The Darkness | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Englands the Darkness centered around irrepressible frontman Justin Hawkins (vocals/guitars/keyboards), who, along with his guitar-playing baby brother Dan, bassist Frankie Poullain, and drummer Ed Graham, single-handedly resurrected the rather unfashionable sounds and attitudes of late-70s hard rock for an unsuspecting generation. Following the demise of an earlier, conspicuously synth pop-based outfit named Empire, the Hawkins brothers sowed the seeds of what would become the Darkness at an impromptu karaoke session on New Years Eve 1999. Justins rapturous rendition of Queens "Bohemian Rhapsody" showed them the way, and the suitably dramatic name of the Darkness was chosen shortly after the arrival of Poullain and Graham. With outrageous stage antics that included gaudy leotards stolen from Steven Tylers wardrobe, leaps and splits borrowed from David Lee Roth, and an ear-piercing falsetto copped from Freddie Mercury himself, the multi-talented elder Hawkins led the quartet as the group spent the next two years slogging it out in Londons pub circuit. Though they were immediately singled out as a joke by the notoriously vicious British press, the Darkness high-energy sets, remarkably catchy material, and unapologetic worship of old-school rock & roll bombast gradually earned them a fanatical following based on simple word of mouth. The tide finally began to shift in their favor in August 2002, when they released their debut EP, I Believe in a Thing Called Love (through the independent label Must Destroy Music), won a major talent contest, and scored all-important opening slots with Deep Purple and Def Leppard. Their momentum carried through into the new year, starting with a knockout performance at Austins SXSW music convention in January, continuing with the release of the "Keep Your Hands Off My Woman" single in February (which peaked at number 36 in the U.K. chart), and climaxing with their subsequent signing with a major-label, Atlantic Records, in March. Nothing could stop the Darkness snowball effect, and a series of acclaimed festival appearances set the stage for their debut album, Permission to Land, to debut atop the British charts -- the first time a new act had achieved such a feat since Coldplay three years earlier. Aside from the 2003 Christmas single Christmas Time (Dont Let the Bells End), the Darkness concentrated on touring until 2005, when they returned to the studio with Cars and Foreigner producer Roy Thomas Baker. During the recording of their sophomore album, the band parted ways with Poullain and replaced him with former guitar tech Richie Edwards. One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back was released late in 2005 but didnt fare as well as its predecessor, which took a toll on Justin Hawkins. Following several months of touring, the frontman entered rehab in August 2006 for alcohol and cocaine abuse. Although he completed the program, Hawkins nevertheless left the Darkness lineup later that year, leaving the groups fate in the hands of his former bandmates. The remaining musicians regrouped under the name Stone Gods the following year, while Justin busied himself with solo work, issuing a single under the moniker British Whale and a full-length album, 2008s Red Light Fever, with his new band Hot Leg. In 2011, the Darkness reunited with the original lineup featuring Hawkins and embarked on several European tours. In 2012, they delivered the full-length album Hot Cakes. In 2015, the band issued their fourth studio outing, Last of Our Kind, the first Darkness album to feature new drummer Emily Dolan Davies, whod replaced founding member Ed Graham the year before. However, just before the album was released, Davies departed the band, with Rufus Taylor stepping in as her replacement for the subsequent tour. Taylor made his recorded debut on their fifth studio album, 2017s Pinewood Smile, released via Cooking Vinyl. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 9 Title: I Believe in a Thing Called Love Released: 2002-08-12 Tracks: 3 Duration: 14:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 I Believe in a Thing Called Love (03:39) 2 Love on the Rocks With No Ice (06:07) 3 Love Is Only a Feeling (04:21) |
 | Album: 2 of 9 Title: Permission to Land Released: 2003-07-07 Tracks: 10 Duration: 38:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Black Shuck (03:21) 2 Get Your Hands Off My Woman (02:46) 3 Growing on Me (03:29) 4 I Believe in a Thing Called Love (03:37) 5 Love Is Only a Feeling (04:20) 6 Givin’ Up (03:34) 7 Stuck in a Rut (03:18) 8 Friday Night (02:55) 9 Love on the Rocks With No Ice (05:56) 10 Holding My Own (04:57) |
| Permission to Land : Allmusic album Review : Upon its U.K. release in summer 2003, Permission to Land, the debut album from spandex-clad retro metalheads the Darkness, was a surprise success, hitting the British charts at number two (behind only Beyoncés Dangerously in Love). After hearing Permission to Land, its easier to understand why the British public went crazy for it, and for the Darkness. The album is more or less straightforward pop/rock with some 80s metal window-dressing, and the Darkness themselves live up to traditional notions of what a rock band should be: louche, decadent, and harboring a dont-bore-us-get-to-the-chorus mentality. While the band is far from ironic in its homages to Kiss, Judas Priest, and Queen, the Darkness certainly are campy (and with a list of influences like that, theyd almost have to be), with a uniquely British sensibility, personified by singer Justin Hawkins. A one-man campaign to bring back the unitard as fashionable rock gear, Hawkins sings about sex, drugs, and Satan with the voice of a castrato, backed by arena-sized riffs and rhythms. The Darkness would be an utter failure if the band didnt write good songs, but miracle of miracles, they do. The first two-thirds of Permission to Land is nearly flawless, an eerily realistic simulation of 80s metal and 70s glam that manages to sound familiar but not rehashed. "Black Shuck" revels in pseudomystic gobbledygook like "Flames licked round the sacred spire"; on the great single "Get Your Hands off My Woman," Hawkins sings "woooomaaan" higher than most women probably could. "Growing on Me" (which includes the great lyric "I want to banish you from whence you came") and "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" are tightly crafted songs that would sound good in almost any style, while "Givin Up" is one of the jauntiest songs about heroin ever written. Even the prerequisite power ballad, "Love Is Only a Feeling," stays on the fun side of cheesy, adrift on clouds of strummed guitars and gooey backing harmonies. The album has such a strong beginning and middle that its not entirely surprising that Permission to Land runs out of steam near the end, although "Stuck in a Rut" is a crazed enough rocker -- complete with demonic laughter -- to nearly rival the albums earlier songs. Softer songs like "Friday Night" and "Holding My Own" make the collection unusually ballad-heavy; if anything, the Darkness could stand to rock a little harder. Even though Permission to Land isnt quite as metal as its singles suggested it might be, the album is surprisingly good, especially considering how bad the bands 80s metal revival could have been. Its hard to say whether or not the Darkness will take off in the States the way they did in their homeland; Hawkins over-the-top vocals aside, the band may be hurt by the fact that most metal and hard rock popular in the U.S. is more concerned with brooding and angst than with having fun. But having fun is what Permission to Land is all about, even if its just a guilty pleasure. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 9 Title: One Way Ticket to Hell …and Back Released: 2005-11-25 Tracks: 10 Duration: 35:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 One Way Ticket (04:26) 2 Knockers (02:43) 3 Is It Just Me? (03:06) 4 Dinner Lady Arms (03:16) 5 Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (03:34) 6 Hazel Eyes (03:25) 7 Bald (05:31) 8 Girlfriend (02:33) 9 English Country Garden (03:06) 10 Blind Man (03:25) |
| One Way Ticket to Hell …and Back : Allmusic album Review : From the moment the pan flute fanfare on "One Way Ticket" kicks off One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back, its clear that the Darkness still believes that more is more. If anything, the band believes that even more is even better: with the help of producer Roy Thomas Baker, they make their second album incredibly glossy and expensive-sounding, with layers of sitars, marching drums, bagpipes, and tubular bells on top of their already-powerful guitars, drums, and keyboards (and, of course, Justin Hawkins formidable falsetto). But while the bands excess succeeded on Permission to Land, it loses some of its potency here: nothing on One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back is as immediate as "I Believe in a Thing Called Love." The bands debut celebrated and inflated the rock clichés of sex, drugs, and partying; this albums best songs are about longterm relationships, getting clean, and balding. The soaring power ballad "Dinner Lady Arms" highlights the good-natured streak running through a surprising amount of the Darkness songs, while "One Way Ticket" is an episode of Behind the Music, complete with cocaine snorting, turned into a pop single. More than occasionally, though, One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back just sounds unremarkable, despite the songs elaborate sonics. Tracks like "Knockers" -- which should be a fool-proof Darkness song just based on its title -- and "Girlfriend" sound like they were made from bits and pieces of Permission to Land rejects, while overblown-yet-slight ballads such as "Blind Man" and "Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" sound too much like stale Meat Loaf. Still, there are moments when the Darkness still sounds like the smartest, dumbest band around: "Is It Just Me?" has a chorus that rivals their best; the flamboyant Celtic rocker "Hazel Eyes" shows off both Justin Hawkins over-the-top vocals and his brother Dans over-the-top guitar licks; and lyrics like "English Country Garden"s "I cherished you and you tolerated me" show that the wit that made their debut so much fun isnt entirely missing on this album. Not so much a letdown as a comedown, One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back just shows that the giddy highs of Permission to Land arent so easy to get the second time around. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 9 Title: The Platinum Collection Released: 2008-04-01 Tracks: 21 Duration: 1:17:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 I Believe in a Thing Called Love (03:37) 2 One Way Ticket (04:26) 3 Love Is Only a Feeling (04:20) 4 Is It Just Me? (03:06) 5 Growing on Me (03:29) 6 Girlfriend (02:33) 7 Get Your Hands Off My Woman (02:46) 8 Black Shuck (03:21) 9 Givin’ Up (03:34) 10 Stuck in a Rut (03:18) 11 Friday Night (02:55) 12 Love on the Rocks With No Ice (05:56) 13 Holding My Own (04:57) 14 Knockers (02:43) 15 Dinner Lady Arms (03:16) 16 Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (03:34) 17 Hazel Eyes (03:25) 18 Bald (05:31) 19 English Country Garden (03:06) 20 Blind Man (03:25) 21 Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End) (03:32) |
| The Platinum Collection : Allmusic album Review : English retro-hair metal outfit the Darkness were a lot more inventive than the press gave them credit for. While they could kick out the party metal like nobodys business, they had an art pop sensibility that would reach up from time to time and slick back that teased hair, especially on their criminally underrated sophomore album, One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back. Rhinos Platinum Collection collects 21 of the best tracks from the band (they only had two albums), including "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," "Get Your Hands Off My Woman," "Knockers," "Hazel Eyes," "English Country Garden," and the hit U.K. Christmas single "Christmas Time (Dont Let the Bells End)." | ||
 | Album: 5 of 9 Title: Hot Cakes Released: 2012-08-12 Tracks: 11 Duration: 40:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Every Inch of You (03:04) 2 Nothins Gonna Stop Us (02:45) 3 With a Woman (03:41) 4 Keep Me Hangin On (03:00) 5 Living Each Day Blind (05:06) 6 Everybody Have a Good Time (04:47) 7 Shes Just a Girl, Eddie (03:46) 8 Forbidden Love (03:49) 9 Concrete (03:52) 10 Street Spirit (Fade Out) (03:07) 11 Love Is Not the Answer (03:41) |
| Hot Cakes : Allmusic album Review : Its hard to discuss the 2012 album from satiro-hard rock band the Darkness without taking into account how the disc comes on the heels of much anticipation and hardship. The years after the Darkness released their last album in 2005, the sophomore effort One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back, were rough ones for the usually gleeful ensemble. They had parted ways with bassist Frankie Poullain during the recording process -- a fact that didnt sit well with fans -- and though the album sold well, its recording was delayed and purportedly costly. Further, while the bands 2003 breakthrough debut, Permission to Land, brought the group praise for its knowing mix of purposely over the top songs that toyed with such rock themes as cheating, big boobs, and partying on spaceships, One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back wasnt as well received critically. The overall impression was that the Darkness were on a steady decline from the dizzying success of the previous two years. So, in some ways it was not surprising when, in 2006, lead singer Justin Hawkins entered rehab for alcohol and cocaine abuse. It was a shock, however, when in August of that year Hawkins announced he had left the band. His departure essentially spelled the end of the Darkness, as it was his operatic yelp, magnetic stage persona, and exuberant sense of humor that defined the band. So it was with heated anticipation that the public reacted to the news in 2011 that all four original members of the Darkness, including lead singer Hawkins and bassist Poullain, had reunited and would record a new album. Perhaps nobody expected the band to ever match the giddy, karate-kick high of Permission to Land, but the groups comeback album, Hot Cakes, is definitely worthy of throwing more than a few devil horns the bands way. While the Darkness have always reveled in the hedonistic clichés of heavy metal, at their core they are a pop band, capable of delivering some of the catchiest, most expertly crafted radio-ready singles this side of ABBA. For every AC/DC blues-rock, crotch-thrusting groove on Hot Cakes -- and there are a few -- there are just as many sparklingly slick, sugar-coated laser-beam melodies that light up the happy place in your brain. The beauty of the Darkness approach is that their pop side and cock rock side pretty much come from the same inclination: get listeners moving. In that sense, this album will continue to draw the band well-earned comparisons to Queen -- which speaks mainly to the bands songwriting and musicianship. And while Hawkins does have Freddie Mercurys vocal range, his sweet lyricism often sounds tonally more like a mix of Queen guitarist Brian Mays voice and ELOs Jeff Lynne. Tracks like the propulsive "Nothins Gonna Stop Us" and the rousing "Everybody Have a Good Time" are deliciously catchy anthems that definitely bring to mind the contemporary pop/rock of 80s-era Queen. Similarly, cuts like the epic Boston-sounding "Forbidden Love" and the passionate "Love Is Not the Answer" are surprisingly earnest love songs that stick in your head as good as any hair metal-era MTV single. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 9 Title: Classic Rock #190: The Platinum Correction: Live & Consensual in Thetford Forest Released: 2013-11 Tracks: 9 Duration: 33:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Every Inch of You (03:19) 2 Black Shuck (03:31) 3 Get Your Hands Off My Woman (03:46) 4 Everybody Have a Good Time (04:23) 5 Planning Permission (03:02) 6 With a Woman (03:41) 7 One Way Ticket (04:13) 8 Growing on Me (03:34) 9 I Believe in a Thing Called Love (04:10) |
 | Album: 7 of 9 Title: Last of Our Kind Released: 2015-05-27 Tracks: 10 Duration: 41:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Barbarian (03:32) 2 Open Fire (04:01) 3 Last of Our Kind (04:09) 4 Roaring Waters (04:38) 5 Wheels of the Machine (03:07) 6 Mighty Wings (05:46) 7 Mudslide (03:25) 8 Sarah O’Sarah (03:52) 9 Hammer & Tongs (04:02) 10 Conquerors (04:57) |
| Last of Our Kind : Allmusic album Review : Beginning with a spoken word intro ("One by one the kingdoms fall/they looked upon this isle and took it all/harbingers of pain/Edmund the martyr cut down by a Dane on the orders of Ivar the Boneless") and ending with a torch- and morning star-waving power anthem delivered with throaty gusto by bass player Frankie Poullain, the Darkness first post-comeback album and fourth studio outing overall may also be their best to date, effortlessly pairing Spinal Tap-inspired braggadocio with meaty metal riffs and soaring pop hooks, with both a lusty wink and a resolute kick in the teeth. Having proved themselves, more or less, to still be competent and creative schillers of all things late-70s and early-80s metal with 2012s Hot Cakes, the band sound as locked in as they did on their 2003 debut, offering up a surprisingly bold and diverse, relentlessly likeable smorgasbord of hard rock posturing that manages to touch on nearly every iteration of the genre. Built around one of the best riffs to appear out of the ether in ages, opener "Barbarian" sets a mean pace (its also a fine perfunctory retelling of the Great Heathen Armys homicidal siege of the Anglo Saxon kingdoms of England during the 9th century), but the band, much like the sons of Ragnar, seem hell-bent on pillaging every last corner of the keep. Viking themes loom large, with the Led Zeppelin-esque "Roaring Waters" and the truly epic, ELO-meets-Muse-blasted "Mighty Wings" leading the charge, but detours into groove-laden, Southern boogie rock ("Mudslide"), "She Sells Sanctuary"-era Cult-inspired psych-rock, and no-hook-left-behind, earworm-heavy guitar pop ("Hammer and Tong") prove to be just as compelling. Whats most surprising is that Justin Hawkins seismic falsetto, as impressive as ever, no longer feels like the main event, as the band match each caterwaul with a comparable sonic boom of their own. Last of Our Kind is the sound of a band unencumbered; its an album that was probably as much fun to make as it is a joy to listen to. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 9 Title: Pinewood Smile Released: 2017-10-06 Tracks: 15 Duration: 50:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 All the Pretty Girls (03:18) 2 Buccaneers of Hispaniola (03:06) 3 Solid Gold (04:31) 4 Southern Trains (02:52) 5 Why Don’t the Beautiful Cry? (03:36) 6 Japanese Prisoner of Love (04:19) 7 Lay Down With Me, Barbara (04:04) 8 I Wish I Was in Heaven (03:20) 9 Happiness (03:12) 10 Stampede of Love (03:53) 11 Uniball (03:33) 12 Rack of Glam (03:43) 13 Seagulls (Losing My Virginity) (03:53) 14 Rock in Space (03:33) 15 Why Don’t the Beautiful Cry (demo version) (?) |
| Pinewood Smile : Allmusic album Review : The fifth full-length release and the first Darkness outing for Cooking Vinyl, Pinewood Smile is also the inaugural studio jaunt for new drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor (son of Queens Roger Taylor), who took over for Emily Dolan Davies after the release of 2015s excellent Last of Our Kind. Less seaworthy than its predecessor but delivered with the same freewheeling sonic brinksmanship, Pinewood Smile feels both rote and ready; a fully stocked tinder box with nary a match in sight. To be fair, Last of Our Kind was almost too good of a distillation of what makes the Darkness so compelling -- at their best, theyre a near perfect amalgam of Thin Lizzy, Queen, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC; both self-aware and hopelessly in love with the dumb pageantry of rock & roll. Unsurprisingly, its the LPs three singles ("All the Pretty Girls," "Solid Gold," and "Southern Trains") that recapture that magic, delivering just the right balance of pomp and grit -- the ludicrous, swashbuckling send-up "Buccaneers of Hispaniola" and similarly Monty Python-esque sister track "Japanese Prisoner of Love" might be growers. Also, the soulful, R&B-kissed "Why Dont the Beautiful Cry?" and the atypically self-conscious "I Wish I Was in Heaven," the latter of which very frankly examines the groups post-Permission to Land struggles, prove that Justin Hawkins is more than just an extraordinarily gifted party metal ponce. That said, at a very economical ten tracks, Pinewood Smile should be all killer no filler, but late-album offerings like the vapid "Happiness" and the infantile no-fatties ballad "Stampede of Love" -- Spinal Taps "Big Bottom" was ludicrous and infantile, but it wasnt cruel -- suck some air out of the room, making the whole thing feel a little stale, which is the last thing you want from a project that so fetishizes another era. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 9 Title: Live at Hammersmith Released: 2018-06-15 Tracks: 19 Duration: 1:15:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Open Fire (04:02) 2 Love is Only a Feeling (04:16) 3 Southern Trains (03:22) 4 Black Shuck (03:49) 5 One Way Ticket (04:32) 6 Givin Up (03:43) 7 All the Pretty Girls (03:16) 8 Barbarian (04:17) 9 Buccaneers of Hispaniola (04:02) 10 Friday Night (02:58) 11 Makin Out (03:37) 12 Every Inch of You (03:19) 13 Solid Gold (04:39) 14 Stuck in a Rut (04:31) 15 Get Your Hands off My Woman (03:45) 16 Growing on Me (03:55) 17 Japanese Prisoner of Love (04:32) 18 Christmas Time (Dont Let the Bells End) (04:51) 19 I Believe in a Thing Called Love (04:17) |