Review Summary: As good as it gets. Shredfest and soaring vocals galore.
Dokken: The Golden Years
Part II of IV:
To speak the truth, I'm not a bona fide glam metal fan. For that matter, I don't know if I'm a fan of any subgenre of music (other than rock as a whole). At one time in my life, I was much into bands like Poison, Guns N' Roses and Motley Crue. The time came, however, when my interests veered toward heavier stuff. Focused more on thrash metal and the like, I soon thought that maybe glam wasn't so bad after all. Maybe there were bands that were more than just "flashy music". It was thus that I got seriously into Dokken.
It wasn't the first time I heard of them. I had heard hits such as "In My Dreams" and "Breaking the Chains", but didn't think of digging deeper. Then I listened to this beast of an album. It was my third album by the band, after hearing Back for the Attack and Under Lock and Key (or so I remember). Point being, the moment I heard the brief intro "Without Warning", I knew what to expect. The band really delivered. Lynch and D. Dokken had a wonderful guitar/vocals chemistry that seemed made in heaven.
Now, the band's personnel at this time was:
Don Dokken: Vocals
George Lynch: Guitars
Jeff Pilson: Bass
"Wild" Mick Brown: Drums
Some of the best songs: "Into the Fire", (my personal favourite) an epic performance with a great guitar intro and slammin' chorus; "Heartless Heart" (you've got a heartless heart, got a heart of stone); "Just Got Lucky" (You just got lucky, I believed your deadly lies), among others. Some things I don't like, however, are that the bass and drums are hardly noticeable, since this band focuses more on (as I quite evidently implied) guitars and vocals.
Point being, if you dig some classic 80's style hard rock, with hot guitars and vocals, this album is for you.
