MAX | Nathan Wood

In just over a decade, Kings of Leon have crafted a rock career that will likely land them in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

From indie club rockers to stadium mega stars, they’ve evolved as musicians, performers and artists in a way that few bands have ever achieved or could ever dream of replicating.

From incredibly humble beginnings in America’s deep south, they’ve transcended modern music internationally, reuniting rock and country with their own signature style and re-popularising traditional instrumentation amongst audiences saturated with synthetic and electronic bullshit that is usually passed as “music” in the modern era.

This Monday the band will perform a special show on Sydney Harbour in conjunction with our sister channel Channel [V], Triple M and Sony Music – an event that will be a landmark event for both parties – so to celebrate the occasion, we pieced together our favourite 15 Kings Of Leon hits.

Here’s hoping they play them all Monday!

Molly’s Chambers

The song that announced the arrival of indie rock’s band of Tennessee brothers (and cousin), ‘Molly’s Chambers’ arrived in the golden resurgence of rock music in the early 2000s, led by The Strokes, The White Stripes and The Vines. Their southern drawl, pulsating licks and a blistering chorus sent girls swooning and boys to the mirror to focus on growing their moustaches.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLaJkbkG5NI?rel=0]

Red Morning Light

This is Kings of Leon at their rollicking, drinking, smoking, arse-kicking best. A balls and all rock song that pulls up just under three minutes, leaving you breathless, sweaty and fully satisfied.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv7vr6oE3U8?rel=0]

Trani (Live at T In The Park)

The band finished their live sets with this song for a long time and with good reason. It builds to an awesome, throat-shredding finale that was the perfect crescendo for Caleb to slam his microphone to the ground and walk off stage for one of the most bad-ass exits in rock music (you can kind of catch a glimpse of him doing the mic throw in this vid).

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OlRAKSQpcA?rel=0]

King Of The Rodeo

It’s never easy to follow up a smash debut album, unless you’re Kings Of Leon and you surpass it. Many still hold Aha Shake Heartbreak up as the band’s greatest record and with songs like this, it’s easy to understand why.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EosX5fqTDSk?rel=0]

Taper Jean Girl (Live On Letterman)

This song really highlights the true dynamics of the band. From Caleb’s distinctive, unique vocals, Jared’s grooving bass lines, Matthew’s explosive solos and Nathan’s metronome beats, there have been few bands as in sync as KoL. Might have to do with something with the shared DNA.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sT3Spidw1Q?rel=0]

The Bucket

As intricate the timing on their songs, so much of the Kings’ appeal is the breathless simplicity of their songs. It’s like they take the barest bones of country and rock and make the perfect cocktail using just the right ingredients. ‘The Bucket’ shows that you don’t need a million guitar peddles, synths, mega drum kits, or falsetto to craft a perfect rock song.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWaFVvVoj4o?rel=0]

On Call

The band’s third record posed somewhat of a surprise for fans, as they began to shift towards a much larger, stadium rock sound. From the synthetic opening notes of ‘On Call’ we knew that they were aiming for something huge. Reverbed vocals, gigantic guitar lines and thundering drums and bass signalled their diversion onto a path that would make them one of the biggest rock bands on the planet.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYOW5uoyKl0?rel=0]

Charmer

One of the groups heaviest songs, it pulses with an intencity not felt on many other KoL songs. There’s really not a lot to this song but there doesn’t need to be. It just rocks.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCd1vXsvkV4?rel=0]

Fans (Live)

If there ever were an unfairly and often overlooked song in the KoL catalogue, it’s probably ‘Fans’. It’s easily one of the most fun, most rollicking, let’s-have-a-few-beers-and-hit-the-dance-floor vibes of any of their material to date.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WogY-8nDPc?rel=0]

Sex On Fire

Doesn’t need a write up.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF0HhrwIwp0?rel=0]

Use Somebody

Probably piggy backed on the success of ‘Sex On Fire’ to be their second most successful single in Australia, but is still a great song in its own right.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnhXHvRoUd0?rel=0]

Pyro

It would be unrealistic to expect the band to follow up an album like Only By The Night that would be as successful as its predecessor, and Come Around Sundown largely went under the radar for many of the new fans the band had won over two years earlier. But the record still contained some absolute pearlers, including ‘Pyro’, which fed off the the same slow-burner vibes as ‘Use Somebody’ and ‘Sex On Fire’.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFp7q-IJqno?rel=0]

Radioactive

Where we hailed the band’s simplicity earlier, ‘Radioactive’ is a great example of how KoL can utilise the complex too. With fiddly guitar lines, warping basslines and tornado drumming, the song highlights how the boys had evolved as musicians over the previous decade of non-stop playing to be true masters of their craft.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPBbMbKSZrQ?rel=0]

Back Down South

The Kings Of Leon ties to their southern upbringing has always been undeniable. Their music is as much influenced by country and gospel as it is by rock, and ‘Back Down South’ is somewhat of a love song to their heritage and the music that helped them write their own signature.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOuqyqmtJk?rel=0]

Super Soaker

When ‘Super Soaker’ dropped many fans and critics said it was a sonic move back to the rough and ready roots that made us fall in love all those years ago, and it’s hard to deny the song has that let’s-get-drunk-and-smoke-and-party shivers generated by their earlier music.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izzY55ACUQo?rel=0]

Originally published on maxtv.com.au

In the lead up to MAX The Artist’s Story: Cold Chisel we thought we’d go back and take a look at the back catalogue of some of our favourites from one of the greatest rock bands this country has ever produced.

Here is list of our 10 favourite Cold Chisel songs – the songs that made us cry tears of pride, hug complete strangers, order eight more schooners, and air-shred Mossy guitar solos.

And don’t forget to tune in to MAX The Artist’s Story: Cold Chisel, this Monday, April 1 at 9.30pm. To watch the opening few minutes of the special, click through here.

1. Flame Trees

Only pipped out Khe Sanh because of its emotional impact. Flame Trees universal lyrics are applicable to almost anyone who grew up in Australia. Don Walker’s lilting piano keys, Phil Small’s warm bass lines, Ian Moss’ wailing guitar lines and Jimmy’s pining, gravely vocals -if you can listen to this song without shedding a tear, you’re either deaf or a robot.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8KgP2aOXcA]

2. Khe Sanh

There’s nothing that can really be said about this song that hasn’t been said before. It sits in the pantheon of unofficial national anthems, along with ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and ‘I Still Call Australia Home’. There are few who haven’t wrapped their arm around a mate on a big night at the local for a ‘Khe Sanh’ sing along. The fact that a song with such heavy lyrical content can resonate so easily with generation after generation of Australians cements Don Walker’s reputation as one of our greatest ever song writers.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inKlN0ScObA]

3. Cheap Wine

Probably the band’s most memorable video clip and another great pub rock sing-along, it almost bubbles with a reggae rhythm. It epitomises what we imagine what life as a member of Cold Chisel must have been like at the height of their career. Don Walker even said about the song, “”It’s about someone who’s on the skids, but still having a great time. I can relate to that – in the seven years Cold Chisel have been together, we’ve only had enough money to eat the last two and a half. If you get into that lifestyle and start to enjoy it, you tend to stay that way even when the money comes in.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUGlWCCVA4M]

4. Choir Girl

This was the band’s first conscious effort to write a “hit” single and was recorded with producer Mark Opitz, who would go on to produce their next four albums, as well as hit records for INXS, Hoodoo Gurus and Australian Crawl.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO4lvUHr-r0]

5. Forever Now

One of the band’s more commercial sounding songs, it features arguably their catchiest choruses, and is an excellent example of Ian Moss’ exceptional guitar lick writing skills as it’s his guitar lines that drive the entire flow of the song.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhnp3td-UHU]

6. Bow River

Credit where credit is due and this vocal performance by Mossy highlights just how exceptional a vocalist he was next to Jimmy Barnes. It also highlights just how talented each musician in Cold Chisel was, from Steve’s complicated, driving drum patterns, Mossy’s shredding, Phil’s warping bass lines and Don’s blues harmonica airlifted straight from the American deep south.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2by810nulE]

7. When The War Is Over

Probably Steve Prestwich’s greatest song writing contribution to Cold Chisel’s catalogue, it is a powerful, emotional ballad that highlights the band’s ability to not just be heavy, pub rockers, but also sensitive and soulful pop singers

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Wwq9_zn_c]

8. Breakfast At Sweethearts

Like so many of the punk and post punk songs of the 80s sounded like the dank and dangerous depths of New York city of the era, Breakfast At Sweethearts sounds exactly like the seedy Kings Cross of the 80s it was inspired by. In Allmusic’s description of the record, “Don Walker’s song writing — and his story crafting around local references — could engage a listener underwater,” as it transports you to the infamous Sydney strip filled with gangsters, hookers, strippers and junkies.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aEcmqSwQnA]

9. Star Hotel

Inspired by the Star Hotel Riot in Newcastle in 1979, this song is the perfect example of how the band could take an almost insignificant moment in the nation’s history and turn it into a piece of art that will last forever, ensuring it will never be forgotten.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWq3Nh1x-xY]

10. Saturday Night

One of the band’s highest charting songs, it’s another eerie snap shot of Don Walker’s fascination with Kings Cross and features ambient sounds from the area that Walker recorded himself with a portable recorder. It literally sounds like Sydney in the 80s – Cold Chisel’s Camelot.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lelsyP9qL2I]

Originally published on maxtv.com.au

Nathan Wood

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15 Must-hear Kings of Leon songs

Top 10 Cold Chisel Songs

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