By the time the new millennium dawned, rock and roll was in an odd position. Britpop had come and gone, the so-called garage revival didn't add up to much and electronica had wafted through the vents to cause serious damage. Where was a rock fan to turn? Thankfully, around the turn of the century a group from Lowestoft, Suffolk, U.K. took it upon themselves to bring back some humor, fun and loud guitars.

The Darkness issued their debut single "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" in early 2003, setting the stage for a manic couple of years where they rose from obscurity to become the talk of the music world. Many embraced a sonic attack that blended vintage Queen and AC/DC, with a healthy dose of Monty Python absurdity thrown in: Their debut album Permission to Land sold millions worldwide, spawning four hit singles. Others scoffed at the Darkness' sense of the ridiculous, however, writing them off as some sort of parody or joke band. (Those assumptions stemmed in part from the over-the-top vocal – and fashion – stylings of Justin Hawkins.) For the record, the Darkness were not a joke band, but rather a group with a grand sense of humor.

Unfortunately, their meteoric rise was coupled with a similarly stunning fall, as the clichés of drugs, ego and general fatigue took their toll. By 2006, the Darkness had flamed out. Five years later, however, the band regrouped to pick up where they left off – and since then, the Darkness have continued to provide the kind of rock and roll only they seem capable of in this day and age. Let's take a look back, as we list the Darkness albums in order of awesomeness.

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