Kings of Leon search for a higher throne

A year ago, the guys from Kings of Leon had every reason to pat themselves on the back and relax for a while - at least in terms of songwriting. Because of the Times, the band's third full-length album, was a groundbreaking success and was deemed their "crowning achievement" by Rolling Stone. Well, apparently Followill brothers Caleb, Nathan, and Jared, and their cousin Matthew didn't feel too comfortable on their throne - or wanted a higher one. Thus, the band's latest release: Only By The Night.

If you spy a picture of the Followill clan from five years ago, at the debut of their first album, chances are you probably wouldn't recognize them. The Tennessee-bred boys could most likely have been seen lying under a shady tree in some dell down south, bearded and in baggy button-ups and low-riding blue jeans. But the Memphis roughnecks pulled the hay out of their mouths a while ago - they transformed into "Northernized" pretty boys (i.e. rock stars) somewhere between their second and third albums and adopted a decidedly more mature sound. Now, they seem to have gone a step further in the "refined" spectrum. The new album reveals the thrusting forward of a new, polished form for the band. Gone is the raucous, cadenced growl and bone-rattling screams of lead singer and lyricist Caleb, and almost as vanished is the engine-revving, hip-shaking rumble that KOL can safely call its own.

What remains is a solid stock of songs, some of which are bold new advances in the Kings' style. The first tune on the album, "Closer," is a roaming, spooky opener with a background synth line channeling, oddly enough, rapper Mims' '07 hit "This Is Why I'm Hot." Radio single "Sex On Fire" is indeed a heated, visceral romp. Followed on the disc by "Use Somebody," this one-two punch is the most significant attack on the pop sphere the band has made thus far. The unfortunate thing is that although "Use Somebody" is an exciting, melodic heart-stopper - and other songs are almost as good - there's a nagging feeling that a number of other alternative rock bands (think Coldplay, The Foo Fighters) could have packaged the same songs. On "Revelry," Caleb abandons an interesting first minute for a chorus hook reminiscent of Hoobastank's "The Reason." Yikes.

All in all, the most striking difference between this album and its predecessors is the bold command of vocalist Caleb. He has a unique, amazing voice, but it's as if the producers handed him the mic on the first day of recording and told him this was his album to win. And that he did, at the expense of his bandmates' talent and the easygoing but riotous charisma the band had mastered. Here, his voice is too often over-exposed, and a few of the songs are just boring, due to either generic choruses or less-than-clever lyrics, or both.

When Kings of Leon is at their best - and their most distinctive - you have to grab their music by its brawny horns and get ready to be slammed around a bit. On Only By The Night, there's a few too many songs spent trotting along on horseback - and not fast enough to even give you a sore crotch bone. Although ardent fans will cry out for the electrifying old sound, ultimately, KOL has the originality that any smart young band needs to adopt to stay relevant in today's rock music scene, and to be honest, in that category, these guys are about as good as they come. B