The Darkness – Crock of Hits (2xLP, Red & Yellow Vinyl)

The Darkness's Crock of Hits is the band's first personally curated best-of, pulling together a career-spanning selection from all eight studio albums. That gives this set a useful shape: it starts with the 2003 breakthrough of Permission To Land and reaches through to 2025's Dreams On Toast, which climbed to No. 2 on the UK album chart. Rather than a label-assembled overview, this one reflects how the band themselves want that story told.

The selections underline what has kept The Darkness distinct for more than two decades: high-wire falsetto vocals, big theatrical guitar riffs, and a sense of humour that never gets in the way of the hooks. Early staples like "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" and "Love Is Only A Feeling" sit alongside later cuts from albums such as Motorheart, showing that their glam-metal charge didn't stop with the debut. The inclusion of "Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)" also reminds you how comfortably the band have always balanced novelty, bombast and genuine pop craft.

On vinyl, Crock of Hits works as more than a recap. Spread across 2xLP, it makes room for the band's bigger choruses and full-throttle pacing while offering a generous entry point for anyone coming to The Darkness beyond the early singles. If you want one record that maps the band from their chart-bursting arrival to their later fan favourites, this does the job with plenty of swagger.