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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0828765568722 Label: Hand Me Down Manufacturer: Hand Me Down Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Hand Me Down Release Date: August 21, 2003 Studio: Hand Me Down Sales Rank: 289
Amazon.co.uk Review: Kings of Leon are four members of the Followill family, three brothers and a cousin. The title Youth & Young Manhood is an accurate summary of their places in life--the oldest member, drummer Nathan Followill, is 23, while the youngest, bass player Jared Followill, is just 16. The brothers had a childhood that was both eccentric and peripatetic, living out of a car while their preacher father toured the southern United States, and have most recently been living in Nashville; they don't appear, judging by this startlingly assured debut, to have been unduly traumatised by either experience.
Kings of Leon, up to and including their haircuts and moustaches, are steeped in the rock & roll of the American south: Youth & Young Manhood is largely four-square boogie whose ideal setting would be a bar with sawdust on the floor and chicken wire protecting the stage. The Kings of Leon do not have a single formative influence drawn from within their own lifetimes--they clearly whiled away their father's long road trips listening to radio stations that broadcast an unleavened diet of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Allman Brothers and a pre-sequencers ZZ Top (although vocalist Caleb Followill sounds more than anything else like AC/DC's Bon Scott). Perhaps Youth & Young Manhood manages to be significantly more than an exercise in pastiche because the Followills are still too young to be jaded by these old noises. Whatever the reason, this is a fine start. --Andrew Mueller
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - The best album in the last 10 years
When Q magazine asked Noel gallager what band he was looking out for at T in the park years ago he said, "kings of leon, They are my new favourite band". I imediately bought the album when it came out (alongside the darkness's permission to land....cough) He wasn't wrong. Youth and young manhood was blindingly brilliant.
Lyiricaly the songs are brilliantly smutty yet you really have to be looking for the sexual reference. Thats really what the album is about. Being young and desperate ... Read More
Rating: - Brilliant
I was quite slow on the uptake with KOL, I only bought this album a year ago but it remains possibly one of my favourite albums and is rarely far from my CD player. I've never once got bored of it and can sit through the entire album without skipping a single track. Happy Alone, Molly's Chambers and California Waiting are possibly the best on the album. Can't wait to see them for the first time in Glastonbury! Utter brilliance.
Rating: - Excellent Stuff
I love it...not in an instant, first hearing way, but in a play it a few times and watch the sensation of "This is REALLY good" creep up on you.....I have been re-listening to this lately, and it is ageing well!
Basic, clever, loud, furious and masterful. Highly recommended - one of my top 20 albums. Excellent.
Rating: - Great album
I got this because I heard Red Morning Light on FIFA 04. It is a great album although sometimes I do get a bit bored with it. But it is worthy of 4 stars and I would recommend this to anyone who likes good music.
Rating: - Long live the Kings!
I heard two tracks from this album as I was walking through an HMV store, and it was so good I had to buy it there and then. And boy am I glad I did - Youth and Young Manhood is about as fine a debut album as I have ever heard.
It is a great mix of hard-rock meets Southern country, with a dash of boogie thrown in, to create a refreshing, unique sound.
Right from the opening riffs of "Red Morning Light" I was blown away by the energy and enthusiasm of the Followill clan. Full ... Read More