I remember the first time I heard The Darkness. I was surfing through the outer reams of cable TV when I stumbled upon what appeared to be a music video. I saw a noticeably fake spaceship flying across the screen and decided to watch. There was a man with flowing blond hair and a leotard that opened down to his chest. There was a giant monster. There were crunching guitars, two elongated solos, and a chorus sung in a falsetto the likes of which I had never heard. I literally thought it was a joke. I thought a group of comedians had donned spandex and lip-synched an eighties glam metal track. About a month later, The Darkness were the next big thing.
When The Darkness first came into the public’s eye, many people had the same sentiment as I did when I first saw them. Who could possibly take these guys seriously? But The Darkness were onto something and they knew what they were doing. Their debut, Permission To Land, was a celebrated album that reminded us of an era we sometimes try to forget. Its been a rocky road since then, the band briefly broke up and had to replace their bassist, but they return in full form with One Way Ticket To Hell...And Back. With the help of former Queen producer, Roy Thomas Baker, this album features lush orchestration and varied instrumentation to back up Justin Hawkins’ chalkboard falsetto and brother Dan Hawkins’ wild guitar. Everything from strings to bagpipes find their way into the mix to create a sound that is certainly more refined, but not always as entertaining as Permission To Land. Though don’t think that this new sound means The Darkness have lost their sense of humor. Even the album’s title is a joke (A ticket to hell and back wouldn’t be one way, it would be round trip.)
The line between seriousness and humor is walked with finesse and ease by The Darkness throughout One Way Ticket. “Bald” is a glorious track about an aging rock-star who finds his receding hairline getting in the way of his sex god status. This glam metal glee is juxtaposed to regretful “Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time” which employees a piano and a full orchestra behind Hawkins’ layered vocals. The influence of producer Roy Thomas Baker can be heard in “English Country Garden”, whose tapping piano and gliding guitar will certainly garner numerous Queen comparisons.
I still chuckle every time I see the album artwork, a train rumbling from Heaven’s gates to the fiery depths of Hell. It’s so gaudy, so balls out, you can’t look at it without wondering if it’s serious. It’s the perfect compliment to The Darkness themselves. You might think they’re a joke, but they play their music with such audacity, you know they’re serious. |