Dare is a hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band from Oldham

Oldham

Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, fronted by Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...

 keyboard player Darren Wharton

Darren Wharton

Darren Wharton is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He has fronted his own band, Dare since 1989, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy.-Biography:...

. They formed in 1985, and have released seven album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

s to date, including the #48 UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 hit

Hit record

A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

, Blood from Stone.

History

Dare was formed in 1985 by Darren Wharton

Darren Wharton

Darren Wharton is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He has fronted his own band, Dare since 1989, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy.-Biography:...

 after Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...

 had broken up. By 1987, Dare had gained a local following in Oldham and they were offered recording contract

Recording contract

A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

s from A&M

A&M Records

A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

, RCA

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

 and MCA Records

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

. The band's debut album, Out of the Silence, was released in 1988 on A&M Records

A&M Records

A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

. Dare had minor success in Europe, but album sales flagged and the band was dropped from their label after their second album Blood from Stone (1991).

The band have had four appearances in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. These include "The Raindance" (#62, 1989), "Abandon" (#71, 1989), "We Don't Need a Reason" (#52, 1991) and "Real Love" (#67, 1991).

The band continues to this day, but have departed from their hard rock and melodic rock roots, and now feature a heavy celtic

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

 influence.

Dare are also notable for featuring Brian Cox

Brian Cox (physicist)

Brian Edward Cox, OBE , is a British particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a professor at the University of Manchester. He is a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester, and works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at...

 in their original lineup. Cox played keyboards

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

 on the Out of the Silence record, before earning a first class honours degree in physics. He is now better known for his work in particle physics

Particle physics

Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...

, and his presenting work on science programmes on BBC Television

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...

 and radio.

Dare appeared at the Firefest Festival in October 2010.

Dare went to Disneyland once and temporarily lost their car.

Discography

• Out of the Silence (1988)

1. "Abandon"
2. "Into the Fire"
3. "Nothing is Stronger than Love"
4. "Runaway"
5. "Under the Sun"
6. "The Raindance"
7. "King of Spades"
8. "Heartbreaker"
9. "Return the Heart"
10. "Don't Let Go"

• Blood from Stone (1991)

1. "Wings of Fire"
2. "We Don't Need a Reason"
3. "Surrender"
4. "Chains"
5. "Lies"
6. "Live to Fight Another Day"
7. "Cry Wolf"
8. "Breakout"
9. "Wild Heart"
10. "Real Love"

• Calm Before The Storm (1998)

1. "Walk on the Water"
2. "Some Day"
3. "Calm Before the Storm"
4. "Rescue Me"
5. "Silence of Your Head"
6. "Rising Sun"
7. "Ashes"
8. "Crown of Thorns"
9. "Deliverance"
10. "Still in Love With You"
11. "Run to Me"

• Belief (2001)

1. "Silent Thunder"
2. "Dreams on Fire"
3. "White Horses (Lions Heart)"
4. "Belief"
5. "Run Wild Run Free"
6. "We Were Friends"
7. "Falling"
8. "Where Will You Run To"
9. "Take Me Away"
10. "Promised Land"
11. "Phoenix"

• Beneath the Shining Water (2004)

1. "Sea of Roses"
2. "Days Gone By"
3. "Silent Hills"
4. "Beneath the Shining Water"
5. "The Battles That You've Won"
6. "Allowed to Fall"
7. "I'll Be the Wind"
8. "Where Darkness Ends"
9. "Storm Wind"
10. "Last Train"

• The Power of Nature (Live in Munich) (2005) also on DVD

1. "Sea of Roses"
2. "Storm Wind"
3. "Where Darkness Ends"
4. "Silent Hills"
5. "Some Day"
6. "Silent Thunder"
7. "The Fire"
8. "We Will Return"
9. "Song for a Friend (The King)"
10. "White Horses"

• Arc of the Dawn (2009)

1. "Dublin"
2. "Shelter in the Storm"
3. "Follow the River"
4. "King of Spades" (re-recording)
5. "I Will Return" (re-recording of "Return The Heart")
6. "Emerald" (Thin Lizzy cover)
7. "When"
8. "The Flame" (Cheap Trick cover)
9. "Still Waiting"
10. "Kiss the Rain"
11. "Remember"
12. "Circles"

Former members

• Brian Cox
  Brian Cox (physicist)
  Brian Edward Cox, OBE , is a British particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a professor at the University of Manchester. He is a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester, and works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at...
  
  
• Vinny Burns
  Vinny Burns
  Vinny Burns is an English hard rock guitarist best known for his work in the bands Dare and Ten. He has also been a member of Asia, Ultravox, Bob Catley, Hugo, FM, The Ladder, Phoenix Down, and on his own project with Sam Blue, Burns Blue.-External links:**...
  
  
• Greg Morgan
• Mike Pulleyn
• Andrew Moore
• Martin "Shelley" Shelton
• Jimmy Ross