prenatt1166
Platinum Member
Joined: January 2004
Posts: 1,601
|
Post by prenatt1166 on Oct 18, 2003 10:28:44 GMT -5
What do you think about The Darkness? Are they too over-the-top or too campy for today's music scene? I think they are a breath of fresh air. They are getting some exposure on VH1 with "I Believe In A Thing Called Love". They also appear on the SCHOOL OF ROCK soundtrack with "Growing On Me".
They have claimed Queen to be one of their influences and I can hear a little Freddie Mercury and Brian May in their music.
If "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" is on VH1, should it be going for adds on Hot AC, AAA and/or Rock?
:)
|
|
Tayzlor
New Member
Joined: September 2003
Posts: 203
|
Post by Tayzlor on Oct 18, 2003 12:23:57 GMT -5
I love their new song. I can see this hitting the top 30 here easily.
Is this huge over in England, btw? Every Brit I know seems to know this song which struck me odd.
|
|
prenatt1166
Platinum Member
Joined: January 2004
Posts: 1,601
|
Post by prenatt1166 on Oct 18, 2003 12:58:59 GMT -5
I missed the discussion in YOP about this band (sorry again)... pulsemusic.proboards12.com/index.cgi?board=opinion&action=display&thread=1066052421I believe they have had some great success in the UK already. All Music Guide gave their LP, "PermissionTo Land" a great 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 Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love). After hearing Permission to Land, it's 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 don't-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, they'd 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 castrati, backed by arena-sized riffs and rhythms. The Darkness would be an utter failure if the band didn't 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 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 actual 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 it's 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 album's 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 isn't quite as metal as its singles suggested it might be, the album is surprisingly good, especially considering how bad the band's '80s metal revival could have been. It's 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 it's just a guilty pleasure. — Heather PharesI agree with the guilty pleasure comment 100%.
|
|
dragoneyez
Gold Member
Joined: October 2003
Posts: 678
|
Post by dragoneyez on Oct 18, 2003 23:02:40 GMT -5
I've heard their song. It's good, but nothing extra special, it just seems special cause we don't hear this type of music anymore. From the one song I heard from The Darkness, they are essentially a rehash of Queen and other late 70s / early 80s glam rock and maybe some hair metal too.
The song that I've heard from them is cool, but I'd have a little more respect for them had they made their music a little different and more modernized instead of basically copying off of older bands.
At face value, they're good. Nothing special. They're just unique for the times and that's the only reason why they're getting the hype that they're getting.
|
|
Nicholas2.0
6x Platinum Member
Joined: September 2003
Posts: 6,666
|
Post by Nicholas2.0 on Oct 22, 2003 23:53:56 GMT -5
This is garbage. Just because you're a brand new band making music in a style that's been out of favor since the '90's doesn't make you a fresh, good band.
**** Rolling Stone, VH1, and anyone else that wants to tell me this band is cool.
|
|
|
Post by insect2 on Oct 23, 2003 2:18:19 GMT -5
**** Rolling Stone, VH1, and anyone else that wants to tell me this band is cool. Well, aren't you peppy this evening. The song is overrated and annoying, but unfortunately it seems like it's a guilty pleasure. I really don't care for it, though. I've heard a second song by them about not touching the guy's woman, which seemed slightly better.
|
|