Dokken

I recently saw a "Whatever happened to..." type program on MTv about rock'n'roll in the early 80's, and boy it's always a trip to see what your rock heroes have become, eh? George Lynch became a body-builder and looks nothing like he did while in the band, mostly because of his short, short haircut. Don Dokken has grown FAT and looks like dork!

"Breaking the Chains"

  1. "Breaking the Chains" (3:50)
  2. "In the Middle" (3:44)
  3. "Felony" (3:07)
  4. "I Can't See You" (3:12)
  5. "Live to Rock (Rock to Live)" (3:38)
  6. "Nightrider" (3:13)
  7. "Seven Thunders" (3:56)
  8. "Young Girls" (3:14)
  9. "Stick to Your Guns" (3:24)
  10. "Paris is Burning"--recorded live in Berlin, Dec. 1982 (5:08)

"Breaking the Chains" was a curious song when I first heard it -- heavy metal guitar overlaid by clean vocals, quite an interesting juxtaposition. "Paris is Burning" is another great song, but the rest is merely worthless, boring filler. Bass player Juan Croucier eventually wound up in some pretty-boy metal band like Ratt or something...I remember finding a crappy vinyl copy of this record with his photo on the back cut out! Probably tacked to some teeny-bopper slut's wall...

...hey, wanna see something totally stupid? Check out the All Music Guide's Dokken page -- Breaking the Chains gets two stars, but the album Dokken (which, according to the track listing, is the exact same album as Chains) gets THREE stars!! What morons...

"Tooth and Nail"

  1. "Without Warning"--instrumental (1:35)
  2. "Tooth and Nail" (3:40)
  3. "Just Got Lucky" (4:35)
  4. "Heartless Heart" (3:29)
  5. "Don't Close Your Eyes" (4:06)
  6. "When Heaven Comes Down" (3:43)
  7. "Into the Fire" (4:30)
  8. "Bullets to Spare" (3:32)
  9. "Alone Again" (4:20)
  10. "Turn on the Action" (4:15)

The best of all Dokken's albums, and took me awhile to find on CD but I finally did. A few groaners here ("Bullets to Spare", especially) but otherwise a fine piece of music, setting a new standard for "mellow metal" until bands like Poison and Cinderella completely ruined the genre. "Alone Again" was one of the world's first power ballads...oddly, it didn't become a hit until after Back for the Attack was released!

"Under Lock and Key"

  1. "Unchain the Night" (5:17)
  2. "The Hunter" (4:06)
  3. "In My Dreams" (4:18)
  4. "Slippin' Away" (3:46)
  5. "Lightnin' Strikes Again" (3:47)
  6. "It's Not Love" (5:01)
  7. "Jaded Heart" (4:13)
  8. "Don't Lie to Me" (3:38)
  9. "Will the Sun Rise" (4:09)
  10. "Til the Livin' End" (3:56)

Disappointing follow-up to Tooth--mostly watered-down power metal with boring riffs & melodies. "Will the Sun Rise" is kinda interesting, but other than that, its only purpose is to fill up a hole in my Dokken collection...

"Back for the Attack"

  1. "Kiss of Death" (5:48)
  2. "Prisoner" (4:19)
  3. "Night by Night" (5:20)
  4. "Standing in the Shadows" (5:05)
  5. "Heaven Sent" (4:50)
  6. "Mr. Scary"--instrumental (4:37)
  7. "So Many Tears" (4:54)
  8. "Burning Like a Flame" (4:44)
  9. "Lost Behind the Wall" (4:18)
  10. "Stop Fighting Love" (4:57)
  11. "Cry of the Gypsy" (4:46)
  12. "Sleepless Nights" (4:30)
  13. "Dream Warriors" (4:46)

This album's a little too "pop" for my taste, although "Kiss of Death" is a nice fast song and the instrumental "Mr. Scary" is pretty cool too. "Dream Warriors" hit it big being the featured song from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3--the video had a neat twist, where Dokken was in Freddy's nightmare! (Oddly, the title track only appeared as a b-side, which I used to own on a crappy vinyl single that I stupidly sold off years ago...managed to find an mp3 of it, though.)