100 Best Albums of the 2000s: Kings of Leon, 'Only By the Night'

100 Best Albums of the 2000s

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Kings of Leon, 'Only By the Night'

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How soulful is it? Ask Beyoncé, who has covered "Sex On Fire" live, and Trey Songz, who does an impressive "Use Somebody." Those songs were the album's trumps. But the whole package burns with agitated good-ol'-boy hormones and lazily anthemic, unzip-those-jeans guitars. Add killer hooks and Caleb Followill's slurring down-home tenor, and you have rock enormity that isn’t supposed to happen anymore. Don’t call them the southern Strokes – call them the American U2.

Related:
• Rolling Stone's Original 2008 Review

• Photos: The Hottest Live Performances from Coachella 2011

• Video: Beyoncé Covers Kings of Leon's "Sex On Fire"