Youth & Young Manhood

Youth & Young Manhood is the debut album from American rock band Kings of Leon, released on July 7, 2003, in the United Kingdom and on August 19, 2003, in the United States.

Youth & Young Manhood
Studio album by Kings of Leon
Released	July 7, 2003
Recorded	2002–2003
Studio	Shangri-La, Malibu Sound City, Van Nuys House of Blues, Memphis Ocean Way, Nashville Groundstar, Nashville
Genre	Garage rock revival[1] Southern rock[2]
Length	45:52
Label	RCA
Producer	Ethan Johns Angelo Petraglia
Kings of Leon chronology
What I Saw (2003) Youth & Young Manhood (2003) Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)
Singles from Youth & Young Manhood
"Red Morning Light" Released: May 26, 2003 "Molly's Chambers" Released: August 11, 2003 "Wasted Time" Released: October 20, 2003 "California Waiting" Released: February 16, 2004

Recording and release

The album was recorded at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, and Ocean Way Studios in Nashville.^[3]

"Molly's Chambers", "Wasted Time", and "California Waiting" were released as singles. "Red Morning Light" was featured in a Ford Focus commercial and used as the opening song in the video game FIFA 2004 by EA Sports. "Spiral Staircase" was featured in the PS3 game MotorStorm. "Holy Roller Novocaine" was featured in the film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and included on the soundtrack.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	79/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Blender	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[7]
The Guardian	[8]
NME	9/10[9]
Pitchfork	4.2/10[10]
Q	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[13]
Spin	B+[14]
Uncut	[15]

Critical reception for the album was generally favorable, as evidenced by its score of 79, based on 21 reviews, at Metacritic, a website that assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics.^[4] Many appreciated the band's punk- and garage rock-influenced revival of the southern rock genre, with NME hailing the album among the "best debuts of the past 10 years". AllMusic claimed the album was not "sonically adventurous", but that "in the new-millennium pop realm, some greasy licks sure sound good".^[5] James Hunter of The Village Voice called the album "2003's finest rock debut", saying the band had built on its first EP.^[16] Greg Kot wrote a favorable review in Rolling Stone, in which he declared that the band knew "when to lay back and let things simmer", as well as "when to jump up and testify with tambourines banging".^[12] At the end of the year, Rolling Stone critics named the album the tenth-best of 2003^[17] and NME named it the seventh best.^[18] Later, it was ranked at number 80 in Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the Decade list^[19] and included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[20]

The album peaked at number 3 in the United Kingdom, but fared worse in the band's homeland, where it peaked outside the top hundred. The band's popularity spiked in Australia during the weeks of September 22 and 29, 2008, when all four of their studio albums were in the top 50 on the charts. With this, Youth and Young Manhood made its first top 50 chart appearance since its release in 2003, peaking at number 46

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Red Morning Light"	2:59
2.	"Happy Alone"	3:58
3.	"Wasted Time"	2:45
4.	"Joe's Head"	3:21
5.	"Trani"	5:00
6.	"California Waiting"	3:28
7.	"Spiral Staircase"	2:54
8.	"Molly's Chambers"	2:14
9.	"Genius"	2:48
10.	"Dusty"	4:20
11.	"Holy Roller Novocaine" (ends at 4:03; hidden track "Talihina Sky" starts at 8:20)	12:05
Total length:		45:52

All tracks are written by Caleb Followill, Nathan Followill and Angelo Petraglia, except "Trani" by Matthew Followill

Personnel

• Caleb Followill – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Matthew Followill – lead guitar, piano on "Talihina Sky"
• Jared Followill – bass guitar, piano on "Trani"
• Nathan Followill – drums, percussion, background vocals
• Richard Causon – piano on "Joe's Head"

Singles

• "Red Morning Light"
  • Released: December 30, 2002
  • Chart positions: #22 (UK Singles Chart)
• "Molly's Chambers"
  • Released: August 11, 2003
  • Chart positions: #23 (UK Singles Chart)
• "Wasted Time"
  • Released: October 20, 2003
  • Chart positions: #51 (UK Singles Chart)
• "California Waiting"
  • Released: February 16, 2004
  • Chart positions: #61 (UK Singles Chart)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Youth & Young Manhood Chart (2003–2008) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 46 French Albums (SNEP)[22] 97 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 52 Irish Albums (IRMA)[24] 18 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 43 Scottish Albums (OCC)[26] 4 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[27] 30 UK Albums (OCC)[28] 3 US Billboard 200[29] 113

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Youth & Young Manhood Chart (2003) Position UK Albums (OCC)[30] 51 Certifications Certifications for Youth & Young Manhood Region Provider Certification Australia ARIA 3× Platinum[31] United Kingdom BPI 2× Platinum[32]

References

1. Eisenbeis, Hans (March 30, 2005). "Dixie Fried". New York. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
2. Monger, James Christopher. "Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak". AllMusic. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
3. Bible Kings!, NME (May 19, 2003)
4. "Reviews for Youth & Young Manhood by Kings of Leon". Metacritic. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
5. Wilson, MacKenzie. "Youth & Young Manhood – Kings of Leon". AllMusic. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
6. Smith, RJ (August 2003). "Kings of Leon: Youth and Young Manhood". Blender (18): 126. Archived from the original on November 3, 2004. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
7. Farber, Jim (August 22, 2003). "Youth & Young Manhood / It Still Moves". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
8. Clarke, Betty (July 4, 2003). "Kings of Leon: Youth and Young Manhood". The Guardian. London. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
9. "Kings of Leon: Youth & Young Manhood". NME: 41. June 28, 2003.
10. Plagenhoef, Scott (August 20, 2003). "Kings of Leon: Youth and Young Manhood". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
11. "Kings of Leon: Youth & Young Manhood". Q (205): 108. August 2003.
12. Kot, Greg (August 12, 2003). "Youth And Young Manhood". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
13. Cross, Charles R. (2004). "Kings of Leon". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 458. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
14. Gross, Joe (August 2003). "Things Have Changed". Spin. 19 (8): 111–12. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
15. "Kings of Leon: Youth & Young Manhood". Uncut (75): 110. August 2003.
16. Hunter, James (September 9, 2003). "Post-Pentecostal Boogie". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
17. "Rocklist.net Rolling Stone (USA) End Of Year Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on August 14, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
18. Archived June 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
19. "100 Best Albums of the 2000s: Kings of Leon, 'Youth and Young Manhood'". Rolling Stone. July 18, 2011. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
20. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
21. "Australiancharts.com – Kings of Leon – Youth & Young Manhood". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
22. "Lescharts.com – Kings of Leon – Youth & Young Manhood". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Kings of Leon – Youth & Young Manhood" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
24. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Kings of Leon". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
25. "Charts.nz – Kings of Leon – Youth & Young Manhood". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
26. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
27. "Swedishcharts.com – Kings of Leon – Youth & Young Manhood". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
28. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
29. "Kings of Leon Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
30. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2003". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
31. "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2009 Albums". Aria.com.au. 2009-12-31. Archived from the original on December 1, 2009. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
32. "Certified Awards". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2015.