Published on Apr 20, 1999
Success is much more timing than talent. When you exist is much
more important than what you release; Kansas probably couldn’t get
signed today, Lauryn Hill would have been laughed out of the record
label’s offices ten years ago. Those are the breaks, most of the
time. But because of that, a lot of interesting music gets lost in
the shuffle, only to resurface echoed in the work of later artists.
The current hip-hop/funk movement is a reflection of past artists’
work, the groundbreaking done when it was still fringe, still
marginal
.
The Dan Reed Network was one of those fringe artists. With a
short (1987-1993) career plagued by record company mispromotion and
boundless ambition, they managed to turn out three CDs of pretty
interesting music, as well as a debut EP. The highlight of their
career was 1991’s
The Heat, an ambitious politically-themed CD that managed to
be both serious and raucous, a well-balanced mix of fact, funk, and
fun.
The Network’s sound was a pastiche, part funk, part metal, part
hip-hop, part synthesizer rock. This led to a textured sound that
you could still rock out to, a dichotomy of technique and power
that very few bands could match. _The Heat_ is by far their best
CD. From the opening drive of “Baby Now I” to the backbeat of “Mix
It Up” to the soft closing strains of “Long Way To Go”, the quintet
proved themselves a master of varying styles.
It wasn’t just music that makes _The Heat_ such a standout CD,
though. The Network tackled tough subjects with energy and passion,
including abortion (“Blame It On The Moon”) and control by society,
governments, and institutions (“Thy Will Be Done”). There is also
an outstanding cover of Pink Floyd’s “Money” that has to be heard
to be believed. The politics has energy and passion to it: it’s
believable, it has life. These were subjects the band cared about,
yet they weren’t lugubrious and preachy like a Joan Baez LP on 16
and 2/3. It’s a shame that Mercury Records didn’t know what to do
with an integrated band who spanned genres as easy as some people
span a G chord.
The Network has gone its seperate ways, and this CD’s very hard
to find. However, make the effort;
The Heat will be worth your time.