The Darkness – One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back

Okay, let me get this out of the way right now: I hate The Darkness. I can not stand that idiotic single I Believe In A Thing Called Love. I hate it, despise it and switch it off whenever it starts playing. I can’t stand Justin Hawkins’ vocals or his arrogant rock personality or his entire persona. All in all, I hate The Darkness. So that’s why it was such a surprise to discover that I actually truly enjoyOne Way Ticket To Hell… And Back.

It’s weird, because I probably shouldn’t like this half-hour CD, I really shouldn’t. But there’s something in there that attracts me to it, over and over again. In reality, all it is is cheesy, glorified, stadium rock about sex, sex, sex, going bald, sex, death, and even more sex all topped off by Hawkins’ signature high pitch squeals and guitar solos. And yet, for some reason, I still enjoy it. I’ve had it on repeat for almost six hours now, and with each spin, I start to like it a little bit more.

The quick little guitar solos start to stick out. Hawkins’ normally annoying vocals, actually start sounding good. He really does have an incredible range – throw in the contrasting back up vocals by Richie Edwards and Dan Hawkins and you’re set. You find yourself smirking at the immature rock lyrics (“Oh Christ, I’m Enticed I want You In My Sack. You’re Potty-Mouthed And Brassy, Anything But Classy. I’ve Just Got To Get You Back” – Knockers) and even start to connect to him as he reaches out to you with his voice (particularly on the chorus for Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time).

Although on principle, I still want to say that I hate Justin Hawkins and The Darkness, I’m sorry to say I can’t anymore. One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back is a great glamour rock record that is extremely entertaining. They may still be arrogant ass holes, but at least now they have a CD that I can enjoy anytime.