Bob Dylan October 25, 2006

Bob Dylan's influence on popular music is incalculable. As a songwriter, he pioneered several different schools of pop songwriting, from confessional singer/songwriter to winding, hallucinatory, stream-of-conscious narratives. As a vocalist, he broke down the notions that in order to perform, a singer had to have a conventionally good voice, thereby redefining the role of vocalist in popular music. As a musician, he sparked several genres of pop music, including electrified folk-rock and country-rock. And that just touches on the tip of his achievements. The Kings of Leon picks up where Molly Hatchet and Lynyrd Skynyrd left off and adds a dash of modern rock 'n' roll to keep things from sounding too dated. While the band, a trio of brothers plus a cousin, exhibits a love for loud and dirty rock 'n' roll that made Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama' a radio hit, there's more than long hair and confederate dreams in its music. With a keen ear for gooey pop melodies that hints at a closet love for '60s and '70s pop, the Kings may woo the fans of typical alt-rock balladry as well. The heart of the band, which borrows its "Leon" moniker from its father and grandfather's first names, still beats for the south. Sitting somewhere between the Black Crowes and the power-pop revisionism of Arlo, the Kings of Leon's Southern rock revival may help shepherd the sound into the new century.