Even prior to being signed onto a record label deal, there was a big buzz about The Darkness. They were somewhat of a cult band, but eventually decided to be signed onto Atlantic Records. The result? One of the most popular Rock albums of the decade that went to #1 in the UK, with various hit singles and the like. Although the influence of Rock Music was beginning to commercially wane by this point, this proved that there was still some musical magic to go around at that time. Let’s take a listen to this album, widely regarded as a classic, and we shall hear what it sounds like.

Black Shuck begins with some loud and iconic guitar chords. Eventually, multitracked guitars and drums enter and we are underway. This sounds a lot like AC/DC played on a Gibson Les Paul, to be frank. Still, it kicks the proverbial nicely and sounds really excellent. Singer Justin Hawkins goes between various (yet unoriginal) vocal sections that sound quite different. A good listening experience, especially if you love Hard Rock Music. It sounds quirky and different, although the breaking into falsetto sections really does not sound that good here. The screaming and other quirky Hard Rock sounds are both brilliant and excellent throughout, despite that. It’s a mixed bag vocally. Eventually, in the second half, this launches into a bunch of weird screaming and guitar licks. A very good start to the album, and something that is quite interesting and memorable. The falsetto at the end is brilliant, and this ends with chaotic guitar strums and drum rolls galore.

Get Your Hands Off My Woman begins with loud guitar chords, and thundering basslines and launches into an extremely catchy Grunge-like tune to listen to. A really good and excellent listening experience, with Justin Hawkins’s Deep Purple-styled vocals. A great listening experience that sounds euphoric, different and interesting. It sounds like very promising material here indeed, and this no doubt kickstarted the 2000s in its rocking glory. This is a great song: “Get your hands off my woman, motherfucker!” indeed. There is a swirling organ section before a manic guitar solo at hand, which sounds absolutely fantastic and listening. A very good effort that is less than three minutes long, and a great song that ends with a euphoric lone falsetto vocal. Awesome.

Growing On Me begins with hi-hats, and moody guitar playing and launches into another very good song to listen to. Justin Hawkins launches into the song at hand and sounds really excellent as a singer here. The music here is as good, and this sounds very evocative of the times, being the early 2000s. A thunderous, heavy and driven song about girls and relationships, this is Classic Rock reimagined for 2003. The falsetto vocals here are a strange match for the heavy Gibson-styled guitars, but this song is still highly enjoyable. A monstrous tune with a fuzz guitar solo, this definitely sounds quirky and different. A powerful and memorable tune, along with the rest of the album so far. The outro has an extended guitar solo section that sounds very, very good. A decent tune.

I Believe In A Thing Called Love begins with some distant-sounding guitar riffs and launches into another upbeat and punchy song that sounds really cool and excellent. This is, again, about love and sexual lust which is very, very good. The falsetto present is very weird as well. Towards the midsection are some great guitar licks and some interesting lyrics, “I want to kiss you every minute, every hour, every day. You got me in a spin but everything is okay,” for example. A really awesome and great song, the guitars sound really loud and monstrous. Really cool and different, a mighty guitar solo emerges to surprise you and it sure sounds excellent. Great music throughout, with references to being sexually touched by a partner, this does sound really decent and amazing for what it is. A great, great song. This continues for some time, concluding with a ton of guitar licks and crashing drums. Excellent.

Love Is Only A Feeling begins with some sturdy drum beats and launches into a melancholy-sounding tune that sounds really cool and top-notch. This sounds really different and excellent and is very decent and moving as a song, complete with acoustic guitars galore. This is good and mellow guitar-based music that sounds really good and has barely aged at all, even over two decades later (at the time of writing). It has some absolutely wonderful guitar solos that are deep and moody, before returning to the verses, with what sounds like a Mandolin. A great, great listening experience that sounds driven, interesting and passionate. This may be simple, straight-ahead Rock Music, but it works very well. This is a very euphoric and joyous listening experience that sounds incredibly awesome. An uplifting and powerful guitar solo section is present in the second half of this song, which is cool and sounds sweet. This ends with some guitar chords fading out and a sweet acoustic guitar and Mandolin-styled section to finish. Great.

Givin’ Up begins with some very AC/DC-styled chords and launches into another Hard Rock-styled tune with some glorious singing within. This is simple, powerful and effective listening with profanities galore and some different Rock Music sounds. Very catchy, and very euphoric throughout. This is a rocking tune that isn’t the best of Rock Music, but it has its own appeal to those who grew up in the 2000s. The screaming and guitar playing are really fantastic throughout, and this eventually leads into a dramatic guitar solo that is wailing and screaming in its own way along with the vocals. Very unique and different, these soaring sounds are extremely cool. Fresh and different, this album no doubt appealed to those who like guitar-led music that is very powerful. It ends quickly after three minutes in length.

Stuck In A Rut begins with drums and guitars and sounds very different. By this point, the appeal of the album wears out a bit, but still powers along nicely in its own way. A really weird listen vocally, The Darkness proved that Rock Music wasn’t dead at all. In fact, it was still thriving at that point. The high-pitched vocals are a bit of an acquired taste, however. There is a breakdown in the second half with manic laughing, before launching into an extraordinary guitar solo. This leads to another dramatic section of music that wraps up this song nicely. Great to hear anyway, and very uplifting and euphoric. A great listen. It ends with some loud guitar chords and an interesting finale. Good.

Friday Night begins with some lush guitar playing and launches into a good song that is about memories of high school and sounds really interesting, especially lyrically. This is simple, driven Rock Music that works well and sounds inspired and great. If one can reflect upon their experiences on past memories and put them into a decent song, then this is it. A really cool tune about being young and (relatively) free to do what one needs to do, this does sound really amazing and different throughout. The guitars sound very different and upbeat throughout this song, and it ends in just under three minutes long. Nice tune.

Love On The Rocks With No Ice begins with some pseudo-Fender Telecaster licks that sound very different. Soon enough, this launches into a blistering and energetic Rock tune that sounds magical and glorious. Even though this is a lengthy tune, it retains interest and attention throughout it all. A really solidly cool and awesome listening experience that makes some perfect sense to the listener, the high-end vocals here are wacky and different, especially in the chorus. Channelling old school and legendary Rock singers such as Robert Plant, Justin Hawkins proves himself to be a glorious singer to listen to. This is Hard Rock for those born as millennials to enjoy. It sounds fairly sludgy, but it is entirely supposed to be so. A glorious guitar solo is here just after the midsection, proving that The Darkness could amaze and surprise, at least on this album. Really cool and amazing, this sounds spectacularly good musically. This song proves that, although The Darkness was only really remembered for this album, it is a monumental and wonderful musical statement from start to finish. Further along in the second half are more blistering guitar solos that sound super awesome. These Gibson Les Paul-sounding guitars are really fantastic to listen to. Soon enough, this has a supersonic ending with some awesome vocals, before a sonic rush of the rest of the band finishes this all up. Sweet, and very suspenseful, too. The ending is very surprising and dramatic indeed. Good work.

Holding My Own begins with some crash cymbals and guitar arpeggios over some introductory vocals, and we are underway. This is really fantastic music from the start, and the music is again, different and wonderfully so. The singing present, in particular, is really different and awesome to hear. This is a moody ballad that sounds quite loud and crunchy musically in the chorus, and this music present is memorable and has aged only a little bit since its release. To be fair, this is not the best Rock album ever, but it does have classiness and melody to boot. In any case, this is another good song that sounds magical and dramatic, through and through. A really cool tune to listen to. The second half has more of an instrumental solo section to go, along with some interesting harmonies that commence before a heroic guitar solo. Really cool and sweet, these guitars evoke Guns ‘N’ Roses in their own way (i.e. Slash’s playing, of course). A fantastic listening experience that is moving and a crowd pleaser, this sounds extremely good. There is a really awesome guitar solo to finish this off that sounds brilliant. Nice work boys, the outro is pleasant sounding.

Makin’ Out is the last song on this album and begins with hi-hats and some AC/DC-styled licks that sound really excellent. Crashing and crunchy chords enter, and this brings the album to a good closing song. Really fresh and different, this is obviously about lust for a lady out there, with the unusual high-octave vocals and Hard Rock guitars. A good tune, and not a dull moment here on this part of the album. A good tune for high school teens who express sexual desire interestingly and differently in a musical sense. The guitar solos sound interesting, and keep the flow and momentum of the album going nicely. A cool tune with a ton of guitar soloing that sounds really cool and great, this has a great climax before the chorus that is repeated to finish up this song. Wired and electrified, The Darkness finish up here with some hi-hats and a dramatic, Zeppelin-esque outro. Nice.

This is a very good album to listen to. Of course, there have been better albums in the history of music in general, but if you dig weird and sexually driven Hard Rock, then this is a good starting point if you want something that is 21st-century based. Any flaws? Some of the songs are fairly average and this isn’t the most original sounding music out there. Still, should you listen to this album? If you like Deep Purple, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy, this will be a great listen for you, although non-Rock fans may wish to avoid this one.

A decent album for what it is.

7/10