After vocalist
Don Dokken supplied backup belting on
the Scorpions' scorcher
Blackout, producer
Dieter Dierks gave him leftover studio time to produce demos. Guitarist
George Lynch, drummer
Mick Brown, and bassist
Juan Croucier (who immediately left to form
Ratt) rounded out the rockin'
Dokken. Combining Teutonic thunder with Sunset Strip sensibilities, the band began carving out a comfortable niche in the '80s
hair market with this
Carrere release, soon remixed and remastered for proper distribution by
Elektra. The quartet's debut slings cliches fast and furious, but the shopworn staples seem bearable because the playing is at peak form. Opener
"Breaking the Chains" remains a
pop/rock perennial (forever linked to the accompanying apocalyptic video wherein
Don and the boys, well, break the chains). The remainder of side one, while unremarkable, still sticks to the ribs after only a couple of spins. Side two begins to lag until the sizzling final cut, the live
"Paris Is Burning" (originally a studio track called "Paris"), erupts into flames through the phenomenal fretwork of dazzling axe-god
Lynch, a legend from an era with no shortage of six-string-heroes. After intense glory in the
Headbanger's Ball daze,
Dokken splintered into several dysfunctional side projects, tainting the band's solid '80s output. Everything started with this record, which remains an enjoyable, if not essential, slab of competent corporate
metal. ~ Whitney Z. Gomes
