits.
—James Corley, journalism senior
John Lennon remasters
Capitol
All released: Oct. 5
“Rock ‘n’ Roll”
8.8/10
Lennon’s 1975 release took inspiration from nostalgic ’50s and ’60s rock anthems, doing them in the way that only Lennon could.
There are standouts like the charming “Stand By Me,” thundering “Peggy Sue” and swanky “You Can’t Catch Me,” but there really is no dip from the accessible, radio-friendly pop-rock tune lineup.
— JB
“Walls and Bridges”
9.5/10
Probably Lennon’s biggest example of being ahead of his time, “Walls and Bridges” is a musical wonder, spraying every influence into a triumph of horns (“Whatever Get You Thru the Night”), shuttering guitars (“What You Got”) and pre-new-wave moodiness (“#9 Dream”).
— JB
“Milk and Honey”
8.3/10
The first posthumous release after Lennon’s murder is probably one of his weaker efforts (although weak for John Lennon is still very good for others), but that was no part due to his passing before completion. Yoko Ono largely pieced it together with early mixings and recordings, and the strutting confidence of “Nobody Told Me” was another reminder of what the world had lost.
— JB
“Double Fantasy”
9.1/10
Released just three weeks before Lennon would pass away, “Double Fantasy” became one of the biggest albums of his solo career. It was met with poor critical reception, though the tides turned in wake of those events, and was eventually awarded a Grammy for album of the year.
The tunes married Lennon’s ear for pop music with Ono’s taste for funky weirdness like the B-52’s into a largely collaborative effort with “Beautiful Boy” and “(Just Like) Starting Over” making the biggest splash.
The 2010 re-master comes with stripped down original mixes of the tracks.
— JB
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Tom565 1 year, 6 months ago
Thanks for sharing this. I love to read these kind of independent opinions of music.
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