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The Darkness
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Mijarra



Joined: 28 Nov 2000
Posts: 1564
Location: Pennsylvania

PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2003 6:59 pm    Post subject: The Darkness Reply with quote

I picked up their debut CD after reading about them in a guitar mag. They are kinda an '80s throwback type band, maybe comparable in sound to like Tesla meets AC/DC. I found the actual music fantastic. However, how can I explain this....their singer is quite clearly insane. He has a good voice when he tries. He has three voices he uses most often...a midrangy raspy type voice, an almost Mark Slaughter-ish high voice, and then there's the third. He goes for this weird falsetto, opera-like, yodeling in the Alps kind of thing in almost every song. It reminds me of the mountain climber game on the Price is Right. IMO, this ruins the entire band, making them essentially unlistenable. Without this silly vocal thing he does they would be a huge breath of fresh air in the hard rock scene, but with it they are just a joke.

Very disappointing, because as I said, I think their music itself is great, and the guy does have a good rock voice. I just don't understand the silliness with the high falsetto. If I'm just "not getting it" someone please set me straight, but I think it just ruins the whole band.
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chrisbjackson



Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 52
Location: Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:42 pm    Post subject: The Darkness Reply with quote

melodicrock.com, giving this record an average grade, wrote in part in its review:

[i]If they had a different singer, or had vocalist Justin Hawkins refrain from those way over the top falsetto notes, they would be a better band in the eyes of the many I'm sure. But probably one without a record deal! That's the sad reality of music these days – labels, management and media love and angle, and Justin's kooky vocals are a very definite angle to exploit.[/i]

Did you catch [url=http://www.hardradio.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=0 10118]this recent thread[/url] and the article linked in it? I get the feeling that mainstream music critics refuse to like old-school hard rock/metal unless they can latch onto a feeling of irony from the bands playing it.
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JosephC



Joined: 26 Apr 2000
Posts: 1074
Location: Middleton, WI

PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:59 pm    Post subject: The Darkness Reply with quote

I'm kind of interested in hearing it. I've never been opposed to hair metal and actually found a lot of it to be really damn entertaining. It got a bad rap because the majors signed every hair band they could find once the genre got hot, which ended up destroying it because 80% of those bands sucked. But the early ones that got signed on merit (Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Ratt, Dokken), those were some damn good bands.

Anyway, the other great thing about seeing some new hair bands actually make it is then I could hear some good, crankin' guitar music when I go to my favorite gentlemen's club. Because let me tell you, listening to Motley Crue is much prefered over listening to dance/rap crap when you are watching your favorite entertainer.
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JosephC



Joined: 26 Apr 2000
Posts: 1074
Location: Middleton, WI

PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2003 8:02 pm    Post subject: The Darkness Reply with quote

[b]"weird falsetto, opera-like, yodeling in the Alps kind of thing"[/b]

Bon Jovi did this at the end of every song on the first Bon Jovi CD. Not yodeling, but definitely the falsetto thing. But only at the end of songs (during the fade-out) and only on the first disc. The record label/producer must have told him to knock it off once they got to the second record because he never did it after that. Good thing too, because it was annoying.
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Wyvern



Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 2214
Location: Costa Rica

PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2003 8:37 pm    Post subject: The Darkness Reply with quote

I was driven to them by some good reviews in an English nespaper some weeks ago, but after I heard the guy singing, I run like hell...to the other side.

Sad because they seem to have the right rock orientation.
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The Dorf



Joined: 11 Feb 2001
Posts: 1165
Location: Baltimore, MD

PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 1:12 pm    Post subject: The Darkness Reply with quote

At first, I didn't like the Darkness song being played on the radio, but I'm starting to tolerate that annoying falsetto singing. Besides, IMO hearing bands like The Darkness, The Strokes, The White Stripes, and Jet is a refreshing change from all the one-chord (c)rapping and whining "I can't take it anymore, everything is coming down on me" bullsh*t that is being played WAAAAAY too much on the radio. It's time for some fun in rock n roll again.
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Paul G



Joined: 05 Jan 1999
Posts: 860
Location: Toronto Ontario Canada

PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 1:15 pm    Post subject: The Darkness Reply with quote

I think this band is a riot and a breath of fresh air, does anyone else remember when rock music was "FUN", I'll take The Darkness over the shoe gazing everyone hates me and I hate the world bands, that stuff blows.
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woosta



Joined: 12 Mar 1999
Posts: 780
Location: PA

PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 3:25 pm    Post subject: The Darkness Reply with quote

Let's all just keep in mind that because a starving man finds a shit sandwich in the desert, it doesn't mean that the shit sandwich is a delicacy or even good for that matter.

Same with this song. Just because it's refreshing to hear a riff on the radio means very little about this song on it's own. I'd venture a guess that if you played a mix of 100 proper metal songs and this was thrown in the mix, it wouldn't stand a chance except to say "that one that sucked so bad" when referring to it.
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Tyrannorabbit



Joined: 04 Oct 2000
Posts: 3985
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 5:00 pm    Post subject: The Darkness Reply with quote

I don't mind this band at all, I think they're a hoot.

Kind of in the same category as Lullacry, though nowhere near as good - candy-coated pop. Though this band has more of a novelty factor due to the wacky vocals.
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