Graham Clark
The Darkness were one of the major UK rock acts of the last decade, their debut album, ‘Permission to Land’ propelled the group from being bottom of the bill at the Download festival to headlining arenas in less than 18 months.
By the time the second album – ‘One Way Ticket To Hell… and Back’ was released the band were becoming a parody of themselves and the live shows began to look like something out of ‘Spinal Tap’ with the props of the live shows becoming bigger than the band. A messy split then followed along with lead singer, Justin Hawkins drug problems.
The fact that they could return 7 years later with an album that is as good, if not even better than their finest work is a miracle in itself. Every track on the album is full of melodic rock tracks that echo Queen, Thin Lizzy, The Rolling Stones and UFO. Whilst acts like Steel Panther may have kept the light burning for this type of rock, The Darkness is the real deal and not some joke act.
Opening track, ‘Every Inch of You’ starts off with a Jean Genie type guitar riff and then the song develops into a classic Darkness song. If you thought this was a great track, then the preceding track ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us’ is probably the best track on the album and you realise how good the band were in the first place and how they have been missed.
They slow down the pace with ‘Living Each Day Blind’ and the track will have Bon Jovi looking over their shoulders. ‘She’s Just a Girl Eddie’ is a track about the bands drummer’s love life – his heart may have been broken but tracks like this will soon help him get over her!
‘Concrete’ has a chorus that allows Justin’s voice to utilise his falsetto vocal to maximum effect. Closing track, ‘Love is not the Answer’ allows the album to end with a trademark Darkness song.
It may have been a ticket to hell for the band in the past but now they are back and somehow it all seems so much better second time around. It is a big sounding album with anthems that shows that UK rock is alive and kicking. A triumph and a totally unexpected surprise.
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