The Darkness: Permission To Land [ATLANTIC]

Why you'll love it

This Atlantic reissue comes in a gatefold jacket with a printed lyric inner sleeve and a poster. Permission to Land spent four weeks at No. 1 in the UK and sold over 1.4 million copies there.

This edition

• Gatefold jacket
• Printed inner sleeve with lyrics
• Poster included
• Pressed in Germany
• Stereo mix

About the album

In 2002 four lads from Lowestoft in catsuits had the music business scratching its head. They were booked to play London's Astoria before they had a record deal, so the fans had clearly made up their minds already. Atlantic signed them, and Permission to Land went to No. 2 in its first week before climbing to the top.

Justin Hawkins' falsetto, twin guitars and riffs the size of a stadium carry the whole thing. "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" hit No. 2 on the UK singles chart and is about as joyous as rock gets, "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" and "Growing On Me" strut, and "Love Is Only A Feeling" is a proper power ballad. "Black Shuck" takes its name from the ghostly black dog of north Suffolk folklore, a nod to the band's home turf, and Pedro Ferreira produced, mixed and engineered it with a big, polished sheen.

It reached No. 36 on the Billboard 200 too, and for a while the catsuit was the most important garment in British rock. We keep one behind the counter for emergencies.

Also at Kops: more The Darkness on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Atlantic / Must... Destroy!!, a reissue of the 2003 album.