“Notion” by Kings of Leon

"Notion" was pulled from Kings of Leon's 2008 album Only by the Night and sent out as a single on June 29, 2009. All four Followills share the writing credit, and all four are on it: Caleb singing and playing guitar, Matthew on guitar and keyboards, Jared on bass, Nathan on drums. Jacquire King and Angelo Petraglia produced, with King also recording and mixing, and the result is sleek and driving, a chiming, pulse-quickening rocker that keeps its foot down all the way.

It topped Billboard's Alternative Songs chart for a week that September, yet in Britain, despite heavy spins on BBC Radio 1, it stalled at 107, the first time a Kings of Leon single had missed the top 100 there. Phil Griffin's video puts the band in a dim, rubble-strewn room while brick walls collapse in flames around them.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.