Dan Reed Network
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The Dan Reed Network is a funk rock / funk metal band formed by Dan Reed in Portland, Oregon, United States, in 1984. Achieving only limited success in their career, they were the first band to combine the previously antagonistic genres of rock and soul / funk / dance to make a new sound, and pave the way for all the funk rock/metal bands that followed.
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[edit] Career
Dan Reed (born 17 February 1963, Portland, Oregon) met Dan Pred in high school in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and after growing up there the pair returned to Portland and formed the Dan Reed Network in 1984. In 1986 they made their first recording, a six-track mini-album called Breathless, the lineup at this point being Dan Reed on vocals and guitar; Brion James on guitar; Melvin Brannon II on bass; Dan Pred on drums and Rick DiGiarllonado on keyboards. The band's diverse ethnic and musical backgrounds were reflected in the music, which whilst discernably hard rock was blended with soul, funk and jazz arrangements. DiGiarllonado was then replaced by Blake Sakamoto on keyboards, which made the band even more ethnically diverse.
The Dan Reed Network made a name for itself with its live performances. For example, The Washington Post described the band in one performance as "easily charming its... audience with an unlikely brand of heavy metallish rock sharpened by junk funk and plenty of rock 'n' roll theatrics," and that "the Network's strength lies in its infectious temperament."
The band signed to Mercury Records and released an eponymous debut album in March 1988. The album was produced by Bruce Fairbairn (who had worked with Bon Jovi) and engineered by Mike Fraser at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver. The album received some positive reviews (four stars from Rolling Stone magazine for example) though many music critics faulted Fairbairn's sterile and formulaic production because it minimized the band's funk grooves and heavy rock guitar. For example, People Magazine called the album "polished to a brassy sheen," and Newsday (New York) said "the songs don't stand up to repeated listenings due to Bruce Fairbairn's absurdly pristine production... Fairbairn, best known for recordings by Loverboy, Aerosmith, and Bon Jovi, is a master at neutering hard rock and rending it antiseptic." In comparing The Dan Reed Network's debut album to its live performances, the Washington Post said "[n]umbers such as 'Get to You,' irritatingly synth-heavy on the record, were played with enough soul and engagingly invidious guitar to redeem them." The poor production of The Dan Reed Network's debut album undoubtedly impeded the band's traction in the United States market. This is particularly apparent when the album's sales are compared to the successful contemporaneous releases from fellow funk-rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour, Faith No More and Fishbone.
Follow up album Slam, produced by Nile Rodgers, better represented The Dan Reed Network's live sound and consolidated the band's growing status in Europe. However, Slam did less well in North America. The band toured Europe in the Winter of 1989/1990 to consolidate their success, supporting Bon Jovi.
Third album The Heat (1991) was their biggest success in the UK, and they supported The Rolling Stones in Europe, but their American audience had evaporated completely. The band subsequently folded in the face of this indifference. After a spell in acting, Reed returned to writing and performing and bought a club that he named "Ohm" in his home town of Portland. A posthumous live album was released in 1997.
[edit] Current
Dan Reed released an EP called "Sharp Turn" in 2005, available through Apple iTunes & MSN Music. This 4 Track EP is in an "electronica" style. A sharp contrast from the music of the Dan Reed Network. Reed is currently living in Israel and working on more experimental music with some eastern influences.
[edit] Discography
- Breathless (1986) Nu Vision
- Dan Reed Network (1987) Mercury
- Slam (1989) Mercury
- The Heat (1991) Mercury
- Live At Last! Halfway Around The World (1997) Video Media
[edit] External links
[edit] Sources
- Picks and Pans, People Magazine, April 4, 1988.
- Wayne Robins, On the Reed Network, Newsday (New York), May 14, 1988.
- Alona Wartofsky, The Dan Reed Network, The Washington Post May 27, 1988.
- Kim Neely, Album Reviews: Dan Reed Network, Rolling Stone, August 11, 1988.
