DARE – The Power Of Nature

The guys in Dare gave this crowd at the Munich Deep Impact Festival of last year a great time. The listeners of this new album called The Power Of Nature get to ride on that crowd’s enthusiasm. This is a very good production and a great recording of a live show … surprisingly good. It is not like they put forth an effort to give this band a unique sound, but it isn’t hard to tell that this guys have been playing a lot of live shows, like when they were the opening act for Europe during their touring in the late 80s.

Darren Wharton and his boys were performing a good show on stage, if the CD-listener is to believe the shouting from the audience in the background of the album. Darren really knows how to write a decent song for every Dare fan out there. Of course, it’s not Melodic Rock or even AOR. It’s just simply — Dare!!! The album has good balance instrumentally, and the vocals and the audience are dead on. Nothing awkwardly stands out, because none of the elements overwhelms another.

The history of this band’s music can be split into two groups, the debut album Abandon, an AOR classic, and the 90s and onwards output that is Symphonic/Atmospheric Rock. This album they touches both genres. In other words, Dare played a great mix of old school and new school songs on The Power Of Nature live album. They also rocked through cuts like “We Will Return,” “Silent Hills,” and “Song For A Friend (The King).”

The vocalist, Darren Wharton, holds the audience enthralled through the show. It seems that the crowds follows him willingly wherever he wants them to go. All his power is flowing off his aura into the audience. This power feeds him vocally, and most of the songs are filled with that energy. Darren sets his own course … Melancholic Rock with a very Celtic touch, and a lot of space for his nice voice and arrangements.

The live sound of the band is good. The only downside is that in couple of the cuts the drumming is too vague. It’s like the sound is drowning behind the guitar, bass, and keyboards. But mostly, this band truly is a sign of someone completely comfortable in what there are doing. The sound quality is strong and the band sounds tight.

All in all, this is a good live album … the only thing missing may be some songs with more power, but the Dare fans won’t give a damn. Also, this live recording is also available on DVD now. The DVD contains a previously unreleased video clip to the song “Deliverance,” as well as an interview with Darren Wharton. Both the CD and the DVD were released in April 2005.

Lineup

Darren Wharton (Vocals)
Andrew Moore (Guitars)
Gavin Mart (Drums)
Richard Dews (Guitar)
Marc Roberts (Keyboards)