Tough Love...it hurts

Who are these people???

If we're being open and honest here, which we are, I must say Caleb has yet to win me back. I got a leak to Only by the Night (Shut up, I'm still going to buy it, I just got a little impatient, that's all) and truth be told, compared to Youth and Young Manhood; compared to Aha Shake Heartbreak; compared to Because of the Times, Only by the Night doesn't even come close!

There are a few songs which are brilliant (i.e. Sex on Fire, Cold Desert, Crawl) but overall? It just doesn't feel like KOL at all. It sounds like they're reaching, like they're trying too hard; like First Impressions of Earth; like XY; or like *gulp* The Killers.

I know they want to be big in North America and are tired of shit bands like Fall Out Boy dominating the rock scene here and they SO deserve the success and adulation that Panic at the Disco and the Jonas Brothers get but why venture away from what made them unique, what makes them good?

Now I'm not saying that The Kings should make the same album over and over again like Kid Rock or Nickleback, in fact I've enjoyed their evolution from Youth and Young Manhood to Because of the Times. It felt right but Only by the Night doesn't feel right, it feels forced, it feels...disingenuous.

Come back to this. Come back to us. Come back to me.

All albums before, hover between 5/5 - 4/5 but Only by the Night is a 3/5 at best...and that hurts to say, like you don't even know!

Even though I'm not feeling this album, even though I haven't fallen in love with it like every album before, I'll still buy it. I'll still see them in concert, support them, love them, and they'll still be my top artist on my last.fm! because that's what love's all about.

I might have to file divorce papers but I'll still love the Kings, and I hope that the album after this one is truly great and blows everyone out of the water but for now, I'll sit in the back drinking my gin n' tonic, bobbing my head, being supportive but not in love.


The good ole days: