This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at WPUNJ chapter.
For Kings of Leon, Mechanical Bull is the “comeback story of a lifetime.”
The band’s sixth studio album proves once again that with exploring themes of drunken nights and wavering love, KOL is capable of producing music that reaches a new level of haunting and gritty grandeur.
While Come Around Sundown, the band’s fifth album, seemed strained by the band’s efforts to balance its early sounds with its Southern roots, Mechanical Bull transcends beyond the angst and anguish that you’d expect from KOL. It takes you on a journey of a man who was lost and is finally found.
The album’s opener, “Supersoaker,” is composed of guitar riffs and sultry vocals that are reminiscent of what sent KOL fans into pandemonium with their previous hits “Sex On Fire” and “Use Somebody.” “Rock City” tells you that the man is on a struggling journey, but with smooth, bluesy croons, “it’s all better now” (via “Wait For Me”). “Comeback Story” indirectly pays homage to the Followills’ redemption from their sabbatical the last two years, as Mechanical Bull closes with “Last Mile Home”—a distinct familiarity to KOL’s ability to end an album by tying together the bluesy to the psychedelic, and the rock to the roll.
Mechanical Bull is a ride you don’t want to miss, so saddle up and enjoy the ride.