Chris Gray: I think that's why the band stayed out as long as they did - that they or (more likely) someone with their label/management company wanted to forestall that from happening as long as possible. These folks, who have been in the business a lot longer than the band themselves, are all too familiar with how fickle pop fans can be, especially these days.

It's especially interesting that they didn't cancel the international dates when they axed the U.S. tour. Seems to me the Kings may need a little more than six weeks of down time, like at least six months. And that core fan base is still a lot bigger overseas than it is here, so presumably it needs less feeding and watering than the domestic market. Even here, the demand was obviously still there - five Houston shows in four years, cough - but the supply finally ran out.

The Kings have definitely lost some momentum from this, but it's hard to say how much. "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody" are pretty much permanently embedded in stations like Mix 96.5 and even - gasp - Sunny 99.1's playlists. Say they do go away for two or three years before putting out another record and going back on the road. Where do they play when they come back? The Woodlands? Reliant Arena? Surely they wouldn't fall all the way back down to the Verizon level again?

I think you're right about something else, too - it's entirely possible we see a club/theater show from one or more of the Followills' future side projects before we see the whole band again.

Craig Hlavaty: I mean, I don't know if he will pull a full Darius Rucker and start opening for Carrie Underwood and playing RodeoHouston, but I know a few million women who would be into it. It's funny, after being a fan so long now, that I feel I have some sort of vested interest in the band, like I need to defend them. But then again, very few of my favorite bands have gotten so big that droves of hipper-than-thou folks totally hate them.

And another side to this is that we are looking at a family having an internal crisis. These aren't just four dudes who met in high school or at a club and decided to be a band. When dealing with family, the emotions are much stronger, yet more malleable. You can forgive a brother, actual blood, than you could some dude you are now in a monetary venture with.

I'm reading the Steven Tyler book right now and he is talking about his own LSD (Lead Singer Disease) and how it gets hold of you. It's not a myth. You already see in the trailer for the KOL documentary, Talehina Sky, that there is strife in their midst, maybe even a spiritual battle.

Chris Gray: It took me several listens to Only By the Night, probably a dozen, before I finally warmed up to it. I still haven't spent much time with Come Around Sundown, but when I saw them at The Woodlands last year, several new songs clicked instantly because they were rootsier and "more Southern." Except "Radioactive," which I thought was kind of plastic, and still do. (Ironically, I did see Kings of Leon Saturday - NBC reran the episode of Saturday Night Live where they were on with Emma Stone.)

Blood is thicker than tequila. The Kings may slow down the output after this, and they definitely will eventually, once they start having families, but I think it would take something pretty severe to get them to shut it down for good.

I don't think the Davies brothers ever really got along, and it took more than 30 years for the Kinks to finally say no mas. And look at the Ramones - they weren't even related (technically), but they kept going for a good 15 years after Johnny married the girl Joey was in love with, even if those two basically never spoke to each other again.