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Review: The Darkness "One Way Ticket To Hell....And Back"
By: Brett Winestock - ModernRock.com
December 28th 2005 1:34pm
It has become difficult for some people to understand the musical entity that is The Darkness. Is this band actually serious or is it just one big joke? Justin Hawkins and Co. straddle the line between gimmick and genuine rock-stars so well that we are likely to never know the real answer. Even the recording studio drama surrounding the band, resulting in bassist Francis Poullain’s departure, seemed like something straight out of This is Spinal Tap.
While the seriousness of the band’s antics are openly up for debate, it is certain that one thing is not: the music. 2003’s Permission to Land was a major success for The Darkness, both critically and commercially, and they hoped for nothing short of an improvement with the release of One Way Ticket to Hell… And Back. In fact, the band was trying to record “the finest rock album of the past twenty years.”
The album gets underway with the title-track and hard rocking first single, “One Way Ticket”, an undeniably catchy tune that will have you humming it for days, and a perfect way to start an album that “kicks you in face”, as Hawkins proclaims in this track’s lyrics. Every song on this album, despite its somewhat repetitive exploding-chorus formula, offers something different – from bagpipes and Scottish accents on “Hazel Eyes”, to a synthesizer solo on “Girlfriend”. It even includes an ode to male pattern baldness, in which Hawkins thanks God for his full head of hair (“Bald”), and the monster-sized “English Country Garden”, where he practices his French while the band does their very best Queen impression.
There are very few faults on One Way Ticket… and The Darkness have truly produced a great album. Where they come up short however, is in their quest for perfection. That one unknown, extra ingredient that would have made this a defining album of our generation, like the band had so hoped for, is missing. If that fact gives them inspiration for a third album, you can bet I’ll be listening.
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