Hot Cakes
Studio album by
the Darkness
Released20 August 2012
Recorded2011–2012
GenreHard rock, glam metal, heavy metal
Length40:39
LabelCanary Dwarf, Play It Again Sam, Wind-up
ProducerJustin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Nick Brine
The Darkness chronology
One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back
(2005)		 Hot Cakes
(2012)		 Last of Our Kind
(2015)
Singles from Hot Cakes
  1. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us"
    Released: 1 February 2012
  2. "Every Inch of You"
    Released: 25 May 2012[1]
  3. "Everybody Have a Good Time"
    Released: 26 June 2012[2]
  4. "With a Woman"
    Released: 2013
  5. "The Horn"
    Released: 25 November 2013

Hot Cakes is the third studio album by British rock band the Darkness, released on 20 August 2012 on Canary Dwarf Records.[3] Produced by Nick Brine and band members Justin and Dan Hawkins, the album is the band's first since their 2011 reunion, and the first to feature founding bassist Frankie Poullain since the release of Permission to Land in 2003. It is also the last album to feature all 4 original members, after Ed Graham's departure in 2014. Despite not being released until 20 August, the album was made available to stream on the Rolling Stone website on 14 August.[4]

Background

In 2011, the Darkness reunited following a five-year break-up, with Poullain returning to the band, replacing his successor, Richie Edwards. Regarding the band's reunion, drummer Ed Graham stated:

I heard a rumour that Dan and Justin [Hawkins] were actually writing songs together again and, having not spoken to them for ages, I emailed them. Basically I presumed that they were going to reform but I didn't really know that I was going to be in it. Then Dan, one day, was in London and he said, "Ed, I'd like to meet with you" and we just had a drink and he said, "we've been writing songs together for months and we've just finally got to a stage of where we really want the original four people, so are you interested?" Which was obviously great.[5]

Composition

The majority of the album was recorded at guitarist Dan Hawkins's home, Leeders Farm, in Norfolk. Discussing the album in comparison to the band's previous two studio albums, Permission to Land and One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back, drummer Ed Graham noted: "I think that we all feel that the second Darkness album is a bit over produced and maybe lost its way in places, a bit. I think we wanted to return to the form we were in; we wanted to make something that was more like Permission to Land than the second album. There are a couple of songs on this new album that are actually really old songs that we played ten years ago when we first formed."[5]

The track "She Just a Girl, Eddie" was written about Graham's ex-girlfriend. Prior the album's release, Graham noted: "Justin's written a song about my ex-girlfriend which is slightly embarrassing. He wrote a song called 'She Just a Girl Eddie' and it's very obviously about the split up with my ex. It doesn't mention her name but I enjoy playing that. It's a good song. I'm not speaking to her so I don't know if she's heard it or not. I'm not sure how she'd feel about it."[5] Justin Hawkins said of the album, "Hot Cakes has a nice raw feel to it like the first album had, with occasional luxurious moments akin to the second. We're proud of the songs and we can't wait for people to hear them. We've been playing a lot of the material from the album in the live set for some time now. Each time we play a new song it feels like a deep powerful thrust in a frenzied love ritual between us and our fans." The album includes a cover of Radiohead's single "Street Spirit (Fade Out)", of which Hawkins said: "We included the Radiohead cover because it has been a live favourite for many moons, and we wanted to release a definitive recording of our interpretation."[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic67/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[8]
The A.V. ClubD+[9]
The Guardian[10]
The Independent on Sunday[11]
Mojo[7]
NME7/10[12]
Pitchfork Media5.2/10[13]
Popmatters[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Uncut7/10[7]

Hot Cakes received generally positive reviews from critics.[16] According to the website Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average review score of 67/100, based on 24 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[16]

Allmusic's Matt Collar wrote a positive review, noting: "Perhaps nobody expected the band to ever match the giddy, karate-kick high of Permission to Land, but the group's comeback album, Hot Cakes, is definitely worthy of throwing more than a few devil horns the band's way."[8] NME magazine stated: "Nothing has changed, except the world's perception of them. Now they are sober, and not in everyone's face all the time, so we can all take them in the good-natured, fun spirit in which they were always intended."[12] The Guardian praised the band's comeback, stating: "If the first chapter of The Darkness' career was book-ended by glittering rise and ignominious disintegration, their return has been a more understated and purposeful affair. [...] Hot Cakes bulges with infectious melodies, blazing leads and strident riffing, Justin Hawkins' unmistakable falsetto adding pathos and silliness in equal measure."[10] Rolling Stone's Chuck Eddy noted: "Hot Cakes stays amusing, mixing beer-barrel chuggers with proud schlock ballads."[15] The A.V. Club's Jason Heller gave the album a negative review, stating: "Hot Cakes marks the point where The Darkness has stopped cannibalizing the golden age of stadium rock and simply started cannibalizing itself. And, despite Hawkins' inveterate crotch-grabbing, there was never that much meat there to begin with."[9]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Every Inch of You"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins3:04
2."Nothing's Gonna Stop Us"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Chris McDougall2:45
3."With a Woman"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain3:41
4."Keep Me Hangin' On"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins3:00
5."Living Each Day Blind"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins5:06
6."Everybody Have a Good Time"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins4:48
7."She Just a Girl, Eddie"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins3:46
8."Forbidden Love"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain3:49
9."Concrete"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain3:52
10."Street Spirit (Fade Out)"Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway3:07
11."Love Is Not the Answer"Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins3:41
Deluxe edition bonus tracks[17]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."I Can't Believe It's Not Love" (acoustic demo)Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins3:43
13."Love Is Not the Answer" (acoustic demo)Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins3:46
14."Pat Pong Ladies" (demo mix)Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain3:58
15."Cannonball" (long version) (featuring Ian Anderson)Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain4:20
Digital deluxe edition bonus material[3]
No.TitleLength
16."Nothing's Gonna Stop Us" (music video)3:02
17."Everybody Have a Good Time" (music video)5:57
Extra Hot Cakes Yuletide Edition bonus tracks[18]
No.TitleLength
16."The Horn"2:53
17."Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)"3:29
18."Every Inch of You" (Live)3:19
19."Black Shuck" (Live)3:31
20."Get Your Hands off My Woman" (Live)3:46
21."Everybody Have a Good Time" (Live)4:23
22."Planning Permission" (Live)3:02
23."With a Woman" (Live)3:41
24."One Way Ticket" (Live)4:13
25."Growing on Me" (Live)3:34
26."I Believe in a Thing Called Love" (Live)4:10

Personnel

The following people contributed to Hot Cakes:

The Darkness

Additional musicians

Recording personnel

  • Nick Brine – producer, engineer
  • Justin Hawkins – producer
  • Dan Hawkins – producer
  • Bob Ezrin – mixing, producer (1)
  • Justin Courtelyou – mixing engineer
  • Joshua Tyrell – recording assistant
  • Owen Morgan – recording assistant
  • Greg Calbi – mastering

Artwork

  • Diego Gravinese – sleeve art, original photograph, digital work, oil painting on canvas
  • Thom Lessner – art direction, concept
  • Rob Chenery at Tourist, London – design, art direction

Chart performance

Chart (2012–13) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[20] 15
Austrian Albums Chart[21] 24
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[22] 124
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[23] 67
Dutch Albums Chart[24] 94
French Albums Chart[25] 107
German Albums Chart[26] 16
Irish Albums Chart[27] 14
Italian Albums Chart[28] 15
Japanese Albums Chart[26] 15
Spanish Albums Chart[29] 51
Swedish Albums Chart[30] 30
Swiss Albums Chart[31] 20
UK Albums Chart[32] 4
UK Rock Chart[26] 1
US Billboard 200[33] 43
US Billboard Hard Rock Albums Chart[33] 2
US Billboard Rock Albums Chart[33] 12

References

  1. ↑ "iTunes Music - Every Inch of You - Single by The Darkness". iTunes Store. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  2. ↑ E&E. ":: The Darkness | Hot Cakes ::". Theactualdarkness.com. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Hot Cakes (Deluxe Version) by The Darkness". iTunes Store. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  4. ↑ Zach Schonfeld. "Album Premiere: The Darkness, 'Hot Cakes'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 DeLaine, Kristy. "The Darkness Interview - Caught in the Mosh". caughtinthemosh.com. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "The Darkness announce full details of new album 'Hot Cakes'". NME. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 "Hot Cakes Reviews, Ratings, Credits and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  8. 1 2 Collar, Matt. "Hot Cakes - The Darkness | Allmusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  9. 1 2 Heller, Jason. "The Darkness: Hot Cakes | The A.V. Club". avclub.com. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  10. 1 2 Lawson, Dom (16 August 2012). "The Darkness: Hot Cakes". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  11. ↑ Price, Simon (19 August 2012). "Album: The Darkness, Hot Cakes (Pias)". The Independent on Sunday. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  12. 1 2 MacBain, Hamish. "The Darkness - Hot Cakes | NME". NME. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  13. ↑ Berman, Stuart (16 August 2012). "The Darkness: Hot Cakes". Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  14. ↑ Ezell, Brice (23 August 2012). "The Darkness: Hot Cakes". PopMatters. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  15. 1 2 Eddy, Chuck. "Hot Cakes | Album Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  16. 1 2 "The Darkness Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  17. ↑ "Darkness: Hot Cakes: Digipack (2012): CD". hmv.com. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  18. ↑ "iTunes Music - Extra Hot Cakes Yuletide Edition by The Darkness". iTunes Store. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Ian Anderson - Interview Exclusive". Uberrock.co.uk. 26 February 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  20. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Discography The Darkness". australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  21. ↑ Steffen Hung. "The Darkness - Hot Cakes". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  22. ↑ "The Darkness - Hot Cakes". ultratop.be. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  23. ↑ "The Darkness - Hot Cakes". ultratop.be. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  24. ↑ Steffen Hung. "The Darkness - Hot Cakes". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  25. ↑ Steffen Hung. "The Darkness - Hot Cakes". lescharts.com. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  26. 1 2 3 "Thank you! Hot Cakes charts worldwide. – The Darkness". Theactualdarkness.com. 28 August 2012. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  27. ↑ Steffen Hung (21 November 2012). "The Darkness - Hot Cakes". irishcharts.com. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  28. ↑ "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Classifiche". Fimi.it. Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  29. ↑ Steffen Hung. "The Darkness - Hot Cakes". spanishcharts.com. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  30. ↑ Steffen Hung. "The Darkness - Hot Cakes". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  31. ↑ Steffen Hung (21 November 2012). "The Darkness - Hot Cakes". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  32. ↑ "Official Charts Company - The Darkness". Archive.is. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  33. 1 2 3 https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-darkness/chart-history/
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