When You See Yourself
by Kings of Leon
  • Record Label: RCA
  • Release Date: Mar 5, 2021
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
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  1. Slant Magazine
    Mar 8, 2021
    60
    With the band’s musicianship in peak form, it’s Caleb’s songwriting that limits the album’s impact. Marriage and fatherhood have expanded his inner monologue beyond fratboy misogyny and rock-star posturing. But he still doesn’t have much of interest to say.
  2. The Independent (UK)
    Mar 4, 2021
    60
    It’s pleasantly – if forgettably – soporific. The sort of family motorway album that tired parents can hum along to without waking the kids in the back.
  3. The Telegraph (UK)
    Mar 4, 2021
    60
    There are 11 songs on When You See Yourself, filled with pretty words and lovely tunes, but I would struggle to tell you what any of them are about. Although blessed with a raw, raspy tone that could make a shopping list sound sexy, Followill’s vocals are buried in a bass-heavy mix.
  5. DIY Magazine
    Mar 4, 2021
    60
    ‘When You See Yourself’ sounds like a jolt back into something potentially promising: there could still be life in the old Kings yet.
  6. Pitchfork
    Mar 9, 2021
    48
    It’s hard to imagine the wild-maned early incarnation of Kings of Leon even wanting to listen to a band like this, let alone play in one. In truth, their current iteration doesn’t sound all that thrilled about it, either.
  7. The Observer (UK)
    Mar 8, 2021
    40
    After a partly successful reboot with 2016’s Walls, they attempt to build on that for their eighth album by using the same producer, Markus Dravs, but there’s only so much he can do when the raw material he’s working with so often falls short.
  8. The Line of Best Fit
    Mar 5, 2021
    40
    There’s nothing inherently bad about When You See Yourself, but it feels like you could merge it with any releases from their last decade of activity and construct an album that has some heart to it.

Awards & Rankings

49
#49 Most Discussed Album of 2021

User Reviews

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User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 60
  3. Negative: 3 out of 60
  1. igorwrightsilva
    Mar 6, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. A long awaited shift on lyric and music composition. This record shows they finally embraced being adults.… Full Review »
  2. Noiseblock
    Mar 16, 2021
    8
    With WYSY, Kings of Leon have shed a good portion of the baggage they had accumulated over the years. Not only were they still expected toWith WYSY, Kings of Leon have shed a good portion of the baggage they had accumulated over the years. Not only were they still expected to harken back to their giddy Southern-garage-rock in many regards, they also were expected to deliver the stadium-bursting anthems of their OBTN-area, which may have always been too much of a tonal divide for the band to navigate gracefully. After OBTN, the direct two successors largely struggled to unite the two concepts and fell smack dab in a middle that was unsurprisingly solid - KOL do know how to create melodies and are great instrumentalists all around -, but it would be an exaggeration that they set the world on fire as one of their biggest hits suggests. With WALLS, a more contemplative, tempered approach took the spotlight, which was a very welcome shakeup for me personally, but it still lacked a bit of a unique selling point to fully convince me of wholly of their new concept.

    On When You See Yourself, it becomes very apparent that WALLS was not just experimentation, but a logical step for a band that is now more evidently than ever over trying to please everyone. WYSY is confidently exploring the mid-tempo, electronic-leaning spheric soundscapes of WALLS whithout any trace of even attempting a true stadium-anthem. It does not need to, honestly; the tracks are distinct and performed assuredly, production is immaculate - one of the best-produced albums I have heard this year and last - and even lyrically, where KOL have sometimes been rightfully called bland and non-commital, they flex their muscles. Partly beautifully evocative and impressionistic - "A Wave"/"Time In Disguise"/"Golden Restless Age" -, partly great Southern folk-leaning stroytelling - "The Bandit"/"Claire and Eddie"/"Echoing" -, Kings of Leon have created something here that is, while ironically reducing their breackneck guitar riffs eying the next big stadium smasher, not easily foregttable. It is an assuredly flowing, confident album with an actual thematic and emotional core. Where has this commitment to a single vision been all these years, Kings of Leon?

    So Kings of Leon are now fully Southern-dream-pop-rock, yes. Well. it suits them. For the first time since their beginnings this seems to be a style that actually comes from their collective identity as a band. If the material is and stays this good, who am I to complain?    … Full Review »
  3. sshpv
    Mar 12, 2021
    8
    Surprisingly solid record. Best since their debut for sure. Fav track "Wave".
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