v3x ------- {{ Hello Darkness My Old Friend }}

ONE WAY TICKET (The Darkness, Album review)

2005-11-30

,./Piece of World]--(Smap))
Smap's Triangle and The Darkness' ONE WAY TICKET came today, I'll review both of them.

ONE WAY TICKET - THE DARKNESS
After listening carefully to the whole album, one would say:
These guys are Queen on Drugs man~!!!

Yes, The Darkness has moved on to a more broadway musical style, not extrememly pretty. However, the album does, ultimately, proove the genius that is The Darkness.

Note: The Darkness lyrics are GREAT, so if you can't really catch the wordy stuff, it'll seeem slightly repetetive.

One Way Ticket
Drama meets the Darkness. The Darkness meets ACDC's Shook Me All Night Long and T.N.T. I guess it was deliberately made to be the opening title for the album, otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen this as the opening song. The guitar riffs surprised me cos it was a progression I simply did not think it'd be. The dark opening makes you think, oh, must be metal, but then out comes a happy classic rock song.
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How to Play (I'm only giving the chords, please listen to the song for rhyt):
Verse1: B5 B5 B5 C#5 C#5 C#5 G#5 B5 A5
Pre chorus: B A5 E5 (then 4th time: B A F#
Chorus: G# A B B
Verse2: B5 B5 B5 C#5 C#5 C#5 E5 B A

Knockers
Gosh, you need to listen to the lyrics to have a good laugh.
"I LOVE WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO YOUR HAIR"
Country Rock.

Is it just me?
Classic Rock meets Bored to Tears? No, "Is it just me" is an awesome fun-to-play song. Some how, for all their songs, the efx are pretty fucked up sometimes, I don't like that much delay and reverb.
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How to Play (I'm only giving the chords, please listen to the song for rhyt):
F F A F F A#
A#A#D A#A#D#
D#D#G D#D#G#
Picking shapes SHOULD be the same so that it's easier to play.

To have and to Hold: F GG FG, G AA GA

Chorus:
C C D D
A#A#F F
C C D D
(picked)A# A F# A# A F# A# A

Dinner Lady Arms
I like the way the song is written, though it's very commercial poprock. The melody for this song, is absolutely AWESOME, genius? genius? Finger Tappin' solo! Very nicely structured song, though the tom fills do piss me off. haha, yet again, mob song. "Put your A A A A AAAARMSS around me~~~~~"

Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Times
Song with Orchestral Arrangement, it's somewhat like "Love is only a Feeling." I would still chose LioaF over SLaGIatT.

Hazel Eyes
I think this is the CRAZIEST song on the whole album, I simply love listening to it. Somehow, it sounds really oriental, while being a song bout some girl from SCOTLAND, dude, for once, bagpipes sound like music to my ears. It's soooo fun to listen to. You don't need to speak English to like this song, though the opening sounds like a remix of "Colors of the Wind", just sit through it and let the fun begin. The music really depicts the EXACT mood of what's happening, and that's what I think is the magic of The Darkness. AAA~~~ :D

Bald
This is the darkess, most sinister, song on the whole album. And we all love it. This is the ultimate Mob Song, it's got the mood and it's got the easiest mob lyrics to remember. I love this song, evil as it may be. I'll just have to wait for someone I know to be bald before I can sing this song. Oh by the way, the fade out was incomplete and the skip to the next track is abrupt and it's an ugly glitch i wish they had fixed before publishing this album.

Girlfiend
The first thing that stuck me was Justin Hawkins, not singing properly!
The the orchestra for this song is so extremely 60s... :D, I think this is the ultimately song guys would wanna sing when their GF dumps them for some absurd reason. 'tis a very funny song :D. His "HAHA" at the end of the song is something to listen for.

English Country Garden
Bohemian Raphsody just became Heavier Rock. Another song whereby I can CLEARLY picture what the Music Video would look like. Though I doubt they'd make one. Oh gawd, what the heck does Jardin mean???!!! This song is fun too, argh, Darkness fever. You get into their fun loving mood and the music never stops.

Blind Man
Sad sad song, sad song. Got some of "Friday Night"'s structure. If you've got not patience, I hardly imagine you sitting through this song.

Overall, considering the fact that this is most likely a promotion album for their concert, it's awesome, I can't wait to watch their concert on DVD or something, cause the way the songs are written, there's no doubt their concert will be the most awesome event in a long time. Though they are borderlining on the edge of being TOO commercial in their attempt of reviving classic rock, The Darkness has kept the core of their style intact. Like their previous album there are the small number of tracks I may not really enjoy listening to, but this album is more of Queen drama and Classic Rock than their previous onslaught of Metal and Rock, therefore to compare "One way ticket" to "Permission to Land", my opinion would be biased.

For new fans, they would love The Darkness as much as I did when I first got their "Permission to Land" album. Therefore, my conclusion is that, though The Darkness has pretty different approach to this album, the overall outcome still is on par with previous excellent releases. To The Darkness we Salute!

(You need to be patient with some of the songs)

TRIANGLE - Smap

Triangle
I have never once doubted that Smap has good composers and musicians. Triangle is pretty much a song about family. I like the chorus build up, ah, the sweet chemistry of it all. How we enjoy songs that flow. This is song, however, is too slow for comfort. Finally after 17years I think Smap is perfect. However, Takuya's voice is weakening, he doesn't have as much power in this song. Amazing vocals delivered by Nakai, I think he deserves to be admired for his perserverance and hardwork.

Piece of World
"I'm giving you a piece of the world"
Nice, meaningful song yet again. Piece of World is slow, but it doesn't make you sick, it's very Japanese pop sounding, and has a very LionHeart feel to it. Takuya doing slightly better on this track, (2:27 "AA~", very bad Takuya!) but still, maybe the guy's getting old too fast. Very enjoyable song, very good vocals, FINALLY!

I used to think smap was kinda hopeless cos they were just pretty boys singing out of time or tune sometimes. Well, if you are like me, check 'em out again, finally, sometime nice to listen to. :D

][LUCIFER]the[psycho]
-(.infestation. evo)-

@ 22:41