So what do they sound like?
The man who introduced me to them (a Mr Johnny Brent (not his real name)) enthused that they were like Bon Jovi meets Prince, when he played me their debut album. And he was right. They had the pop-metal songwriting chops of Bon Jovi and the funk & soul coolness of Prince. Now, this may seem like a grand claim, but Dan Reed Network's first two albums are better than the first two Prince & Bon Jovi albums.
Their third album, after supporting Bon Jovi and The Rolling Stones, should therefore have been HUGE, had to be HUGE - this was their time after all.
I had been crushed half to death seeing them live, with punters queuing round the block at a tiny club - they were the next big thing, everybody said so....... . But it wasn't to be, they failed and they split up.
A huge part of it was that Dan Reed cut his hair. This may sound insignificant now. But he was the poster boy, a good looking guy with long hair. Just look at all the pictures. One day he decided that he shouldn't be judged by this, shaved off alll his hair and expected to be accepted for the great songwriter and artist that he was. Unfortunately, the world does not work like that, people are superficial in their tastes - they like their stars to look the part, and sales suffered. Plus the album was at least 4 songs too long and had too much filler.
After a few years in the wilderness, Dan Reed released a solo album 'Adrenalin Sky' which wasn't up to DRN standards. He then disappeard again for some time. He re-surfaced in 2009 with the acoustic based album 'Coming Up For Air' - and in 2013 came the slightly rockier 'Signal Fire' both are great albums.
He is constantly touring, doing small acoustic shows and full band shows mixing old and new songs. Dan Reed is back! And that's a good thing, because the world needs him.
There was even a one-off Dan Reed Network reunion at the end of 2012!
For The Best Dan Reed fan page on the net - click here! - Discographies, rare mp3s, photos...