Dare are back with their first album of new material since 2009 and Darren Wharton and his colleagues have certainly impressed with this one. “Sacred Ground” was released on 15th July through Legend Records. Darren of course is probably best known as the keyboard player for Thin Lizzy, but his work with Dare should really put him in that ‘rock legend’ category on its own. I played the track “On My Own” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 3rd June and the opening track “Home” is included on the Show on 22nd July.

 

 

 

 

“Sacred Ground” is the eighth studio album from Dare since they formed in 1985 and released their debut “Out of the Silence” in 1988. However, the last studio album in 2012 - “Calm Before The Storm 2”  - was a re-recording of the 1998 album, making “Arc of the Dawn” in 2009 the last album of original material. The band also released a live album and DVD called “The Power of Nature (Live in Munich)” in 2005.


The current Dare line-up sees Darren Wharton on vocals and keyboards, Vinny Burns on guitar, Kevin Whitehead on drums and Nigel Clutterbuck on bass. They are joined by Marc Roberts on keyboard when playing live.


There are 11 tracks on the album and my personal favourites would be “Home”, “I’ll Hear You Pray”, “Days of Summer” and “On My Own”.


Check out the website for more info - http://www.dare-music.com/

 

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About “NI Rocks Recommends”

The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation to go check something out, not a traditional “review”!

My musical tastes cover most things rock; from the not too melodic to the not too heavy. The albums that I’ll be recommending are those that you’ll hear me playing tracks from on my shows on Rock Radio NI.


 

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