{"id":22414,"date":"2012-09-24T07:59:42","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T12:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=22414"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:24:07","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:24:07","slug":"the-darkness-hot-cakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/the-darkness-hot-cakes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Darkness | Hot Cakes<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by John Kindred<\/span>
\n– Publisher —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"TheThe Darkness arrival in 2003 heralded the return of campy, if not pompous, tongue-in-cheek hard rock wrapped in a visage of decadence, while backed up with serious chops and playing ability. The band was glammed out and quite far out in left field when compared to what was happening in rock at this time. The band\u2019s bravado simply declared, \u201cLove or hate us; either way you can\u2019t ignore us.\u201d While their debut Permission to Land<\/em> delivered infectious rockers like \u201cFriday Night\u201d and \u201cLove on the Rocks with No Ice,\u201d the heavy ballad \u201cI Believe In a Thing Called Love\u201d or the defiant \u201cGet Your Hands Off My Woman (expletive here),\u201d Justin Hawkins\u2019 falsetto vocals didn\u2019t sit quite right with everyone, but The Darkness certainly did something right, as Permission to Land<\/em> sold more than three million copies.<\/p>\n

Where the debut shined, 2006\u2019s follow up, One Way Ticket to Hell … And Back<\/em>, was a less-than-spectacular affair. Selling less than its predecessor, the album was produced by Roy Thomas Baker, who is known for his work with Queen. The album didn\u2019t have the same spark; maybe the band was trying too hard to recapture the magic of the first album. It wasn\u2019t long before the train derailed, and the wheels came off. Justin Hawkins soon departed the band due to drugs, alcohol, ego or whatever, and the group continued on, renaming the band to Stone Gods. Hawkins started his own group, Hot Leg, with little fanfare. 2011 marked the return of The Darkness with original members Justin and Dan Hawkins, Ed Graham and Frankie Poullain. Taking the group out on tour, first appearing at the 2011 Download Festival, which preceded their winter tour, the preparation for releasing a new album with the original band was soon underway.<\/p>\n

So, here we are in 2012, and The Darkness\u2019s third studio album finally has hit the store shelves. Titled Hot Cakes<\/em>, the syrupy cover depicts three bikini-clad women, lounging seductively on the top of pancakes, drenched in \u2013 yep, you guessed it — syrup. The album comprises 11 songs, one of which is a cover of Radiohead\u2019s \u201cStreet Spirit (Fade Out).\u201d One can only proclaim, from the album cover alone, that The Darkness is back. <\/p>\n

Hot Cakes<\/em> deliver the satire we have become accustomed to from these four Brits. Musically, influences from \u201870s rockers like Thin Lizzy, Queen, Led Zeppelin and AC\/DC ooze forth, with a respectful tip of the hat by the band. The twin axe attack serves a rhythmic sense, much like Lizzy or AC\/DC, as the Hawkins brothers play off each other. Justin Hawkins still takes his voice to stratospheric extremes, as we have become accustomed to. Yet, for those excursions, he delivers catchy vocal melodies. The background vocals are huge, harmony-driven affairs, aka Queen-esque. At times, the vocals are bigger and ballsier than the riffs over which they are being sung.<\/p>\n

Honestly, the first listen of Hot Cakes<\/em> won\u2019t reveal the musical genius of the album, as one needs time for the syrup to seep in. Plenty of infectious melodies are built into each song. Infectious sing-along songs like \u201cNothing\u2019s Gonna Stop Us\u201d or \u201cEverybody Have A Good Time\u201d hold true to the caricature of the band. And if you had any doubt, \u201cEvery Inch of You\u201d hammers it home. \u201cForbidden Love\u201d is Justin Hawkins\u2019s best attempt at pulling off a Freddie Mercury Queen-inspired tune. \u201cStreet Spirit’\u201d is one the heaviest tracks on the CD. <\/p>\n

The band is fun, whimsical and cheeky, yet they deliver honest and heartfelt rock \u2018n\u2019 roll and not the comedic, cankerous trash dealt out by Steel Panther. The band believes in its image and its presentation. For them, it\u2019s not a joke: it is what The Darkness genuinely is about, which revels in the decadence and excesses of the \u201870s and \u201880s. Love it.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJustin Hawkins \u2013 vocals, guitar
\nDan Hawkins \u2013 guitar
\nFrankie Poullain \u2013 bass guitar
\nEd Graham \u2013 drums<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. Every Inch of You
\n2. Nothing\u2019s Gonna Stop Us
\n3. With A Woman’
\n4. Keep Me Hangin\u2019 On
\n5. Livin\u2019 Every Day Blind
\n6. Everybody Have A Good Time
\n7. She Just A Girl Eddie
\n8. Forbidden Love
\n9. Concrete
\n10. Street Spirit’
\n11. Love Is Not The Answer<\/p>\n

Label: Windup Records<\/p>\n

Web: http:\/\/www.theactualdarkness.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by John Kindred – Publisher — The Darkness arrival in 2003 heralded the return of campy, if not pompous, tongue-in-cheek hard rock wrapped in a visage of decadence, while backed up with serious chops and […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[336,1103,5220,6113,6112,334,4058],"class_list":{"0":"post-22414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-hard-rock","9":"tag-hot-cakes","10":"tag-justin-hawkins","11":"tag-permission-to-land","12":"tag-review","13":"tag-the-darkness"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}