> What could be more perfect then a spinal tap like experience that also 
> rocks at the same time?
> Mb
> Np The Masked marauders
> 
> LONDON (Reuters) - Flamboyant British metal band the Darkness moved closer 
> to realizing the holy grail of British rock -- "cracking America" -- when 
> their debut album went gold in the United States.
>   
> 
> The glam rockers, whose camp lead singer Justin Hawkins has been compared to 
> Freddie Mercury (news) and Aerosmith (news - web sites)'s Steve Tyler, have 
> sold more than 500,000 copies of "Permission to Land" in the United States, a 
> spokesman said on Friday.
> 
>  The Darkness's album, which has sold 1.3 million copies in Britain, is now 
> 36 in the U.S. Billboard chart, and most of the group's upcoming 18-date U.S. 
> tour had sold out, the spokesman added.
> 
>  Earlier this month, the band's dedication to previously unfashionable 
> relics of rock history, such as big hair, wailing guitar solos and novelty 
> Christmas records, was rewarded with three Brit awards.
> 
>  But as Robbie Williams (news), Oasis and others have shown, much-lauded 
> British acts often struggle to translate domestic acclaim into success in the 
> United States.
> 
>