Walls (Kings of Leon album)

WALLS
Studio album by Kings of Leon
Released October 14, 2016
Recorded 2015-16
Genre Rock
Length 42:42
Label RCA
Producer Markus Dravs
Kings of Leon chronology
Mechanical Bull
(2013)		 Walls
(2016)
Singles from WALLS
  1. "Waste a Moment"
    Released: September 9, 2016
  2. "WALLS"
    Released: September 22, 2016
  3. "Around the World"
    Released: September 29, 2016

Walls (stylized as WALLS) is the seventh studio album by American rock band Kings of Leon. It was released on October 14, 2016, by RCA Records. The album title is an acronym for We Are Like Love Songs, which continues the band's unwritten rule of having five-syllable album titles.[1][2][3]

Background

Following their New Year's Eve show in Nashville, Nathan Followill said the band are aiming to release album seven in 2016: "We've already started pre-production in our studio for the next record, but the main thing on the calendar for 2016 is getting the record finished. And then the whole press machine kicks up and doing press for the record." Caleb added "We enjoy this part of the process. Obviously there's a lot of work that goes into it and it can get stressful at times, but we're all in a good place and we're having fun with it and we're all excited to do something new." The album is likely to be recorded in LA, with Caleb saying the band are looking for inspiration: "We might just try to get a little change of scenery. Our first two albums we recorded in L.A., so we're going to try to go back and see if it inspires us," he said. "If it doesn't, we always have a studio at home, so we can always come back."

In August, the band announced that album title would be We Are Like Love Songs (aka WALLS), and that it would be released on October 14, 2016.[4]

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic62/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The Daily Telegraph[7]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[8]
The Guardian[9]
The Independent[10]
NME[11]
The Observer[12]
Pitchfork4.5/10[13]
Q[14]
Rolling Stone[15]

WALLS received mixed reviews. Dave Simpson of the The Guardian says that with the album, the band has returned to its sound from eight years ago.[9] Rolling Stone's Will Hermes admired producer Markus Dravs's "job of translating Followill's signature sound slurred delivery and the band's muscular jangle into thicker arrangements, though the rest feel generic".[15]

Commercial performance

Walls debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 77,000 album-equivalent units, of which 68,000 were traditional album sales.[16] The next week, the album fell from #1 to #20, making it the 10th largest drop from #1 on the Billboard 200 as of December 2016. It was the biggest drop of the year until Bon Jovi released This House Is Not for Sale in November 2016. It is Kings of Leon's first number one album in the US, besting the number two peak of Mechanical Bull and Come Around Sundown.[16] It also debuted at number one in Ireland,[17] New Zealand,[18] and the UK.[19]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank
NME NME's Albums of the Year 2016 2016

Promotion

On September 10, 2016, Kings of Leon headlined at the Saturday evening Lollapalooza Europe music festival, in Berlin, Germany, which featured songs from all their albums plus "Waste a Moment". Kings of Leon performed "Waste a Moment" on Today and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on October 14, 2016.[21]

They are scheduled to start the Walls Tour on January 12, 2017.[22]

Singles

The first single from the album, "Waste a Moment", was released on September 9, 2016. The second single, "WALLS", was released on September 22. The third single "Around the World" was released on the September 29. The fourth song, "Reverend", was made available on streaming platforms on October 6.[23]

Track listing

All tracks written by Caleb Followill, Nathan Followill, Jared Followill and Matthew Followill. 

No. Title Length
1. "Waste a Moment"   3:03
2. "Reverend"   3:54
3. "Around the World"   3:34
4. "Find Me"   4:05
5. "Over"   6:10
6. "Muchacho"   3:09
7. "Conversation Piece"   4:59
8. "Eyes on You"   4:40
9. "Wild"   3:39
10. "WALLS"   5:29
Total length:
 42:42

Personnel

Kings of Leon
Additional musicians
Production
  • Robin Baynton – engineer
  • Anthony Cairns – assistant
  • Markus Dravs – producer
  • Nicolas Essig – assistant engineer
  • Christopher Followill – assistant
  • Michael Freeman – mixing assistant
  • Britti Himelfarb – assistant
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Dylan Nelson – assistant engineer
  • Brent Rawlings – assistant
  • Mitch Salle – assistant
  • Jay Schleusener – assistant
  • Spike Stent – mixing
  • Geoff Swan – mixing assistant
  • Jessica Windsor – assistant

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[25] 1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[26] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[27] 8
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[28] 1
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[29] 9
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[30] 2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[31] 22
French Albums (SNEP)[32] 38
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[33] 2
Greek Albums (IFPI)[34] 32
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[35] 33
Irish Albums (IRMA)[17] 1
Italian Albums (FIMI)[36] 14
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[37] 8
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[38] 4
Scottish Albums (OCC)[39] 1
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[40] 9
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 3
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 2
UK Albums (OCC)[19] 1
US Billboard 200[43] 1

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[44] Gold 100,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Winograd, Jeremy. "Kings of Leon: WALLS". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  2. ↑ Hooton, Christopher. "Kings of Leon new album Walls: Band break their five-syllable album title tradition for the first time". The Independent.
  3. ↑ Earls, John. "Kings Of Leon's new album includes songs about addiction and Caleb Followill's supermodel wife". NME. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Ringen, Jonathan (August 25, 2016). "Kings of Leon on Renewing Their Family Ties, Survival Tips From Eddie Vedder & New Album 'Walls'". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Reviews for Walls by Kings of Leon". Metacritic. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ Collar, Matt. "Walls – Kings of Leon". AllMusic. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  7. ↑ McCormick, Neil (October 18, 2016). "Kings of Leon are stuck between rock and a hard place on their seventh album – review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  8. ↑ O'Donnell, Kevin (October 13, 2016). "Kings of Leon's WALLS: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Simpson, Dave (October 13, 2016). "Kings of Leon: Walls review – packed with arena-sized choruses". The Guardian. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  10. ↑ Gill, Andy (October 12, 2016). "Album reviews: Katie Melua – In Winter, Tom Chaplin – The Wave, and more". The Independent. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  11. ↑ MacBain, Hamish (October 12, 2016). "Kings Of Leon – 'Walls' Review". NME. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  12. ↑ Empire, Kitty (October 16, 2016). "Kings of Leon: WALLS review – it should be utterly horrendous". The Observer. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  13. ↑ Leas, Ryan (October 20, 2016). "Kings of Leon: WALLS". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  14. ↑ Mason, Matt (December 2016). "Kings of the Mild Frontier". Q (366): 111.
  15. 1 2 Hermes, Will (October 14, 2016). "Review: Kings of Leon Grapple With Contemporary Mainstream on 'Walls'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Caulfield, Keith (October 23, 2016). "Kings of Leon Score Their First No. 1 Album on the Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  17. 1 2 "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 42, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  18. 1 2 "Charts.org.nz – Kings of Leon – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  19. 1 2 21, 2016 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  20. ↑ "NME's Albums of the Year 2016". NME. November 24, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  21. ↑ Dawn, Randee (October 14, 2016). "The Kings of Leon get a royal reception on TODAY". Today.
  22. ↑ Leight (October 14, 2016). "Kings of Leon Announce First Leg of 'Walls' Tour". Rolling Stones.
  23. ↑ Morgan Britton, Luke (7 October 2016). "Listen to Kings Of Leon's new track 'Reverend'". NME.com. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Kings of Leon – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Kings of Leon – Walls" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Kings of Leon – Walls" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Kings of Leon – Walls" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Kings of Leon – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Kings of Leon. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Hitlisten.NU - Album Top-40 uge 42, 2016". Hitlisten. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Kings of Leon – Walls" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  31. ↑ "Kings of Leon: Walls" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Kings of Leon – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Kings of Leon – Walls" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Official IFPI Charts - Top-75 Albums Sales Chart - Week: 42/2016". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on November 2, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2016. 41. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  36. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Kings of Leon – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  37. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Kings of Leon – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  40. ↑ "TOP 100 ALBUMES — SEMANA 42: del 14.10.2016 al 20.10.2016" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Kings of Leon – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  42. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Kings of Leon – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  43. ↑ "Kings of Leon – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Kings of Leon. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  44. ↑ "British album certifications – Kings of Leon – Walls". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 25, 2016. Enter Walls in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

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