Danish band D-A-D, formerly known as Disneyland After Dark and D:A:D respectively, is a veteran act in the Danish rock scene, one of the most well know rock bands that hails from Denmark and something of an institution in their national scene. Their success outside of their own borders have been mixed, but they do have an international fan base even if they never really had a breakthrough in any of the main music markets. To celebrate the bands 30 year long career as recording artists the compilation “30/30/30” was released by German label AFM Records in 2014, the concept being 30 songs and 30 hits made in the last 30 years.
Just how much a double CD of hit songs can tell us about a band is an open question. The selected tracks are presumably a mix of commercially successful individual songs and fan favorites, but as they add up to 2 CD’s worth of music by a band with a grand total of 11 studio albums to their name they should give us a strong feel for what this band is all about. And one fact that becomes crystal clear when listening through this selection of material is that D-A-D is a band that have always sought to develop themselves and their sound, for better as well as for worse.
The cuts from their first few albums reveals a band that one one side have a somewhat loony side to them, creating edgy, punk-tinged affairs with strong ties to Americana sounding instrument details and garage rock, resulting in material comparable to good, old The Cramps. But when creating material of a more orderly manner, the Americana sounding rock they create is of the kind that reminded me rather strongly of Wall of Voodoo at times, with odd stories of the kind Stan Ridgway might have penned, and music that also has a slight touch of R.E.M to it.
From those initial forays the band shifts into a more of a hair metal tinged general expression for a bit, while the next phase, coinciding with an attempt to break through in the US, consist of material with a toned down version of boogie rock AC/DC style, pretty much material made with the same general building blocks employed, but explored in a smoother manner. Just as vibrant as the originals, but with more of a rock than a hard rock expression.
Following their failed attempt at making it overseas, D-A-D then shifted over to a harder edged, vibrant and powerful hard rock sound with at least half a foot inside grunge somewhere, and a fairly form orientation towards alternative rock as well, exploring the alternative rather than the stoner aspect of grunge. Fairly successfully too I might add.
The cuts from the next three albums documents a band that by accident or design appeared to have tried to have a go at making radio friendly rock music of a gentler kind, with occasional nods in the direction of R.E.M and Bryan Adams, but generally songs that are more accessible and broadly pleasant than interesting as such, compositions that appears to be tailor made for mainstream FM radio of the kind that always attempts to be universally pleasant to listen to. This is followed by two albums where D-A-D, if the album cuts selected are representative, had a go at a toned down version of shock rock Marilyn Manson style, the end result more interesting than impressive as such.
The final three tracks have been pulled by the most recent D-A-D album to date, the curiously named “DIC.NII.LAN.DAFT.ERD.ARK”. The title does imply a band heading back to their roots, which one might say is true as well, at least on some level. The material here is darker and more vibrant, with small nods in the direction of grunge and alternative rock, and the band is much more of a hard rock band than a rock band on this production, the songs more striking than they have been in years. Even the ballad, We All Fall Down, has a more vibrant and edgy feel to it, and also comes with some traces of the Americana sounds the band used in the earliest phase of their career.
Personally I found the band to be most interesting in the phase they had just prior to and when they had a go at making the US market, the cuts pulled from “No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims” and “Riskin’ It All” being the most worthwhile ones by far, perhaps due to the more happy go lucky vibe about the songs selected from those albums. I also salute the style the band opted for on “DIC.NII.LAN.DAFT.ERD.ARK”, the songs pulled from this album also holding a consistent and high quality.
As far as compilation discs go, my impression is that “30/30/30” represents most facets of this band’s history in a good manner. That the focus is on hit songs and popular items in their back catalog may give false impressions about the totality of the different albums obviously, but if you are unknown to the exploits of these Danes and want to get a good impression about the highs and lows, lefts and rights and ups and downs of their 30 year long career as a rock and hard rock band, this compilation should do so in a good manner, and then with what is presumably their most accessible material.
My rating: 73/100
