Looking back to 2003, the one album that should have been guaranteed an early grave was The Darkness’ Permission To Land. This was a time when the US modern rock charts were flooded with a very milky and flavourless strain of hard rock, dispensed by the likes of Staind, Trapt, Chevelle and Nickelback, while the dreaded indie landfill scene was kicking into high gear in the UK. Along came this band from Lowestoft — singer and guitarist Justin Hawkins, his brother Dan on lead and rhythm guitar, bassist Frankie Poullain and drummer Ed Graham — wearing bloody catsuits and treating their newfound fame with all of the restraint of Keith Moon at an open bar. Justin’s falsetto — piercing, hyperdramatic and unrelenting — left both critics and fans trying to work out whether The Darkness were serious or if it was all some elaborate satire where the band were the only ones clued in to the joke.
Speculation fell to the wayside when their debut dropped. Released on July 7, 2003, its seismic power was beyond question. A flamethrowing fusion of 70s glam, 80s power metal and the sleazy boogie of AC/DC, Permission To Land dropped bangers in between bangers. From the hurricane force of Get Your Hands Off My Woman and Black Shuck to the perfect pop stylings of I Believe In A Thing Called Love to the deeply-literal power ballad, Love Is Only A Feeling, Permission To Land offered an exhilarating and supremely fun alternative to all of the angst and introspection clogging up the rock charts. They wouldn’t be pigeonholed and they certainly wouldn’t be stopped. Permission To Land scooped up awards by the truckload, launched the band onto the world’s biggest stages and made The Darkness a household name. Here are ten behind-the-scenes facts about Permission To Land.
