The board's server will undergo upgrade maintenance tonight, Nov 5, 2014, beginning approximately around 10 PM ET. Prepare for some possible down time during this process.
FAQ    Search

Board index » Word on the Street » Other Bands




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 131 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 3, 4, 5, 6, 7  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Sun November 21, 2021 7:40 pm 
Offline
She / Her
 Profile

Joined: Sun January 26, 2020 12:10 pm
Posts: 10794
Location: Warwickshire, UK
bada wrote:
I would call them a serious hard rock band with a sense of humor. They aren't making fun of the genre or being ironic. It's real and authentic but self aware and unpretentious. They aren't Steel Panther, Dread Zeppelin or Weird Al. I mean maybe if Werid Al's entire catalogue was all songs like Dare To Be Stupid. A real new wave song that just happened to also be funny? Like Ms Harmless said the humor in the lyrics is a added benefit its the musicianship that hooked me. As weird as it is to say about a guy with a 80's metal falsetto something about the phrasing and tone of Justin vocals genuinely moves me sometimes.


yeah, I definitely wouldn't have been hooked just because it was funny; you can get that humour down the pub here; "Permission to Land" was just front to back great songs, which showed a ton of respect for good classic rock as a genre


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Sun November 21, 2021 11:39 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077

Nov 18, 2021
00:00 Intro
03:12 Welcome Tae Glasgae
06:34 One Way Ticket
11:35 Growing On Me
15:41 Eastbound
22:24 Open Fire
26:56 Sticky Situations
32:23 Givin' Up
36:19 It's Love, Jim
40:00 Black Shuck
44:57 Heart Explodes
49:49 Friday Night
53:07 Love Is Only A Feeling
57:56 The Power And The Glory Of Love
01:04:44 Solid Gold
01:10:09 Motorheart
01:15:24 Barbarian
01:21:16 Get Your Hands Off My Woman
01:33:45 I Believe In A Thing Called Love
01:38:48 Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Mon November 22, 2021 6:13 am 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Sun March 12, 2017 3:06 pm
Posts: 11733
I really liked 'Growing on Me' and 'Love is Only a Feeling'. 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' pisses me off, though. I can't help it.

_________________
LoathedVermin72 wrote:
soulseek 4 lyfe


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Mon November 22, 2021 12:31 pm 
Offline
She / Her
 Profile

Joined: Sun January 26, 2020 12:10 pm
Posts: 10794
Location: Warwickshire, UK
"I cannae wait tae be in ye Glasgae!"

one of my favourite Englishisms is "...I am in you!" whenever we go to a new city


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Wed November 24, 2021 6:42 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
Hey somehow I missed that they made a video for this song!



Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Fri November 26, 2021 12:56 am 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
Since learning as a member of Gen X one of my defining characteristics should be ranking things and making lists I figure its time to count down from worst to first my favorite Darkness albums. I figure I'll post one a day so at least the thread stays on the front page for another 7 days before it hibernates again until the next album in hopefully two years from now.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Fri November 26, 2021 1:00 am 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
07 Easter is Cancelled

Image

Easter is Cancelled is probably the oddest album in The Darkness discography. Balled heavy and rather subdued it features several songs that just don't move my needle. Rock and Roll Deserves To Die, Heavy Metal Lover and We Are the Guitar Men aren't bad songs they just aren't that good either. Deck Chair is a fun little interlude I suppose. Choke On It is a cool rocker if a little obvious. It's not all underwhelming. The seemingly autobiographical (I say seemingly cause what do I know?) Live 'Til I Die has some genuinly sweet, funny and heartfelt lyrics ecpecially about Justin's dad. Heart Explodes and In Another Life are both effective ballads. The title track is pure fire and finally How Can I Lose Your Love is the albums best track and probably one of my favorite Darkness songs ever. Featuring amazing lyrics/vocals a blistering guitar solo and massive riffage it's a can't miss. The B-Sides Laylow, Different Eyes, Confirmation Bias and Sutton Hoo are easily the most underwhelming of their career. Out of the 14 tracks (that I know of) released from these sessions only 5 really hit making it my least favorite Darkness album.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Fri November 26, 2021 3:10 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
06 Pinewood Smile

Image

The first album to feature drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor son of Queen drummer Rodger is a tough one for me. You could make a real argument that this album should be at the bottom of the rankings. I'm constantly swinging wildly back and forth over the quality of All The Pretty Girls, Solid Gold, Why Don't the Beautiful Cry and Southern Trains. Are they awesome or annoying? Ask me everyday and you'll get a different answer every day. Lay Down with Me, Barbara is an intriguing track that has really grown on me over the years. It almost has a Pinkerton Weezer vibe I couldn't really describe, defend or explain if pressed. It just sounds Weezer(y) to me. Good Weezer(y). The solo is pretty fantastic. Stampede of Love is a bit of an unfortunate song. There might be a level to the lyrics I'm not getting but it feels less like the typical Darkness weirdos unite vibe and more punching down. It's a rare misstep. Gee it sounds like I don't really care for this album. Thing is it features 4 of my favorite Darkness tunes. I Wish I Was in Heaven and Happiness and pretty much perfect pop songs. Buccaneers of Hispaniola and my absolute favorite Japanese Prisoner of Love, a song about a incarcerated man comparing his life behind bars to his previous life, are prime examples of why it can be so hard to categorize the Darkness. The songs jump back and forth between surprising heavy riffage (the Darkness can get pretty heavy) catchy as hell verse/chorus dynamics while also being hilarious. If they are a joke band how can they rock this hard? If they are a heavy rock band how can they be so funny? I don't know what the hell the Darkness are honestly. Finally the B-Sides are blah. Well Rock in Space is kinda fun in the Queen Flash Gordon realm but Uniball, Rack of Glam and Seagulls (Losing My Virginity) are bonus tracks for a reason. There is really little separating this album from Easter Is Cancelled for me but the tracks I do love here I really fucking love. Has there ever been a better lyric than this? Sentenced and sent to the big house/Jumpsuited, shaven and de-loused/Solitarily confined, taken by force from behind/By a stunning white supremacist named Klaus. The answer is no.


Last edited by bada on Tue November 30, 2021 8:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Fri November 26, 2021 4:27 pm 
Offline
AnalLog
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:48 pm
Posts: 1479
Motorheart is their best record in a while...I was not much of a fan of the two before it


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Fri November 26, 2021 6:13 pm 
Offline
She / Her
 Profile

Joined: Sun January 26, 2020 12:10 pm
Posts: 10794
Location: Warwickshire, UK
MattA75 wrote:
Motorheart is their best record in a while...I was not much of a fan of the two before it


I haven't been a big fan since Permission to Land, but yeah this album is scratching some of those same itches


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Fri November 26, 2021 7:38 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
I was going to do one a day but I seem to be the only person working today and I'm bored.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Fri November 26, 2021 7:54 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
05 One Way Ticket To Hell...and Back

Image

I had a hard time choosing between two albums for this spot. In the end One Way Ticket To Hell...and Back was the choice because it effectively broke up the band. All the cliché boxes were checked. Creative Differences ✓ Substance Abuse ✓ Band Members Fired ✓ Label Interference ✓ Spending a Million Pounds on the Album ✓ Sophomore Jinx ✓ What about the songs though? Well they're pretty good. The production. Amazing....maybe too amazing. The rawness and excitement of the their debut was replaced with a sort of laybored perfection. The title track about Justin's issue with the bugger sugar which went on to be a concert staple is a standout as is Dinner Lady Arms a Hysteria era Def Leppard-esque mid tempo classic. Is It Just Me? should have been a homerun but here the production seems to suck a lot of the excitement out of the song. It's just a little sterile. Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time is a decent ballad. Bald is another personal favorite about a rock star who realizes he's losing his hair. The fact that its supposedly about Bono still makes me laugh. Knockers is enjoyable as is Girlfriend. I can only imagine Justin was loaded on coke when they came up with Hazel Eyes and English Country Garden. I'm sorry but Blind Man has never done anything for me. The B-Sides? Awesome. Should they have been on the album proper over other songs? Probably. Wanker and Shake (Like A Lettuce Leaf) are fun as hell. I always want to say Grief Hammer is average but the chorus is endlessly stuck in my head. Finally I love Shit Ghost. The solo alone is worth the price of admission. It's not a bad album at all. In fact I kinda love it but in the end it along with the issues behind the scenes cost the world 7 years of the Darkness.


Last edited by bada on Tue November 30, 2021 8:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Fri November 26, 2021 8:29 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
04 Hot Cakes

Image

The reunion album. After 7 long years the Darkness returned. The years between did yield the Justin Hawkins project Hot Leg and the Dan Hawkins, Ed Graham and former Darkness tech and touring bassist Richie Edwards Stone Gods releases. All worth checking out. The opening single Nothin's Gonna Stop Us hit me in all the right spots. After the high production of One Way Ticket To Hell...and Back this track seemed to take the band right back to its roots. The getting back to its roots sentiment makes sense when it was announced it it was an old song dating back to before their debut. With bassist Frankie Poullain back the guys choose to start with an old song that had no chance of starting a fight. It was safe and that seemed to be the theme throughout. The songs are all good....but safe. The AC/DC-esque chuggers Every Inch Of You and Everybody Have A Good Time are straight forward anthems seems tailor made for the live setting if a little unchallenging. The ballads Living Each Day Blind and Living Each Day Blind are up to scratch as are all the rockers With A Woman, Keep Me Hangin' On, Forbidden Love and Concrete. I keep wanting to say solid for these songs. Solid Solid Solid. The album also features a cool cover of Radiohead's Street Spirit (Fade Out) though it lacks the manic energy of a prior take from the Permission To Land era that floated around the internet. I'll admit I was a little disappointed it was a different version on the album. The real gem is She Just A Girl, Eddie. A heartfelt attempt by Justin to cheer up drummer Ed who was having relationship problems. It's really a very sweet song. Hot Cakes was a crucial album in rebuilding the relationships within the band. I've listened to it a million times. I love it but if I'm completely honest if I was making an ultimate Darkness playlist it might be a little light on Hot Cakes tracks. Oh wait the B-Sides. Well they are...sorry solid. You have I Can't Believe It's Not Love, an acoustic version of Love Is Not The Answer along with Pat Pong Ladies and Cannonball. Which leaves us with The Horn. This was an internet only single at the tail end of the Hot Cakes album cycle. It my friends slays. I'll admit I never heard the word horn used as a euphemism but it only takes a moment to figure it out and I was rolling. Funny, heavy and typically self aware its a great song.


Last edited by bada on Tue November 30, 2021 8:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Fri November 26, 2021 9:07 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
03 Last of Our Kind

Image

The first time I heard the lead single Barbarian I was gobsmacked. An absolute blazer about the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok complete with war cries and spoken word passages. Yes please may I have some more? Then they hit next with Open Fire built around a Cult type riff that is way better than any Cult song I ever heard with bendy sexy guitar fills by Justin. The title track is a triumphant call to arms for all the Darkness faithful followed by Roaring Waters a heavy ass sequel to Barbarian. Wheels Of The Machine, Mighty Wings and Mudslide impossibly somehow maintain the momentum of the opening salvo of tracks culminating in the feel good Sarah O'Sarah. They probably should have stopped there. Hammer & Tongs and the Frankie Poullain sung Conquerors are mostly forgettable. Fear not the B-Sides are killer. Messenger, I Have Always Had The Blues and Million Dollar Strong all could have been proper album tracks. Million Dollar Strong specifically has a funny opening that I thought was from some Mike Myers skit but its actually Justin. Finally the Christmas single I Am Santa is appropriately festive. Check out the video if you can. After the safe Hot Cakes the fellas threw the kitchen sink at this one. Great album.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Sat November 27, 2021 2:26 pm 
Offline
She / Her
 Profile

Joined: Sun January 26, 2020 12:10 pm
Posts: 10794
Location: Warwickshire, UK
looking forward to Permission to Land being at #1


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Sat November 27, 2021 2:38 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Rank This Poster
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:47 pm
Posts: 4187
Ms Harmless wrote:
looking forward to Permission to Land being at #1


Their good album
That 2nd album was a let down

_________________
When the sadness in you meets the sadness in me let's start changing our lives.


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Sat November 27, 2021 7:33 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
02 Motorheart

Image

I don't know. Maybe it's recency bias. Maybe I'm being prisoner of the moment. Could the most recent Darkness album nearly 20 years after their debut really be #2? Yeah I really think it is. Welcome Tae Glasgae is pure joy. Probably their most fun opener since Black Shuck (perfect opener by the way). It's Love, Jim is a banger. I'm usually pretty good and hearing which brother is playing which part and I'm pretty sure its mostly Dan here. His tends to be more economic and rhythmic. He used to be a drummer so he sorta bangs out his guitar lines. Really works here. When I first saw the video for the title track I thought it might be a little heavy on the schtick. However barreling down the highway with it blasting it really works. Justin pulls out the slide for what I think is the first time on a Darkness track. The outro is kind of haunting. As with most of the album he seems to be creating characters and not really singing from his point of view. The Power and the Glory of Love (clever title) is probably my least favorite song in that unlike the others its not a homerun but a double or a triple [edit: I changed my mind I love this song]. Jussy's Girl is another song whose title plays on a classic 80's pop song though the actual song bears no resemblance. It's one of the best tracks on the album you can really hear the longing in the vocals. In interviews Justin said he didn't want any ballads on this album after the ballad heavy Easter is Cancelled and the bummer that was the global pandemic. Sticky Situations seems like a ballad to me. A really great one! Once again Justin pulls out the slide for an epic solo. I love the trippy breakdown in Nobody Can See Me Cry. Eastbound has the boys channeling Thin Lizzy in really the only way they can. It just makes me happy. It might be my favorite. Speed of the Nite Time shows the unique attribute the band shares with Queen. They can really do anything. Crossing genres sounds perfectly natural. I know I just said Eastbound might be my favorite but it could be this one....or Jussy's Girl....no Welcome Tae Glasgae....I can't decide!!!! It's a great album. The B-Side You Don't Have to Be Crazy About Me...But It Helps is pure Aerosmith. Super funky. I sorta dismissed It's a Love Thang (You Wouldn't Understand) on first listen but after subsequent listens I kinda love it. So Long is another deviation from the norm for the band. It's beautiful. I should have had a more prominent role on the album. Finally we have Age of Darkness. Not sure how to describe that one. It's an experience. So yeah....they did it. An amazing album at a point in their career when most bands are out of gas. I don't see any reason why it can't continue and that is great news in a time where we seem to get only bad.


Last edited by bada on Thu December 02, 2021 12:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Sat November 27, 2021 10:32 pm 
Offline
She / Her
 Profile

Joined: Sun January 26, 2020 12:10 pm
Posts: 10794
Location: Warwickshire, UK
Motorheart at #2! yeah big agree


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Mon November 29, 2021 3:31 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077
01 Permission To Land

Image

I met my wife (to be) in late 2003. We hit it off like you read about. Everything was perfect except....we had almost nothing in common musically. She listened almost exclusively to to Top 40. I listened to everything....ANYTHING...else. Amazingly the one thing we could agree on was Permission To Land. We played that album to death for nearly a year. So to me as corny as it sounds the music of the Darkness is the sound of falling in love. God that's embarrassing. It's a perfect album....a desert island record....if my plane was going down I'd want it to be last thing I heard. There are 20 songs (that I know of) that were officially released from these sessions and every one is essential.

Black Shuck named after the family dog and the mythical creature of folklore is a perfect blast off. Get Your Hands Off My Woman Motherfucker are words I think most everyone has felt in some variation. I'll admit I totally missed the potential STD angle of Growing On Me until I read about it. I think its a great strength of the band that you can take the lyric like you got the best of me in you or I'm holding my own as innocent or dirty based on your mood. I Believe In A Thing Called Love is THE SONG from the album and probably forever their most well known and beloved. Hyperbole maybe but Love Is Only A Feeling is one of the greatest power ballads of all time. Givin' Up and Stuck In A Rut are a one/two knockout punch. Friday Night maybe the best track on the album. A wonderful nostalgic slice of life as a kid that seemed kinda lame at the time but looking back it was glorious. Love On The Rocks With No Ice is the song you play your macho metal buddies who think the Darkness suck and you elicit a begrudging "yeah pretty good" out of them. It's epic. Finally Hold My Own nearly matches the majesty of Love Is Only A Feeling. A great capper.

The B-Sides. Ten of them! Bareback is a AC/DC stomp that they used as a concert warmup. Makin Out and Physical Sex make you question why they didn't save these songs for the next album. The Best Of Me is one of if not my favorite Darkness song. The solos are almost life affirming. If only that music came out of my fingers when I played guitar. Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) is a modern Christmas classic. How Dare You Call This Love! and Out Of My Hands are just lovely. Planning Permission is a sweet song about building a house for two. I'm tempted to say the final two I Love You 5 Times and Curse Of The Tollund Man are skippable but they are fun. Not officially released but floating around during the time was an early take on the Radiohead cover Street Spirit (Fade Out). It's raw and superior to the version we got on Hot Cakes.

So 21 songs I hope eventually make their way onto a inevitable 20th anniversary box set that is sure to arrive in 2023. I can't wait!


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Love Is Only a Feeling --- The Darkness Thread
PostPosted: Mon November 29, 2021 4:57 pm 
Offline
User avatar
I've been POOSSTTIiiEEnngeeaahh
 Profile

Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:53 pm
Posts: 12077


Top
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 131 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 3, 4, 5, 6, 7  Next

Board index » Word on the Street » Other Bands


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 30 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
It is currently Thu March 28, 2024 8:11 am