Album Review ~ D-A-D ~ 'Speed of Darkness'

If you’re not familiar with the name D-A-D, perhaps you know them as Disneyland After Dark, a name the Danish band dropped years ago under threat of a lawsuit from the mouse himself!

They achieved some airplay in 1989 with the very cool single, “Sleeping My Day Away,” off of their album, No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims. Little did I know that D-A-D is still going strong 40 years and 13 albums later. Their most recent is Speed of Darkness, a double album that dropped in October and includes some good melodic rock songs.

The title track is one of the best the album has to offer. Jesper Binzer’s gravelly and soulful vocals take center stage.

“Head Over Heels” is a mellow power ballad, but still a solid song. Almost folksy with it’s warm drum beat and acoustic feel, this one has some swagger to it.

As one of Scandinavia’s most loved hard rock bands, D-A-D could probably make it back to U.S. rock radio with “Live By Fire.” It’s a simple, catchy, top-down in the summertime kind of tune.

Drummer Laust Sonne shares, “I think that we have taken a collective step up, on many parameters, with Speed of Darkness. We have never played better than we do on this album. Our songwriting is top notch and this collection of songs is our strongest in many years.”

“Keep that Mother Down” is one of three singles/videos off the album and it rocks. D-A-D doesn’t tour in the U.S., but this is the one I’d like to hear most onboard a Monsters of Rock cruise where you can usually find them.

Make no mistake, there’s A LOT of music here. Maybe a bit too much for the casual fan. I might have kept eight or ten of the best to shorten it up, but I’ll never criticize any band for cranking out as much tasty rock and roll as they please!

This lengthy album concludes with “I’m Still Here,” an appropriate ending for a hard-working group of guys who have been giving it their all for four decades. As the song goes, “I open my eyes and I’m still here.”

And I’m glad they are.

I’m Music Magazine Writer Steve Pawlowski