Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times - Tiscali Music Reviews

2nd April 2007

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It's not business as usual on the Nashville-based quartet's ambitious, eclectic new album 'Because Of The Times'.

Where Kings of Leon's last release, 2005's 'Aha Shake Heartbreak', was "a fuzz-encrusted rocket of controlled violence," as Rolling Stone put it, packed with emphatic two-minute bursts of raunchy guitars, brawny drums, and growled vocals, 'Because Of The Times' finds the Followills (brothers Nathan, Caleb, and Jared, and their first cousin Matthew) opening up, relaxing the rules, and reveling in the joys of their newfound musical freedom.

'Because Of The Times' (the title refers to an annual preachers' conference the boys attended growing up) contains Kings of Leon's first-ever album track that clocks in at longer than five minutes ('Knocked Up'), the first song with vocal effects ('On Call'), and the first one you could verifiably call an arena-rock anthem ('Black Thumbnail'). Then there's the breakneck 'McFearless', the chiming 'Ragoo', the scuzzy 'Charmer', and the waltzing 'The Runner' - a song so pretty, it's damn near a lullaby.