Review: Kings of Leon - Walls (2016)

Artist: Kings of Leon

Album: Walls

Genre: Alternative Rock

Released: October 2016

Album length: 42:46/10 tracks

Background

Kings of Leon formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of three Followill brothers, Caleb (vocals), Nathan (drums) and Jared (bass) and their cousin, Matthew Followill (guitar). Walls is the band's seventh studio album, and stands for "We Are Like Love Songs", continuing their theme of album names being five syllables long.

The track breakdown

On repeat: Waste a Moment, Reverend, Conversation Piece

Skip it: Over, Muchacho

For the gym (150+ BPM): Waste a Moment, Find Me, Eyes on You

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Waste a Moment was the first single released from this album, and it's clear to see why. It's upbeat, it's typical Kings of Leon and it's damn catchy. It kicks off with an awesome bassline and riff. It doesn't feel like much of a departure from their usual style, which is a good thing. Great way to start the album.

Reverend is a slow, but captivating track. The way it builds up to the chorus with Caleb's great vocals, a gorgeous riff and stunning baseline is cool, and it's generally a really easy listener. I wish Matthew had gone for a proper solo rather than repeated riff to add a little more to the track, but it does fit the song as is. The outro mirrors the intro, and it's lovely.

Around the World is upbeat and not unlike something you'd find on Come Around Sundown. It's a feel good track, and it's designed for festivals. However, I got bored of it pretty quickly outside of the album. It merges perfectly into Find Me though, so points for that.

Find Me is a good all-rounder. The riff really makes this song, and while the chorus is catchy enough, it's not one that grabs you and gets stuck in your head. The lyrics are nice, and I like the way Caleb sings in this one. The guitar is enjoyable, but doesn't hit a peak until the outro. It's a laid-back song and, like Reverend, is great for a chilled out playlist.

Over is one of those songs where it's so repetitive and dull, you cannot wait for it to be over. It's over six minutes long, their second longest song of all time! Whilst it touches on a heavy topic, Caleb's alcohol addiction, it's not as deep as it could have been. He has a habit of coming across self-pitying, and this is how this song translates for me. The verses are written well.

It feels like a track that would have gone well with Mechanical Bull, the guitar and general low tones fit that album perfectly. But I still don't like it.

Muchacho is a song that doesn't fit this album's style. There's random sounds that sound like dogs barking, instrumentals the whole way through that sound like horses walking and a pretty terrible whistle outro. The guitar is nice in certain parts and the instruments used are interesting, but that's it. Caleb's vocals on this are really boring. It's apparently a tribute to a passed friend which is lovely, so I hate to be negative about it.

On a happier note, and an explanation as to why I don't like it (and an attempt to ruin it for you too); there was horse imagery created for me from the off, which ruined any depth to the song. With lines including "my riding partner", alongside those clip-clop horsey noises, it painted a real picture. And whilst I know it's not about a horse, that's all I can interpret this song as now. So when the lyric "he's wearing jean on jean" pops up, I get incredible imagery of a horse wearing double denim. So I guess it's good for one thing?

Muchach-no from me. Here's an actual song about a horse for you to enjoy:

Conversation Piece thankfully more than recovers the damage Muchacho did to this album. This is a beautiful, heartfelt track with a stunning bassline from the off, which you can hear the whole way through. One of my favourite things about KoL is the way they showcase the bass, and this song does just that. The lyrics are stunning, as is the way Caleb sings them - you can feel it in your soul. This is a solid favourite of mine of all time.

Eyes on You is wonderfully upbeat and has a great riff and bassline throughout. I enjoy the lyrics on this one, with such gems as "you're my misfit and I'm your freak" sung in such a way that it can only be described as endearing. It's actually got a proper solo too! It is a little on the long side and could possibly have been wrapped up earlier.

Wild is a bit of a boring track. I like parts of it, but the chorus makes it drag, and is the main part of the song I don't like, which in itself is weird, as the chorus is usually the thing that stands out on a song. The guitar is great as usual, with another solo, but it doesn't make up for the rest of the track. I'll listen to it with the album, but I won't put it on a playlist.

Walls is a ballad. It's a decent end to the album if you listen through the whole thing. The lyrics are nice, but it's again a bit boring and feels pretty self-pitying, especially if you listen to it on its own. It takes nearly four minutes to kick up a notch, and even that's not much of a notch.

I love the bits of electric guitar in the background towards the end. However, if I wanted that, I'd just go and listen to a far better song. Namely, Cold Desert, the last track on Only By The Night. I fully recommend that song as Caleb's soulful vocals will punch you right in the heart, in a good way, and the guitar work on that track is superb.

In summary

Walls followed a similar feeling to Come Around Sundown and Mechanical Bull for me: some absolutely amazing tracks, a gorgeous ballad or two, with repetitive filler for the rest of the album.

I enjoy listening through the whole album, and a lot of the songs I'm quite fond of, but some of them I've gone off over time. There are some great tracks on this album, but it's let down by dull songs.

However, it's worth the listen through - the songs sound great together (although I'm still not sold on Muchacho). Conversation Piece and Reverend are ones I listen to regularly, and Waste a Moment, Find Me and Eyes on You always make me smile because they're so upbeat.

As a side note, I'm not sure why they created such terrifying album art for this album; those bald doll faces drowning in milk... thanks, I hate it. It's such a departure from their usual album art. It's like they modernised the Youth and Young Manhood album cover and removed the hair, which I guess is actually fairly accurate.

Album rating: 7/10