After seven years off, these Brits bounce right back on "Every Inch of You," the kickoff to Hot Cakes. Justin Hawkins cheekily tells his backstory: surviving on the dole till Led Zep changed his life, becoming "an Englishman with a very high voice, doing rock & roll." Hot Cakes stays amusing, mixing beer-barrel chuggers with proud schlock ballads. Sneakiest trick: going full-on metal... with a Radiohead cover.

Click to listen to The Darkness' album 'Hot Cakes'

“Everyday People”

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.