♫ Kings of Leon | C

Bands like Kings of Leon are extremely frustrating. At first, they do everything right: They start with three solid, fan amalgamating albums with tons of artistic integrity jam-packed into every chord and lead into this colossal home run of a fourth album, which allows their success to soar while scooping up more than 50 awards along the way — six of which are Grammy Awards. Although perceived as a bit too mainstream for some — including the band — this fourth album (Only by the Night) nonetheless oozes sounds that would be considered solid, great music by any classification, albeit pop, rock or alternative.

Yet, here we arrive at their fifth album, Come Around Sundown. This is a pretty good album — if it were anyone else's debut album. But it's not, and whether they like it or not, Kings of Leon has forged a reputation for itself that this album doesn't measure up to. The band seems to be in a classic, "we are serious musicians" type of predicament. They hate the music that made them famous (describing "Use Somebody" as "a piece of sh*t"), but they can't quite figure out what kind of music they actually like playing.

Sure, Come Around Sundown boasts a wide range of influence. Their single "Radioactive" is no doubt inspired by gospel music, and the tracks "Back Down South" and "Mary" stem from country and doo-wop, respectively. The album is polished and produced well, and it might even translate well into a stadium arena. But when it comes down to it, this album is a safe follow-up that just magnifies how displaced and uninspired the band truly is.