And to be honest no one wins….. I love them both as live acts more than their recorded stuff. I’m not sure why Justin would pick this fight. I just hope Dave Grohl responds…
Justin Hawkins of The Darkness takes on the sacred cow that is Foo Fighters
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Justin has grown a beard so that he doesn’t look like your mam.
Without a beard, Dave G merely looks like Alanis. So the FFs win.
Hawkins trying to earn a crust off clickbait before taking permanent residence in the Where Are They Now? file. Bit desperate really.
he’s right though……pointless but right
Agreed.
The FF are quite good as a greatest hits act.
Not much else
The Darkness on the other hand are a joke. 2 good songs if that
They make music that sounds like the joke tunes they used to do on Spitting Image at the end
I’d actually quite to hear them do The Chicken Song, The Atheists’ Tabernacle Choir, or better still the Suede parody ‘Are You Getting Old Or Are We Shite?’
I agree with him. Dave Grohl seems like the nicest guy in rock but ye Gods the Foo Fighters are stodgy and boring. I would see The Darkness live anytime over the Foos. Those Justin Hawkins clips are interesting. He has a pretty good understanding of (and affinity for) pop and is quite insightful.
And Grohl has never written a lyric to compete with:
I hit that M74
I’m heading for
The city that I
Truly adore
The women are gorgeous
And the food is ok
I cannae wait tae be in ye Glasgae
Seen them both live and the Foos were better by miles. The Foos really put on a show, are tighter than a ducks arse and can turn their hand to anything. Live The Darkness are hamstrung by being all about Justin, and while he can entertain, he can’t carry the whole gig. Dan’s a much better guitarist but no front man.
“Permission To Land” is better than any individual Foos release – it’s a cracking album – but as each new Darkness album proves it was a one off, and it’s been downhill creatively and in popularity. Dan Hawkins Stone Gods have come closest to the majesty of their first album. The Foos albums spread the good stuff more thinly, but there’s more there overall.
This is the correct answer.
There is more going on with the Foo Fighters than The Darkness.
One trick ponies (done very well) versus several trick ponies with more chops
The Darkness haven’t been the same since Den Dennis left.
Drop me out of any video comprised of a man with an acoustic guitar explaining proper songwriting 😵
FF are a situation specific band for me.
Listening to them in the back yard? Not so much.
Barreling down the Interstate, bright blue skies, windows down and sun roof open? Very much yes.
I saw the Darkness by accident in the room above a Norfolk pub a year or two before they were signed. They were hilarious as they took their early-70s-Queen template so bloody seriously. You’re not Freddy Mercury at Wembley, mate, you’re a bloke from Lowestoft in a room above a pub on the Norfolk Broads.
They were at least memorable, at I suppose.
My friend Sarah was probably there. She used to go out with Justin.
Perhaps the band’s music was what split them up, she was definitely an indie chick.
Did she pinch anyone’s biscuits?
No, but she sat on an amp. The bass amp, at that. I don’t know why.
*blinks*
Surely not. For shame. More of this sort of thing etc
The same attitude propelled Oasis to fame and fortune, after all – “toniieeeeght, I’m a rock n roll star…. Yes mate, the toilet’s downstairs”
Permission to Land is both (a) probably rubbish, and (b) one of my more regularly listened to albums. The first Foo Fighters album is (a) brilliant, and (b) not something I ever bother listening to. I guess what I’m trying to say is these acts are a bit divisive. Justin is obviously trolling DG in the hope of getting a response, given that DG is a master of that kind of stuff.
Can’t blame him for trying.
To remind myself I just listened to The Darkness debut and second album.
Great fun, don’t have to try too hard, derivative and obvious. Style over substance. I still came away unsure if they were serious or taking the pass.
Would I listen again? Yes
The Foos? Much like Queen and Quo, they just “are”. Always an enjoyable listen, but one I may not actively seek out.
The Foo Fighters have never been a sacred cow as far as I am aware. They’ve always stood in the shadow of Nirvana in terms of critical acclaim. Massively popular but rather sniffed at by those who think they determine these things.
Right. Music dads are generally perfectly comfortable slagging off FF because they’re safe FM rock bought in skiploads by normies.
I like about 5 Darkness songs, and I like those ones very much. I like considerably more FF songs (the whole of the first two albums, one or two from each album since).
I’m unclear why Lowestoft’s finest and only successful rock star needs to take aim at this particular target, except that nobody buys Justin Hawkins records any more, and the former standby for a headline-thirsty has-been rocker slagging – i.e. hip hop – is a lot harder to pull off these days.
(You mean you’re 100% clear why he needs to etc. – ed.)
This pretty much sums up my view. Which makes me proud as I am considerably older then the Hedgemaster.
Hmm … at the end of the vid he actually tips hat to FF no? I don’t see any dis at all or am I mistaken?
That confused me as well. He doesn’t actually criticise them at all in this video, despite the headline! A bit weird.
I agree. Whereas DG is almost universally acknowledged to be A Thoroughly Good Chap, and with good reason, the Foos are rarely held up as the very best musically, even by most of their fans. Like Queen (who both FFs and Darkness frequently tip a hat to) they have a cracking greatest hits but little else to trouble civilians, and apart from some songs on Wasting Light, nothing new to touch anything on their Best Of since it came out. However, they will always have a two-hour show full of these greatest hits, so Dave and the boys have no worries.
Hawkins seems nice enough but I find his arguments wooly at best. And, as I said above, if you’re putting provocative title pictures on YouTube like ‘What’s so Great about Adele??’ with a photo of you pulling a face, you’re chasing clicks, not mustard-keen to share a unique insight.
I “saw” The Darkness supporting The Stones in 2003 at Wembley Arena. Spent the whole time in a bar though chatting to a nice Japanese lady
Foo Fighters are boring as shit. The Darkness are, as stated above, a bad joke. Would not willingly assault my ears with either band.
Dave Grohl’s a very nice man. Everybody knows that. Justin Hawkins seems an OK bloke.
That is the sum of my feelings on this.
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