I rediscovered a treasure trove of old CDs I haven’t listened to in years the other day. It’s strange to think that a twenty-pound CD book now can’t hold half of what an iPod nano can. It’s fun to take the walk down musical memory lane. This book is a snapshot of my life in my late teen years and on into college, and I’ve thrown it back into my passenger seat for old time’s sake. My Eagles Greatest Hits album came in handy on a road trip this weekend, and I remembered the first time my Dad played “Hotel California” for me on his turntable as I crossed the Central Valley, watching sagebrush whiz by. It’s all in there — Blink 182, Brian Setzer, The Cranberries. I’ll even confess my guilty pleasure in the Backstreet Boys.

One oddball discovery was Permission to Land by The Darkness. Remember them? They were the ones with the awesome music videos for “Growing on Me” and “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” It was an atypical find because it wasn’t from high school or college. In fact, it’s one of the last physical CDs I ever bought for myself, way back in 2004. They were so goofy and fun, bringing back the glory days when rock music was about sticking it to The Man and partying while you do it. They had me hooked when I saw their video featuring them defeating evil space monsters with the glorious power of their rock. I loved it all — the terrible jumpsuits, the capes, the big hair . . .

They were a stunning panopoly of rock and roll; the costumes mixed Metallica hair with Bowie glam. The vocals that alternately channeled Freddie Mercury, Ric Ocasek, and Dennis DeYoung. Guitar licks that channel Queen, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, and the Rolling Stones. Drums that are the hippie love child of John Bonham and Mic Fleetwood. You’d think that they would be the quintessential face-melting lords of Rock and Roll that Jack Black could only pray for in his wildest dreams.

But when listening to the album as a whole, you can really hear why they didn’t last. And why they broke up. Justin Hawkins, lead singer of The Darkness, was higher than a kite on a cocaine and alcohol addiction throughout his brief tenure as frontman. It’s a real shame to think of what he could have done if he had been sober enough to pen some better lyrics, pronounce them in an intelligible manner, and realize that the idiotic falsetto he couldn’t say away from ruined otherwise perfectly rockworthy vocalizations. It’s really hard to take the guy seriously when he’s singing “get your hands off of my woman” in shrieking vibrato. I wanted Queen, not Queen of the Night.

The same two tracks that helped them hit it big are, no surprise, the only two that are really listenable several years down the road, with the addition of “Love is Only a Feeling” as an overlooked power ballad. “Growing on Me” and “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” are unique in that they have intelligible, fun-to-sing-along-to lyrics, and a tasty blend of prog and classical instrumentation with a poppy Queen-meets-The Cars vibe on the vocals.

The Darkness could have been . . . well, they could have been rock gods. Which probably explains why the remnants of the band are resurrecting as the band Stone Gods. They’ve just released a few tracks on iTunes, and are beginning a tour. I hope that they turn out to be the band that The Darkness never was. If they lay off the coke, they stand a good chance.

In the meantime, I’m listening to a different goodie I unearthed that has much more satisfying replay value. The Journey: The Best of Adiemus by quirky British composer Karl Jenkins never gets old, and his music makes perfect listening-at-work material. His is an interesting concept; compose orchestral and vocal music that is influenced by sacred cantatas, world music, and romantic symphonies. But there are no lyrics to speak of. It’s euphonic music, with sounds chosen for their aesthetic and expressive value rather than any fixed meaning. Usually I think that kind of crap is for artsy wankers, but this is unpretentious and focused, so it really works. The voices of the singers are layered over one another dozens of times, and the effect is breathtaking. I’ll be using them to be in a Zen place while I hope Stone Gods turn out to be the Rock and Roll deities I’ve been praying for to come and rescue music from the sad sack Emo state it’s in at present.