Because of the Times

Rolling Stone (p.69) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "['Knocked Up'] is the Tennessee band's big album-opening saga, building from quiet to loud with guitar licks that sound like the Edge fried in okra, with ominous thunderclap drumroll..." Rolling Stone (p.113) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007" -- "[The album shows] them exploring the dynamics within garage-quartet basics with pop-sonic flair." Entertainment Weekly (p.75) - "[T]he result is an epic wide-screen movie of a CD and the band's best to date." -- Grade: A- Q (p.119) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[P]roper, crafted tunes and a man unafraid to sing. Good things both." Alternative Press (p.152) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "The guys have never been afraid to embrace a wide range of rock , while throwing whiffs of psychedelia, spaced-out guitar noodling, good ol' boy jams and more into the stew." Magnet (p.104) - "[T]heir once tentative Southern-rock leanings devolve into zig-zaggy fits of blues-boogie ambling, garage-crud frenzy and heavy-lidded balladry." No Depression - "[A] fierce record built on hypnotic grooves that simmer and seethe until they explode into a riot of snarling guitars and anguished vocals." Q (Magazine) (p.87) - Ranked #07 in Q's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2007" -- "[I]ts haunting 'True Love Way' and spiritual lead single 'On Call' sparkled with a stadium-sized epic rock sheen." Mojo (Publisher) (p.108) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's an artful, personal and hugely human album, full of life's problems, fears, fascinations and absolutions." Clash (Magazine) (p.77) - "Sonically, it saw their palette expand from chugging guitar riffs into soundscapes infused with ambient sounds and effects."

どんなタイミングであれ、男にとって一皮剥けるというのは（いい意味で）一大事なわけだが、キングス・オブ・レオンにとっての正しい脱皮は3枚目となるこの新作で完了したことは間違いない。アメリカで硬派な男児の出生率がもっとも高いといわれる（俺調べ）テネシー州出身の3兄弟＋従兄弟の4人組。〈ガレージを通過したサザン・ロック〉とも称されたデビュー時に蓄えられていた南部ヒゲを完全に剃り落として臨んだ本作では、初期の豪放まっしぐらな衝動的直情サウンドから深化した、豪放まじりの緩急自在的陰影サウンドが全面展開されている。畑は大違いだが、なぜかジョイ・ディヴィジョンを思わせる瞬間すらある。そして、ケイレヴ・フォロウィルの唯一無二なしゃがれヴォーカルに蓄積された哀切と痛切の分量はあきらかに増加し、聴く者の心を激しく揺さぶる。硬派な男のズルムケとは、こういうことだ。
bounce (C)北爪啓之