The Darkness

"We are the Four Horsemen of the Rock Apocalypse!"

Yes, completely otm Stewart. Their first single, and that cover they did of Street Spirit, both made me giggle when I first heard them, but that was under the assumption that they were a novelty joke band I'd never have to hear again. Now I find that a) they take themselves seriously and b) other people take themselves seriously, and I'd far rather just not have the joke in the first place because it wasn't really that funny anyway.

Contrary to what The Lex says, I think this joke was funny in the first place (Spinal Tap); it was even a good enough joke to be funny in the second place (Bad News).

Of course you could argue that the fact that the band and most of the people who are buying their records don't seem to realise it's a joke is a novel twist - but actually that's the oldest and most tired joke of all.

From first principles then - what is bad about the kind of music The Darkness play?

If 'I believe in a thing called love' doesn't go to #1 when it's re-released in a couple of weeks I will sulk.

Do you seriously think The Darkness stand / would have stood up to comparison with the original bands whose style they're aping or; given a historically level playing field; would they (as I believe) have ended up at best as 4th Division no-hopers playing for beer money on the local pub circuit?

hee hee!

Unfortunately they keep dragging the rest of us with them!

Those who know too much history are also doomed to repeat it at the rest of us.

Scorpions - minor-key vocal harmonies - a gtr god = Darkness.

Talk about damning with faint praise!

Ignorance is bliss.

JtN on the money.

I never heard the original bands much either, and am certainly not familiar with them, but the whole poodle-haired cock-rock thing is tired anyway. I always took the 'joke' to be that The Darkness were so bad and so overblown with it that it was mildly funny, and that it was such a caricature that it had to be tongue-in-cheek. Even if it was tongue-in-cheek it would have palled after two songs anyway, because the thing with so-bad-it's-good is that it swiftly just becomes bad.

The joke has long worn thin. They are still here. Bah.

strokes, garage rock (the hives), ac/dc inspired rock (datsuns etc) and then the darkness (comedy robbie williams metal, full on eighties rock), where does it go from there? the pop cycle. and with the present hype, after awhile, the darkness will die.

This might be the most upsetting thing JtN has ever written *if* what I heard in Probe in Liverpool the other week was The Darkness.

I heard who someone who sounded like a not-quite-into-it Bruce Dickinson bawl their way through a set of pancake-thin pub-band demos. It was ugly and forgettable like a subsiding Maryport semi. If this isn't The Darkness, I apologise.

just bcz a punk rock fan doesn't like 'em does not mean they are classic or dud. must try harder.

And isnt Tom, like thirty two or something? Not really down with the kids unless you are a paed.

this line is funny on many levels. not perhaps the ones it was intended to be funny on.

ps: Tom, if that's the case then I am happy to have 5 years of listening to great music before it all goes pear.

(Actually one of the reasons I like the 'Ness is that they are the brilliant return of everything that was left out of the Creation "international guardians of rock and roll" canon.)

I kinda thought the 2nd album was pretty dope. Try "Is It Just Me," "Dinner Lady Arms," "Girlfriend," "English Country Garden" and the title track. Honestly I think the 1st album is equally spotty, but the highlights are kinda incredible.

So many great memories just thinking about that first Darkness record.

They were very entertaining live around the time of that first album!

One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back is a great album, but its nowhere near as immediate as the first Darkness album. It didn't help that the first single was garbage too.

Yeah, I listened to Hot Cakes and really liked it.

It didn't help that the first single was garbage too.

I wouldn't call it garbage, but it was a bad choice for a lead single.

i kind of love how their new single rips off 'sex type thing'

at least in terms of riff

OH THE STATE OF ELATION THAT THIS UNISON OF HEARTS HAS ACHIVEVED

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/80EE/production/_89960033_2b161983-d852-4afd-b3d0-ee112f38435b.jpg

“Growing on Me” is still in my head 15 years later or whatever
The best song about crabs ever written

"Christmas Time" is one of the all-time great Christmas records, snow fucks given

it works

the lost b-side “out of my hands” is ace

I think 'Christmas Time' is the best Darkness song full stop!