A to Z of Classic Rock
The letter D
a really tough one this.
First up is Def Leppard - I saw them live during their peak years and they were brilliant. The hit single Photograph will always be in my Top Fifty and the Pyromania album still lives on vinyl.
Dream Theater I own a few CDs and love Images and Words and Octovarium. Mike Portnoy is an amazing drummer but I’m not so keen on Le Brie and Ruddess. At - their best amazing but some stuff seems mechanical and soulless. The new track The Alien sounds good.
Deep Purple - brilliant musicians and why I never got into them I don’t honestly know.
Diamond Head were the next big hope at one time. I think I’ve still got Borrowed Time and Canterbury on vinyl.
Dio - superb vocalist and Holy Diver is a classic track.
I can’t decide between DT and Leppard for top D.
others include Dan Reed Network (seen them live) , Dokken, Doors, Deftones , Dare, Danzig, Darkness.
I've mentioned this before but I spent there weeks on an early Diamond ?Head tour, my best friends' (plural) were either in the support band or acting as on of their roadies (I did much of the transit driving and did the lights - DH's lead singer thought I was better than their professional guy).
See Leppard plenty of times, both as support and headliner; including their last tour. Another story I have told is pushing Phil Collen's broken down banger up Charing Cross Road to a side street when my friends and I happened by him on a trip down to London for some gigs - he was in Girl at the time. I wasn't a fan of DL in the very early days but that had to change in 1987 when they produced one of the finest albums of its kind.
Deep Purple, well, Blackmore is God... What a pity he and Dio didn't do more work together.
Dream Theater can be superb. I've said that I lost some interest when Migthy Mike stepped away.
Purple are the top D band but all these acts get my seal of approval:
buck dharma - bit of a cult figure but one of the great rock guitarists and a fine solo album.
damn yankees - Uncle Ted goes AOR with help from Nightranger and Styx stalwarts.
danger danger - catchy hair metal
daniels, charlie - good ole boy
darkness, the - not from the era but definitely inspired by it
deep purple
def leppard
derek and the dominos - EC was here to deliver one of the gretaest rock songs ever with a bit of help from Duane Allman
derringer (rick) - check put their live album
des barres, michael - made a couple of good solo albums but his best work was with the next band
detective - their first album on Swansong produced all sorts of inaccurate rumours but was one of those shoulda been bigger releases and definitely befitted the label
diamond head
dio
dire straits
dirty knobs, the - new band, awful name but Tom Petty will be smiling down on his guitarists efforts here.
doc holliday
dokken
doobie brothers - became kings of yacht rock but they could rock
dream theater
drive by truckers - best southern rock band of the last 20 years
drive, she said - a touch of AOR
duran duran - controversial inclusion (?) but one of my guilty pleasures
dylan, bob
donnas, the - not that old but they rock
the doors - they produced a few genuine classics - remember going to see the version that toured with Ian Astbury on vocals (sadly Stewart Copeland didn't join on drums) and being a bit surprised at how young the audience was; clearly a band of lasting appeal.