Dokken
At a time when the charts were ruled by pop-metal acts, Dokken was a major attraction throughout the 1980s. With vocalist Don Dokken'scaptivating stage presence and guitarist George Lynch's high-energy style, the band combined rockers such as "Kiss of Death" and powerballads such as "Alone Again" in order to create a number of best-selling albums.Dokken's roots date back to the late '70s, when Lynch, along with drummer Mick Brown, teamed up with Don Dokken to form the Boyz. In1981, Don moved to Germany and was signed to Carerre Records. The band, now simply known as Dokken, recorded and releas ...read more
At a time when the charts were ruled by pop-metal acts, Dokken was a major attraction throughout the 1980s. With vocalist Don Dokken'scaptivating stage presence and guitarist George Lynch's high-energy style, the band combined rockers such as "Kiss of Death" and powerballads such as "Alone Again" in order to create a number of best-selling albums.Dokken's roots date back to the late '70s, when Lynch, along with drummer Mick Brown, teamed up with Don Dokken to form the Boyz. In1981, Don moved to Germany and was signed to Carerre Records. The band, now simply known as Dokken, recorded and released Breakingthe Chains, their first studio album, in 1983. While the record failed to retain a decent chart position in the United States, the group wasimmensely popular in Europe.After a tour in Germany, Dokken was signed to Elektra Records, and Jeff Pilson became their first official bassist. In 1984, the band releasedTooth and Nail, which featured the hit songs "Into the Fire," "Just Got Lucky," and "Alone Again." With heavy MTV and radio airplay, Dokkenfound themselves topping the charts worldwide, and Tooth and Nail eventually sold over one-million copies in the U.S. alone. Following a tourwith the Scorpions, the group recorded Under Lock and Key in 1985, which had a similar success due to the hits "In My Dreams" and "It's NotLove." In 1987, the band released Back for the Attack, which featured a track they had written as the subtitle for the third Nightmare on ElmStreet film, "Dream Warriors." The coinciding music video, which included scenes of the band interacting with the movie's characters, wastheir most popular ever, and Back for the Attack became Dokken's third record to reach platinum status. The album's subsequent tourresulted in a live compilation, Beast From the East, which was released shortly before the band broke up in 1988 due to Don Dokken's andLynch's creative differences.After the disbanding of Dokken, Don pursued a solo career with Up from the Ashes, and Lynch formed the Lynch Mob, releasing an album in1990; both releases failed to chart. In 1992, the band reunited, but it wasn't until 1995 when they signed with Columbia Records and releasedDysfunctional, which was met with harsh reviews and poor sales. Tensions once again seemed to hover around the group as they recordedthe live acoustic release, One Live Night, in 1996 under the CMC label. In 1997, the band released Shadowlife, which was met with a similarresponse to their past two recordings. In 1998, Lynch left a second time to reunite Lynch Mob, and was replaced with Winger guitarist RebBeach for 1999's Erase the Slate. This was followed in 2000 by another concert record, Live from the Sun, which captured the Beach lineup atAnaheim's Sun Theater. Beach left the group and was replaced by John Norum, and the group recorded Long Way Home for release in thespring of 2002. In 2003, ex-Warlock guitarist Jonathan Levin and ex-Ted Nugent and Yngwie Malmsteen bassist Barry Sparks joined thegroup, resulting in the release of Hell to Pay the following year. The band returned to the studio in 2008 for Lightning Strikes Again. « hide |