Youth And Young Manhood

Rate It! Avg: 4.0 (1562 ratings)
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ALBUM INFORMATION

Total Tracks: 12   Total Length: 41:42

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Sam Adams

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Sam Adams writes for the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Onion A.V. Club, Time Out New York, Time Out Chicago, Cowbell and the Philadelphia Ci...more »

06.30.09
A confident debut that sounds like it's already several albums in
2003 | Label: RCA Records Label

Although the 2004 debut by the Followill brothers (and one cousin) was dogged by comparisons to the Strokes, that has more to do with when it was released than what it sounds like. Drenched in blues and garage rock, not to mention a healthy dose of the Allmans, Youth and Young Manhood blows hot where their big-city contemporaries stay cool.

The sons of an intinerant Southern preacher, Nathan, Caleb and Jared Followill clearly have rambling in their blood, too much to settle on any one style for long. (Cousin Matthew rounds out the quartet on lead guitar.) "Wasted Time" is a roadhouse rave-up, all dusty floors and racing drums, while "Red Morning Light" evokes the proto-punk garage of the Sonics or the Flamin 'Groovies. With its swooping bass and bell-like guitar licks, "Joe's Head" is a kissin 'cousin to the Allman Brothers '"Melissa," but the likeness is fond rather than slavish.

Kings of Leon have shifted course so many times that their first album serves more as a self-contained unit than an introduction to the very different sounds of "Because of the Times" and "Only by the Night." On their confident and fleshed-out debut, they already sound like… read more »

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Great Bar Band style music

DPLeMUSIC

Some of their newer stuff leans a little pop, but the first two records make you feel like smoking a pack of cigarettes and drinking the cheapest whiskey you can find. I don't smoke or drink cheap whiskey -- but this record makes me want to.

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Black Crowes Updated

SpykeDaddy

Someone said it right, this is Black Crowes updated and where they could have been if they had just laid off the reefer. Love this down dirty rock. My kids dig this and that means these guys are tight.

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way better...

SonicTooth

than the current stuff that brought them all the big arena success.

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Only one thing to say

WhiskyNic

They are alot like the Black Crows but Good. Southern Alt- Rock yum yum good

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So much different, so much better

Nosirrah

Very different from what you hear from the Kings on the radio today. Both are good, but this older stuff is SO much better. Caleb's mushmouth mumbling and lo-fi production WAS the core of their sound - now replaced by polished studio sound and (almost) intelligible lyrics. "Trani" is the best...

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The beginning of greatness

djbrooklyn

if you became a fan recently, check out where it all began, a bit less polished than later albums, but you can hear the beginnings of greatness on this one.

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KOL in true form

nazardesign

For me, this is the ultimate Kings of Leon album. It's raw Southern Fried Rock. Red Morning Light is a classic song. Between the voice and the guitar and the beats, this is the one to get.

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Youth and Young Manhood

EMUSIC-0169232E

Pure Rock and Roll- Years before KOL went CW on us.

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One Of The Few

coho

One of the few "rock" bands that are still out there making real rock-n-roll. We need more bands like this.

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Hmm

Squiffy

I bought this one in the store because I couldn't find the latest one and have to say I wasn't impressed. Listen before downloading if you are expecting a sound like the latest album.

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They Say All Media Guide

The Kings of Leon are the sons of a preacher and their debut album, Youth and Young Manhood, is their hymnal of rock & roll redemption. The brothers (and one cousin) Followill work with producer Ethan Johns for a rattling country-rock hootenanny, basically reviving the deep-fried Southern rock found on the band’s first EP, Holy Roller Novocaine. Four of the five cuts featured in that set are included for a second time and they’re nicely seeded in all their honky tonk rowdiness among the band’s seven brand new tracks. Launching things off is the swanky “Red Morning Light.” Guitarist Matthew Followill immediately establishes himself as a skilled musician, complementing his brother Caleb’s coarse-grained drawl. “Joe’s Head” is the closest the band comes to sounding like Tom Petty and Gregg Allman. “Spiral Staircase” finds Caleb causing trouble Bon Scott-style, while the band hints at some shenanigan-like behavior with some psychedelic pop. Youth and Young Manhood isn’t sonically adventurous, but in the new-millennium pop realm, some greasy licks sure sound good. – MacKenzie Wilson

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