User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 223 Ratings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 154 out of 223
-
Mixed: 29 out of 223
-
Negative: 40 out of 223
Review this album
-
-
Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.
-
-
Submit
-
Check Spelling
- User score
- By date
- Most helpful
-
Feb 19, 2012To say Only By The Night is a horrible album would be a bit ignorant. Coming after their best album Because Of The Times this album feels underwhelming and very disappointing in the arena-rock direction they took.
-
Jun 9, 2015Kings of Leon in this album are no longer a band, but a brand capable of making lots of money. There are stadium-rock silly songs, rock songs, pop songs and a lot of useless songs. It's really hard to feel this record. Its strength relies on the fact that there are some great songs, as the single Sex on Fire, or the languid opener of the record Closer.
-
CameronOct 22, 2008KOl of my favourite band and i was eagerly anticipating this album yet apart from 'Use Somebody', 'Crawl', 'Cold Desert' and perhaps 'Closer' the rest is not up to their colossal standards that were shown on the last 3 albums. To me it seems rushed with too many leftovers from their last album.
-
-
MislavSep 27, 2008
-
-
StevenH.Oct 2, 2008Anybody could have writtent this album. Anybody. It's so weak compared to previous albums. It frustrates me that it's being reviewed so highly, do we really need to encourage Kings of Leon to be the next Coldplay or U2? I wish they'd just be Kings of Leon.
-
-
[Anonymous]Sep 24, 2008The album is a good album for any random college band. But Kings of Leon could have made a good album wihtout losing their grit. That grit is exactly what was charismatic about their music before. I all for well-developed song structure, but you can still hold on to your roots. This is a frustrating album at best. A band with potential selling it's soul for stadium approval.
-
-
TimTSep 25, 2008Definitely not the Kings of Leon that we love and are used to.
-
-
SatanicMFeb 10, 2009
-
-
StuP.Sep 25, 2008Still a good album, but nothing on the first two KOL albums or even Because of the Times! They're turning into U2 and its definitely not a good thing. What happened to their trademark southern swagger and indie guitar riffs? Way too processed.
-
-
SmittyOct 15, 2009For my 1st time listening to any of their albums, this was well composed. Every song offers a taste of their live performance whereas you could imagine seeing them on stage. It stands out b/c they have a sound almost bigger than any other band that's been out as long as they have.
-
-
AdamCDec 19, 2008The year's biggest disappointment. Being a huge fan of KOL's two first albums and a so-so fan of their third, I was hoping for a return to their rougher sound. However, they've set aim for the commercial market and produced their worst album by far. What a joke that this album has ended up on many critics end of year polls.
-
-
Apr 27, 2012I see reviewers writing whole essays about this album, but I think one word can easily sum up Only By The Night: tame. "Crawl" is actually pretty good, though.
Awards & Rankings
-
MojoOnly By The Night is best viewed as a transitional record from a band who have quite literally done their growing up in public. [Oct 2008, p.98]
-
The dreamy 'Cold Desert' is the perfect maudlin end to this short, sharp, 42-minute, no-filler album, revelling in every miserable blues-rocker cliché as Matthew's guitar goes all shoegazey and then briefly threatens to turn the whole thing into a 'Purple Rain' wig-out.
-
As it is, it's a very fine record from a band who are seemingly growing in stature, confidence, and ability by the day.