Being a commercially successful act will inevitably alter the fanbase – new fans may not dig the older, rawer material while the originals resent the new mainstream direction. Soon, it became memorable for all the wrong reasons. The sprawling ‘Only By The Night’ tour, which kicked off with a Glastonbury headline set in June 2008, saw them take in arenas all across the planet, including four shows at London’s o2 Arena. “‘Sex On Fire’ was the apex, death and afterlife of landfill indie all in one go” – Johnny Borrell “Everyone talks about indie this and indie that, but would you really want to be one of those indie bands that makes two albums and disappears? That’s just sad,” he told Rolling Stone. In 2010, Caleb was forced to face up to accusations that the band had lost their way. Whether they’d meant it or not, ‘Only By The Night’ pushed them into a space where there was no returning from. Even Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell had seen enough, describing ‘Sex On Fire’ as “basically the apex, death and afterlife of landfill indie all in one go”.
It was where some fans decided Kings Of Leon had “sold out” and forgotten their roots.
But s oppy pop ballads like ‘Revelry’, ‘Manhattan’ and ‘Use Somebody’ proved to be what the album is remembered for, though.
Success seemed calculated: ‘Only By The Night’ appeared to be the band’s pitch to become the next U2, written with the intention of being played in stadiums on a nightly basis.Ī highlight, ‘Crawl’, builds on the creepy magic of 2007’s ‘Charmer’, while ‘Closer’ has a claustrophobic but ambitious air about it.