- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
SpinThe Kings are probably sick of the "redneck Stones" tag already, but the signs are all there. [Aug 2003, p.111]
-
BlenderTheir debut throbs like the Strokes with cross-eyed parents, their songs gritty and economical, their drummer nasty in all the best places. [Aug 2003, p.126]
-
And not unlike the uncertain characters populating their songs, the band members have yet to stake out a distinctive musical identity, borrowing a little too liberally from their Southern Rock roots without adding anything original to the mythology.
-
There's absolutely nothing revolutionary about what these guys are pulling, but they synthesize a gritty staccato new wave attack with the arrogant, swaying machismo of old school boogie with an authority far beyond their few years.
-
UncutMakes you want to chain-smoke while swigging a quart of Jim by the neck and taking agreeable houswives to stud. [Aug 2003, p.110]
-
Using and abusing passionate gospel, country sweetness and filthy guitar licks, the Kings of Leon are the kind of authentic, hairy rebels the Rolling Stones longed to be.
-
Their bar band approach sounds as if they've taken a book of rock history and, dutifully following along, bookmarked some of the most unremarkable passages.
-
MagnetThe Kings of Leon sound like Molly Hatchet locking horns with the Gun Club. [#60, p.105]
-
The band shows an incredible level of bravado on their album of fun summer hymns, but has a hard time breaking through the barrier the lackluster vocals create.
-
If Alabama's Drive-by Truckers are the Second Coming of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tennessee's Kings of Leon are ZZ Top -- barons of boogie.
-
Entertainment WeeklyTheir lyrics... roil with the randiness and violence of Delta classics. [22/29 Aug 2003, p.132]
-
The songs are so generic that the only thing left at the record's conclusion is the feeling of how hollow and insubstantial the whole thing is.
-
A safe, if frayed, rock album that bristles and pops with flashes of brilliance, yet never ignites into the full-blown firestorm they're quite obviously capable of creating.
-
Q MagazineWhile rough and a little patchy, it's a cracking debut nonetheless. [Aug 2003, p.108]
-
Youth & Young Manhood is 2003's finest rock debut.
-
Youth and Young Manhood isn't sonically adventurous, but in the new-millennium pop realm, some greasy licks sure sound good.
-
They come on like old-school greasers who've been around long enough to know how to savor a moment.
-
This remarkable debut captures the sound of growing up and busting out without sparing the rough edges.
-
FilterDespite their penchant for over-the-top tribute, Kings of Leon recycle classic rock 'n' roll with such earnestness and ebullience, that it's hard not to sing along. [#6, p.88]
-
MojoFaced with the Kings of Leon's musical savvy, however, it's easy to believe the hype. [Sep 2003, p.104]
-
'Youth and Young Manhood' is nothing more than a great rock'n'roll album.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 75 out of 89
-
Mixed: 8 out of 89
-
Negative: 6 out of 89
-
Dec 14, 2010
-
Aug 18, 2014
-
Aug 6, 2011