Simon Rushworth
Dare – We Don’t Need A Reason (Wharton) 1991
Darren Wharton might have risen to fame as a member of Thin Lizzy but his artistic talents reached new heights with melodic rock outfit Dare. Perfect for the hair metal era with their pretty boy looks and MTV-styled clobber, the five-piece were, nevertheless, capable of delivering some damn fine music.
Debut Out Of The Silence drew critical acclaim across the board in 1989 and two years later the equally impressive Blood From Stone demonstrated a clear progression from this band on the brink of the big league. Sadly on the brink is where they stayed and as tastes changed Dare drifted into oblivion – but not before We Don’t Need A Reason offered further proof that these guys oozed quality.
With this special edition seven incher featuring an etched B-side you don’t get a huge amount of music for your money. What you do get is a cracking track which, had it been penned by Bon Jovi, Europe or Def Leppard would have topped rock charts the world over.
Wharton revived Dare in the late 90s and a further three studio albums have followed, 2004’s Beneath The Shining Water more than matching the records which marked out the band’s commercial peak. But as singles go this ranks alongside Abandon as the group’s best ever.