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Baker's Dozen

Growing On Me: Justin Hawkins Of The Darkness' Favourite LPs
Valerie Siebert , March 26th, 2013 10:57

The Darkness frontman rifles through his racks and decides on the 13 long-players closest to his heart

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Foreigner – Foreigner 4
Well Mutt Lange produced that one and obviously he produced Back In Black and Highway To Hell and loads of other albums that I really love. But Foreigner 4… well it’s wrong to like it, but it’s just so good! It’s really synthy and really poppy. It’s got ‘Waiting For A Girl Like You’ and ‘Urgent’ and loads of really big songs which all sound just like Mutt Lange. I love Mutt Lange and I love Foreigner, so really it’s my ultimate album. The way Lou Gramm sings is just so earnest, as if his life depends on it, but when you actually listen to what he’s saying, it’s really trite. So singing that like his life depends on it makes things kind of uncomfortable to actually analyse what you’re listening to, but it feels really good in the moment. Out of all the Foreigner albums, this and Double Vision are the ones I always come back to a lot. I once bought an Agent Provocateur t-shirt ironically and then worked my way back from there (laughs). Got the t-shirt, THEN bought the album and bought the one before that, and loved it!