Flash back to the year 2003. Emo and punk bands are gaining traction in the mainstream in a way that had never been seen before, and hair metal bands seemed to be all but forgotten. So what was a band like The Darkness to believe in when record labels seemed largely disinterested in signing a band that was such an unashamed throwback to the 80’s hair metal era? The Darkness stormed onto the music scene in the fall of 2003 with a single that made major traction called “I Believe In A Thing Called Love.” The music video was hilariously ridiculous, but the music that accompanied it was a blast of guitar-driven rock & roll that sounded different than anything else on the radio. The single did so well in the United States that the band was able to book a headlining tour of major clubs that largely sold out across the country. The beauty of The Darkness’s debut, Permission To Land, was that the band never took themselves too seriously, and was willing to go all out in their love for the hair metal genre, and re-capture the spirit of the 80’s in an entirely different decade.