Permission to Land

Permission to Land
Studio album by The Darkness
Released 7 July 2003
Recorded Chapel Studios, South Thoresby, Lincolnshire; Paul Smith Music Studios, London
Genre Hard rock, glam metal
Length 38:09
44:56 (Japanese deluxe edition)
Label Atlantic
Producer Pedro Ferreira
The Darkness chronology
Permission to Land
(2003)		 One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back
(2005)
Singles from Permission to Land
  1. "Get Your Hands off My Woman"
    Released: 24 February 2003
  2. "Growing on Me"
    Released: 16 June 2003
  3. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"
    Released: 22 September 2003
  4. "Christmas Time"
    Released: 15 December 2003
  5. "Love is Only a Feeling"
    Released: 22 March 2004

Permission to Land is the debut studio album released by British hard rock band The Darkness. The album was released in the United Kingdom on 7 July 2003 and in the United States on 5 August 2003. The album topped the UK Albums Chart[1] and reached number thirty-six on the American Billboard 200 chart.[2] Five singles were released from Permission to Land: "Get Your Hands off My Woman", "Growing on Me", "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" (which only appears on the German Christmas edition), and "Love Is Only a Feeling". "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" was the most successful, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart.[1]

History

The band were directed by manager Sue Whitehouse, who had managed them since Justin Hawkins' time as a creator of music jingles and their original band days as Empire. The band were renowned for their live shows from very early on, and such was the popularity of the band, they had a Carling Homecoming gig booked for the London Astoria before they had even signed a record deal. The band already had music industry interest from their days as Empire through connections with Sue Whitehouse, who was based at Savage & Best in Camden. Joe Taylor, Aled Jones and Paul Scaife at The Tip Sheet first heard about the band through a post on The Tip Sheet message board, and featured Love is Only a Feeling in January 2002. They started Record of the Day, and featured the song again around the time of SXSW in March 2003. They wanted to feature Friday Night, but they were told the band was saving it for an album.[3]

According to A&R Nick Raphael in an interview with HitQuarters, there was no initial clamour to sign the band, "There couldn’t have been less of a buzz, and only two record labels showed any interest in them."[4] He believes the reason for lack of interest was that "The business as a whole thought they were uncool. In fact, people were saying that they were a joke and that they weren’t real."[4] As part of Sony Music UK, Raphael had attempted to sign them but the band instead opted to go with Atlantic Records.[4]

Permission to Land, went straight up to number two on the UK Albums Chart upon its release on 7 July 2003, before going to number one and staying there for four weeks, eventually going on to sell 1.5 million copies in the UK alone.

Recording

The band took inspiration for some of their work from the local north Suffolk area surrounding their home town, Lowestoft, including "Black Shuck", which mentions a fictional dog which supposedly haunts the church of the nearby village of Blythburgh. "Stuck in a Rut" also mentions a set of roads known as the "Barnby Bends", and the "Acle Straight", both of which are prominent routes between Lowestoft and Beccles and Norwich and Great Yarmouth respectively. The band recorded an interview for MTV Japan, which discusses the inspiration behind these songs, as well as featuring self-filmed footage of their home town. This features on a bonus DVD included with the Japanese deluxe edition of the album.

Awards

Justin Hawkins at Finland, Ankkarock

The success of this album led to heavy touring for the band, including European portions of Metallica's Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003. They then went on to headline the Carling Festival in 2004. The band won three BRIT Awards in 2004 in response to the album, Best Group, Best Rock Group and Best Album. They also won two Kerrang! awards in 2004 for Best Live Act and Best British Band. The third single from the album, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", was a substantial hit in the UK as was their tilt at the Christmas 2003 number 1, "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)", which only just fell short, both singles reaching No.2 in 2003.[5][6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Blender[9]
Robert Christgau[10]
Entertainment WeeklyD[11]
The Guardian[12]
Mojo[13]
NME7/10[14]
Pitchfork Media8.4/10[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
Uncut[17]

In addition to its chart success, Permission to Land also provided The Darkness with two high-profile music awards; Best Rock Album at the 2003 Kerrang! Awards[18] and Best British Album at the 2004 BRIT Awards (at which they also won the awards for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act).[19] Permission to Land was voted 49th in the 50 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century in Kerrang!. Permission to Land was later referenced in the song "Whichever Way You Wanna Give It" by lead singer Justin Hawkins' other band Hot Leg. In 2005, the album was ranked number 356 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[20]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Ed Graham, Dan Hawkins, Justin Hawkins and Frankie Poullain. 

Standard edition
No. Title Length
1. "Black Shuck"   3:20
2. "Get Your Hands off My Woman"   2:46
3. "Growing on Me"   3:29
4. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"   3:36
5. "Love Is Only a Feeling"   4:19
6. "Givin' Up"   3:34
7. "Stuck in a Rut"   3:17
8. "Friday Night"   2:56
9. "Love on the Rocks with No Ice"   5:56
10. "Holding My Own"   4:56

Personnel

The Darkness
Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (2003) Peak
position
Danish Albums Chart[21] 40
Dutch Albums Chart[22] 30
Finnish Albums Chart[23] 17
German Album Charts[24] 19
Irish Albums Chart[25] 2
Norwegian Albums Chart[26] 13
Swedish Albums Chart[27] 8
UK Albums Chart[1] 1
Chart (2004) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[28] 17
Austrian Albums Chart[29] 40
Belgian Albums Chart[30] 59
French Albums Chart[31] 62
Italian Albums Chart[32] 16
New Zealand Albums Chart[33] 5
Swiss Albums Chart[34] 59
US Billboard 200[2] 36

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[35] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[36] Platinum 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[37] Platinum 15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[38] 4× Platinum 1,500,000[39]
United States (RIAA)[40] Gold 710,000[41]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Artist Chart History - Darkness". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Artist Chart History - The Darkness". Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  3. ↑ "Success Stories". Record of the Day. 1 February 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 "Interview With Nick Raphael", HitQuarters, 25 May 2005.
  5. ↑ "UK Chart Stats – The Darkness – I Believe in a Thing Called Love". Chartstats.com. 13 December 2003. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  6. ↑ "UK Chart Stats – Singles Chart for week up to 27 December 2003". Chartstats.com. 27 December 2003. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  7. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/music/permission-to-land
  8. ↑ Phares, Heather. Permission to Land: The Darkness at AllMusic
  9. ↑ Nov 2003, p.110
  10. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "CG: The Darkness". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  11. ↑ Brunner, Rob (15 August 2003). "U.K. Corral". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  12. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline (4 July 2003). "CD: The Darkness: Permission to Land". The Guardian (London).
  13. ↑ Aug 2003, p.98
  14. ↑ http://www.nme.com/reviews/11343.htm
  15. ↑ Plagenhoef, Scott (9 October 2003). "Permission to Land: The Darkness". Pitchfork Media.
  16. ↑ Kemp, Rob (10 September 2003). "The Darkness: Permission to Land". RS 932. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007.
  17. ↑ Sep 2003, p.97
  18. ↑ "The Darkness rock Kerrang! awards". BBC. 22 August 2003. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  19. ↑ "Brits 2004: The winners". BBC. 17 February 2004. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  20. ↑ [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 67. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
  21. ↑ "Discography The Darkness". danishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  22. ↑ "Discografie The Darkness" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  23. ↑ "Discography The Darkness". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  24. ↑ "charts.de". Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  25. ↑ "Discography The Darkness". irish-charts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  26. ↑ "Discography The Darkness". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  27. ↑ "Discography The Darkness". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  28. ↑ "Discography The Darkness". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  29. ↑ "Discographie The Darkness" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  30. ↑ "Discographie The Darkness" (in German). belgiancharts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  31. ↑ "Discographie The Darkness" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  32. ↑ "Discography The Darkness". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  33. ↑ "Discography The Darkness". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  34. ↑ "Discography The Darkness". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  35. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  36. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – The Darkness – Permission to Land". Music Canada.
  37. ↑ THE FIELD id (chart number) MUST BE PROVIDED for NEW ZEALAND CERTIFICATION.
  38. ↑ "British album certifications – The Darkness – Permission To Land". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Permission To Land in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  39. ↑ Lisa Wright (28 April 2015). "Justin Hawkins On How His Troubled Band The Darkness Survived 'Sadness, Drama And Trauma'". NME.
  40. ↑ "American album certifications – The Darkness – Permission To Land". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  41. ↑ Nicholas Browne (18 October 2008). "Hawkins Legs It Out of Darkness". Billboard: 42.

External links

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