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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back
by The Darkness


7.4

based on 24 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 47 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Permission To Land

Official Artist Site

The British band's second album was produced by Roy Thomas Baker (Queen).

LABEL:	Atlantic
RELEASE DATE:	29 November 2005
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Alternative Press

The best Def Leppard album "Mutt" Lange never wrote. [Feb 2006, p.126]

Spin

[A] more toned-down, at times strikingly sincere, follow-up. [Dec 2005, p.104]

Playlouder

It may surprise you, but 'One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back' doesn't suck... at all.

The Guardian

Even the best jokes don't bear repeated listening. A great song, however, is worth hearing over and over again. One Way Ticket... has both, but there's more of the latter than the former.

Blender

Baker... somehow makes them sound more outrageous--and more convincing. [Dec 2005, p.148]

Q Magazine

The same album, only more so. [Dec 2005, p.146]

PopMatters

Unabashedly grand, deliriously enjoyable.

Stylus Magazine

So what if the Darkness are nothing but a bunch of playacting nancy boys. They have an outstanding penchant for hooks [and] write witty and possibly sometimes moving lyrics.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

As long as they can create songs that dance on the razor's edge between clever and stupid, there will always be a place for The Darkness.

Mojo

They're a group that believes in a thing called love. Happily, however, they don't believe in a thing called restraint. [Dec 2005, p.98]

musicOMH.com

I defy you not to enjoy this album.

Pitchfork

The majority of the tricks, however, come off as cosmetic distractions, attempts to hide that Hawkins' songwriting hasn't grown since Permission to Land.

All Music Guide

Not so much a letdown as a comedown, One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back just shows that the giddy highs of Permission to Land aren't so easy to get the second time around.

Rolling Stone

One Way Ticket to Hell . . . and Back is a classic case of a hot band with a hit debut -- 2003's Permission to Land -- running headlong into the sophomore jinx.

Uncut

This is fizzy, superficial pop by a band convinced they're making classic rock. [Dec 2005, p.114]

The New York Times

The riffs aren't as well built as the first album's, nor are the songs' conceits. Still, the album's not a disaster. [28 Nov 2005]

Drowned In Sound

One Way Ticket To Hell...And Back is a sturdy rock album with some saucy titles and odd instruments, but sadly it is less than it could or should be.

Dot Music

Stripped of novelty and goodwill, The Darkness are just a resolutely ordinary band after all.

Los Angeles Times

The challenge in coming back for Round 2 was to make it more than a one-note joke, but the Darkness remains in its Spinal Tap mode for most of "One Way Ticket." [6 Dec 2005]

New Musical Express

This perpetual desire to show off is Hawkins' weakness and 'One Way Ticket..."s ultimate downfall. [26 Nov 2005, p.44]

Prefix Magazine

One Way Ticket to Hell's blandness seems like the perfect example of the difficulties of riding a revivalist routine longer than necessary.

Entertainment Weekly

Without any real scream-along, kick-ass songs, this is just a One Way Ticket to Hell. Period. [2 Dec 2005, p.81]

Drawer B

The weird thing is, without Hawkin's ridiculous vocals, most of these songs would have been sure-fire hits, if only they'd been released twenty years ago.

Tiny Mix Tapes

So the mission statement of this CD is clear; this is a product made by the emotionally and culturally sterile for people who either have no conception of love, depression, or any other emotional state outside of pop culture cliché, or those so desperate for entertainment that they would deceive themselves into thinking the feckless chicanery of this masturbatory ensemble resembles soulful expression in any way.

The average user rating for this album is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 47 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Anon Amose gave it an8:
Not bad at all. It's entertaining if you take the album for what it is supposed to be.

Filmore H gave it a0:
A horrific follow-up to their idiotic first album, fairly stung by the dead-on criticisms of reviewers like Filmore Mescalito Holmes from Tiny Max Tapes, who continually deconstruct and evaluate the album for everything that it tries to be but isn't. You have to be retarded to think this is even listenable.

Daniel V gave it a2:
I liked the band a lot more when I thought they were a bunch of 16 year olds. Now that I have seen the inside of the album I realize that it's just pathetic (and not nearly as much fun as Permission to Land).

Lynden A gave it a10:
A terrific follow-up to their sensational first album, unfairly stung by the misguided criticisms of "reviewers" like Filmore Mescalito Holmes from Tiny Max Tapes, who are continually trying to deconstruct and evaluate the album for everything that it isn't. With the familiar over-the-top antics, screeching guitars and the superbly unique singing voice of frontman Justin Hawkins, this album suggests that, much like some of the reviews written by the unfavourable critics, not everything should be taken too seriously. Rock on.

Chris C gave it a10:
Stunning!! If you like Thin Lizzy and the rock icons of the 70's this album is a must! I'm going to see The Darkness LIVE in Vienna in March. Can't wait!! "Bald" is a Rock Classic!!

Mangle gave it a0:
I liked it better when "Weird" Al did it.

Yiannos G gave it a9:
I don't know what the 'proffesional' reviewers were listening to, honestly. This is an immensely enjoyable album, reminding is just how fun rock can be, and reviving the best Leppard and Queen moments. No fillers at all, but Hazel Eyes and Bald are my current faves

One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back by The Darkness

One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back
by The Darkness