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Track Listings
| 1. Every Inch of You |
| 2. Nothin's Gonna Stop Us |
| 3. With A Woman |
| 4. Keep Me Hangin' On |
| 5. Living Each Day Blind |
| 6. Everybody Have A Good Time |
| 7. She Just A Girl, Eddie |
| 8. Forbidden Love |
| 9. Concrete |
| 10. Street Spirit (Fade Out) |
| 11. Love Is Not The Answer |
| 12. I Can't Believe It's Not Love (Acoustic Demo) |
| 13. Love Is Not The Answer (Acoustic Demo) |
| 14. Pat Pong Ladies (Demo Mix) |
| 15. Cannonball (Long Version) |
Product Description
Review
Having reformed last year following a five-year hiatus, Hot Cakes marks The Darkness’ return to album-releasing ways with more of the knowingly ludicrous, overblown pop-metal that saw their debut, Permission to Land, soar to number one in 2003. But if the novelty had already worn off by the time of their second album in 2005, this comeback effort tests the patience beyond breaking point.
Swathed in a kind of sincere irony, The Darkness are both a celebration and affectionate parody of a genre that's always had an underlying sense of humour about itself. And as such, once their initial impact dissipates, they live or die on the strength of their material.
But whereas Permission to Land pivoted on fun, hooky FM anthems such as I Believe in a Thing Called Love, here they rely too heavily on ready-made riffs, generic melodies and lyrical clichés. Despite a small handful of superficially catchy Boston-clones such as Nothing's Gonna Stop Us, they fail to transcend their influences and add any significant character of their own.
Unless, that is, you count singer Justin Hawkins' shrieking falsetto. It's certainly a distinctive instrument, and amusing in small doses, but prolonged exposure to it proves grating and monotonous. On the likes of With a Woman, his voice is simply a horrendous noise, actively painful, like the cast of Rock of Ages being tortured by a dentist.
That they're overbearing is essentially the point of The Darkness, but that's something of a self-inflicted wound. Shackled by their own schlock, they don't make a virtue of their dogged limitations in the way that, say, AC/DC do. Instead they just hammer away at their glutinous template, writing songs that somehow manage to be instantly memorable and immediately forgettable.
The best rock parodies are musically appealing, as well as accurate. But the likes of Spinal Tap and The Rutles' Neil Innes are better songwriters than The Darkness. They may know their sources inside out, but they can't harness them with any inspiration or wit. The best they can do is resort to supposedly hilarious bawdiness; Carry On Speedwagon.
They shouldn't have bothered, frankly.
--Paul Whitelaw
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By R. Spooner
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
No point in over analysing it and indeed, the BBC review is dubiously wide of the mark. Either the reviewer doesn't 'get it', or they didn't listen to it properly.
I don't know of another band that has managed to be both a pantomime act (and a pant wettingly funny one at that), AND a brilliant rock band too. This album has even more smutty and self-deprecating humour in it than the previous two albums combined yet still manages to be a very good rock album in its own right.
You could strip away the pantomime element and you'd have a classic rock album that sounds.... brilliant!
Ignore all the 'blah, blah derivative this and that' whinging. If you like your rock that sounds cool and bounces along very nicely you'll love this. I bought into The Darkness as an act AND a rock band when they were playing live before 'Permission to Land' was released and this reaffirms why I did with a slap around the face and a cheeky grope for good measure to remind me why.
Just buy it. Period.
I don't know of another band that has managed to be both a pantomime act (and a pant wettingly funny one at that), AND a brilliant rock band too. This album has even more smutty and self-deprecating humour in it than the previous two albums combined yet still manages to be a very good rock album in its own right.
You could strip away the pantomime element and you'd have a classic rock album that sounds.... brilliant!
Ignore all the 'blah, blah derivative this and that' whinging. If you like your rock that sounds cool and bounces along very nicely you'll love this. I bought into The Darkness as an act AND a rock band when they were playing live before 'Permission to Land' was released and this reaffirms why I did with a slap around the face and a cheeky grope for good measure to remind me why.
Just buy it. Period.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By T. Farwell
Format:Audio CD
I've been a fan of The Darkness since Permission to land and was massively dissapointed when they parted ways. The Stone Gods and Hot Leg were all well and good, but neither could hold a torch to The Darkness.
But now, after 7 long years, The Darkness are back to bring proper old school rock back into our lives! The album is everything I hoped it would be. More akin to Permission to land than One way ticket, with a mixture of balls out rock anthems like Everybody have a good time, Concrete and With a woman and epic power ballads like Living each day blind, Forbidden love and Love is not the answer. The whole album is laced with Queen like harmonies, fantastic guitar solos and of course Justin's trademark falsetto.
On that note, I have to re-iterate what other reviewers have said and that is that the BBC bloke clearly has no idea what rock music should sound like!! Justin's falsetto is as on form as ever and certainly not "a horrendous noise", as he puts it! Yes, The Darkness take influences from other bands like Queen and AC/DC, but then if no-one took any influences from anyone else, where would we be!?
If you were ever a fan of The Darkness before, or you are a newcomer who longs for a blast of proper rock in this age of naff pop music, then this is an essential purchase. I'd also urge anyone to go for the deluxe version with 4 extra tracks. The standout being I can't believe it's not love. The Darkness are back and long may they reign! Long live Rock and Roll!!
But now, after 7 long years, The Darkness are back to bring proper old school rock back into our lives! The album is everything I hoped it would be. More akin to Permission to land than One way ticket, with a mixture of balls out rock anthems like Everybody have a good time, Concrete and With a woman and epic power ballads like Living each day blind, Forbidden love and Love is not the answer. The whole album is laced with Queen like harmonies, fantastic guitar solos and of course Justin's trademark falsetto.
On that note, I have to re-iterate what other reviewers have said and that is that the BBC bloke clearly has no idea what rock music should sound like!! Justin's falsetto is as on form as ever and certainly not "a horrendous noise", as he puts it! Yes, The Darkness take influences from other bands like Queen and AC/DC, but then if no-one took any influences from anyone else, where would we be!?
If you were ever a fan of The Darkness before, or you are a newcomer who longs for a blast of proper rock in this age of naff pop music, then this is an essential purchase. I'd also urge anyone to go for the deluxe version with 4 extra tracks. The standout being I can't believe it's not love. The Darkness are back and long may they reign! Long live Rock and Roll!!
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Mr Funt
Format:Vinyl
Do you like rock music? do you have a sense of humour? If you can answer yes to either of these questions buy this album it's awesome! As the other reviewer said please ignore the BBC review it's pathetic.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great album
A great album full of "ear worm" tracks that you find difficult to get out of your head once heard
Published 1 month ago by Lesley Oldfield
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not too gash
This is an album that shouldn't be taken too seriously. If you like their first album Permission to Land then this album will also appeal. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ling
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best album I've listened to in ages!
What a brilliant album!
It's a feel good rock album that's so catchy I found myself singing along on the very first listen! Read more
It's a feel good rock album that's so catchy I found myself singing along on the very first listen! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars
brill!
its just so the darkness, i think alot of pepole just don,t get this album, and so slag it off. it was the same with alot of queen albums at the time, and now there classics!
Published 1 month ago by john oakes
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beyond pantomime and bluster
For those who revel in the sort of smutty humour and catchy riffs as well as being a top-class live act which The Darkness have come to signify, this album marks a stage in their... Read more
Published 2 months ago by S. H. Wong
5.0 out of 5 stars
The trinity is complete!
I live in the U.S. and whatever lousy distributor the band uses here hasn't released this wonderful record on vinyl yet, so I was delighted to be able to order it here. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Quinn McConnell
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Service
Item came very quickly and it was for a present for a family member. They advised it was in perfect working order and very happy with the CD.
Published 3 months ago by Amanda
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hot Cakes
So it appear Justin Hawkins voice hasn't lost any of it range... it's high. The album is actually better than the work of their solo carears over the last 5 years since the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by quizpubbob
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as previous albums from The Darkness.
I have always loved The Darkness, but I was a little disappointed with this latest offering from the Lowestoft lads. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. J. L. O'neill
5.0 out of 5 stars
OK
Great Track, thats why I downloaded it, Sounds Great on my MP3 player, Very quick Download. Would Recommend to anybody
Published 4 months ago by Bernard Mayers
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