''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.

Recording and release

The album was recorded at

Shangri-La Studios Shangri-La is a recording studio in Malibu, California, currently owned by record producer Rick Rubin. Originally a ranch property with a bungalow owned by actress Margo, it was leased by The Band in the 1970s and converted to a recording stud ...

in Malibu, Sound City Studios in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

, and Ocean Way Studios in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

.''Bible Kings!''
'' NME'' (May 19, 2003) "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 ''FIFA Football 2004'', also known as ''FIFA Soccer 2004'' in North America, is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It was released in October 2003 with the tagline "Create Brilliance". ''F ...

'' by EA Sports. "Spiral Staircase" was featured in the

PS3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

game '' MotorStorm''. "Holy Roller Novocaine" was featured in the film '' Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'' and included on the soundtrack.

Reception

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. 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". James Hunter of '' The Village Voice'' called the album "2003's finest rock debut", saying the band had built on its

first EP Mock Orange is an American indie rock band from Evansville, Indiana, United States. They debuted in 1998 during a growing emo and punk musical climate. Though they never reached the commercial success of some of their contemporaries, they are ...

. 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". At the end of the year, ''Rolling Stone'' critics named the album the tenth-best of 2003 and ''NME'' named it the seventh best. Later, it was ranked at number 80 in ''Rolling Stones Top 100 Albums of the Decade list and included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. 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

Personnel

Caleb Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and ga ...

– lead vocals,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass 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

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Youth and Young Manhood 2003 debut albums Albums produced by Ethan Johns Kings of Leon albums RCA Records albums Albums recorded at Shangri-La (recording studio) Albums recorded at Sound City Studios Vector Recordings albums