The Darkness - Hot Cakes [Bonus Tracks] Review

So this will be probably be quite a short review. This is a review of the 4 bonus tracks that came with the deluxe version of "Hot Cakes". Because there's only 4 tracks, there's not much point in giving it a numbered rating. Just refer back to the "Hot Cakes" review for that 9/10 rating.

01 I Can't Believe It's Not Love (Acoustic Demo): The first song starts off with clapping, tambourines, and acoustic guitars. This song has featured in The Darkness' live shows for a while, but was never officially released. Until now! In an acoustic version. The bass on this song sounds rather southern-ish. The bridge (or it could be a solo, I can't really tell) has some interesting parts going on in it. Most noticeably, a distinctly non-acoustic guitar playing in the background. 

02 Love Is Not The Answer (Acoustic Demo): The beginning of this song sounds fairly similar to the normal version of it. But then Justin Hawkins sings a little differently on the pre-chorus. There's some very good guitar harmonies in the background of the pre-chorus as well. The solo for this song is pretty well transposed onto an acoustic guitar. 

03 Pat Pong Ladies (Demo Mix): This must be a song that didn't quite make it onto the album. The harmonies on the phrase "pat pong ladies" sounds really good. I'm pretty sure there's someone singing very high behind Justin Hawkins' vocals. This is just a first listen, but I can kind of see why it didn't make the album. It doesn't quite stand out like "Love Is Not The Answer" or most of the rest of that album. But there is a good "na na na na" sing along bit towards the end of the song. And a pretty cool solo at the end. 

04 Cannonball (Long Version): I think this one has also been appearing in live shows for a while too. But the normal version may have been released as a B-side at some point, which I haven't heard either. This does sort of sound like it may have come from the "One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back" sessions, which was a few years ago. So that would be why it doesn't really sound like any other songs on "Hot Cakes". The chorus actually sounds quite like Def Leppard. Oh there's pan pipes on here. It must definitely have come from the "One Way Ticket..." sessions. The bridge in here is actually really cool. I wonder if that's the bit that makes it the long version. Because there's a lot of stuff going on and it would be very difficult to play that part live.

Well the bonus tracks are pretty cool if you're a big Darkness fan. If this is your first album, I wouldn't really bother with the deluxe edition, but it's fine all the same. The highlight of these bonus tracks was the acoustic version of "Love Is Not The Answer".