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The Darkness: Justin Hawkins (vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer); Dan Hawkins (guitar); Frankie Poullain (bass); Ed Graham (drums). Recorded at Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire, England and Paul Smith Music Studios, London, England. Pouncing onto the British music scene like the hyperactive spawn of the late-1970s hard-rock scene, the Darkness unveiled their 2003 debut, PERMISSION TO LAND, to great success in the UK. Led by unitard-wearing, falsetto-brandishing vocalist/guitarist Justin Hawkins, the group revels in the kind of pop metal once made famous by Def Leppard and Whitesnake, boasting big guitar riffs and driving rock rhythms. The band's not-so-secret weapon is Hawkins himself--an irrepressible, high-kicking frontman who gleefully unleashes lyrics such as "a nimbus of blue light surrounds a crimson paw" in a voice that ranges from a growl to a wail rivaling Queen's Freddie Mercury or Judas Priest's Rob Halford. Although the Darkness may come across as tongue-in-cheek metal revivalists, they're entirely sincere on soaring power ballads such as "Love Is Only a Feeling" and "Holding My Own." And when Hawkins screams out "guitar!" before the guitar solo in "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," there's no mistaking the intention of these energetic British lads--they've come to rock.
