For more than 40 years, Danish rock band D-A-D (Disneyland After Dark) has been making music and quite the name for itself across the globe. Most of the band’s acclaim has come in its home nation of The Netherlands and across Europe. Odds are the band has some audiences spread out across the United States, too, though likely far fewer than overseas. That may well change this year thanks to the release last week (May 10 to be exact) of the band’s new hits collection, Greatest Hits (1984 – 2024). Spanning 22 tracks over two discs, the collection is the band’s ninth compilation record and its most comprehensive to date. While the expansive compilation’s body is itself a positive, the collection is not perfect. Sadly, the companion booklet that accompanies the collection detracts from the overall enjoyment to a point. This will be examined further a little later. It is not enough to doom the collection by any means but certainly would have helped the set. To that end, there is at least one more positive to note. That positive being the music’s production. When this aspect is considered alongside the positive of the songs themselves, the whole therein makes the collection such that D-A-D’s most devoted fans will enjoy it as well as more casual audiences.
Greatest Hits (1984-2024), the latest hits collection from D-A-D, is a work that the most devoted fans of the veteran rock outfit will find enjoyable the most. At the same time, those who might be less familiar with the band and its catalog will find it engaging and entertaining, too. That is due in large part to its featured songs. In all, the collection features 22 tracks spread across two discs in a gatefold package that while somewhat bulky, is still positive because it protects the discs from one another, placing them on their own “plates” inside the package. The songs are a career-spanning presentation, reaching all the way back to the band’s 1987 debut album, Call of the Wild and all the way up to the band’s latest record, 2019’s A Prayer for the Loud. The band pulls liberally from the majority of its albums for this collection, with only three of its 12 total albums — Simpatico (1997), Soft Dogs (2002), and Monster Philosophy (2008) – getting only one nod. A small handful of other albums get a pair of nods, but again, for the most part the collection pulls strongly from the majority of the band’s catalog.
At the same time that the songs themselves represent such a rich representation of the band’s catalog, the music contained within the songs makes for its own share of enjoyment. That is due to the variety presented in the songs’ sounds and styles. The whole thing opens with a clearly Billy Idol type work in ‘Sleeping My Day Away’ before turning somewhat more electronic but still 80s in approach in ‘Everything Glows.’ As the collection progresses, audiences get a little more early 90s pop rock approach in the songs. Case in point is ‘Monster Party,’ which serves as part of the first disc’s body. The fuzzed out guitars, the airy ring of the snare drum (which actually works here) and the distinct vocal style gives the arrangement such an engaging early to mid-90s indie rock sound and style. It is completely different from so much of the rest of the collection’s work. The blues rock-tinged ‘I Want What She’s Got’ changes things yet again early in the second disc’s run. Between that song, the others noted here and the rest of the collection’s body, the whole gives listeners plenty to appreciate musically and in regards to the bigger picture of the representation of the band’s catalog.
Now, while the overall content featured across this set’s discs does plenty to make it enjoyable the collection is not perfect. As noted previously, the overall representation here is sure to appeal primarily to the band’s most devoted fans. Those who really know the band and its work. Keeping that in mind, those listeners know the band, its lineup and its history. Sadly, no history is provided about the band in the companion booklet that accompanies the set. That means audiences who might be new to the band will end up having to do their own research into the band online. Yes, the band members’ pictures and names are there but that is all that audiences get. There is no history on the band’s influence in its home nation or even globally and other related items. To that end, this lack of any background on the band that could have otherwise really enhanced the presentation here definitely detracts from the whole. It is not enough to doom the collection but certainly would have made the presentation all the better had it been included.
Knowing that the lack of any history on the band in the collection’s companion booklet is not enough to doom the set, there is still at least one more positive to note. That positive is the songs’ production. It is unknown whether the songs featured here were remastered for the new compilation. Either way, the songs each sound quite impressive in their own right. The instrumentation and vocals are expertly balanced through each song. The result is a positive aesthetic aspect that works with the songs to make for all the more engagement and entertainment. Keeping all of this in mind, the overall content in this collection works with its production to give audiences new and seasoned alike reason enough to check out this latest compilation from D-A-D.
Greatest Hits (1984-2024), the newest compilation record from D-A-D, is a work that the band’s longtime fans will find just as appealing as those who might be newer to the band and its body of work. The appeal comes primarily through the collection’s songs. In all, the number of songs featured in this set totals 22 and spans two discs. That makes it the most inclusive compilation of songs from its catalog released to date. The songs also exhibit a clear diversity in sound and style, making for even more appeal. While the general content does plenty to ensure listeners’ engagement and entertainment, the lack of any history on the band in the companion booklet detracts from the enjoyment. That is because it leaves new listeners to have to research the band on their own, and some listeners may not want to go that route. That is not enough to doom the recording, of course. To that end, there is one more positive to the whole – its production. The record’s production ensures all of the vocals and instrumentation are expert. The positive aesthetic this ensures puts the finishing touch to the whole herein. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of the recording. All things considered they make the overall collection a mostly successful new offering from D-A-D.
Greatest Hits (1984-2024) is available now through AFM Records. More information on the collection is available along with all of D-A-D’s latest news at:
Website: https://d-a-d.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/d.landafterdark
