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Portly Politico – A Very Dokken Christmas, Part III: Under Lock and Key

December 24, 2018December 24, 2018 photog Guest Contributors, Heavy Metal Music, Reviews, Rock & Roll Music, The Portly Politico Guest Contributors, heavy metal music, music review, review, The Portly Politico

1985 was a great year. President Ronald Reagan began his second term in office, The Portly Politico was born (not the blog, just me), and Dokken released their finest effort to date, the start-to-finish gem Under Lock and Key.

Their third studio album was also their most commercially successful up to that point, perhaps due in part to a more commercial sound. That said, Under Lock and Key isn’t just a Def Leppard sound-alike, or full of crowd-pleasing power ballads. It’s an album that rocks consistently, and even the mid-tempo material is full of fist-pumping fury.

Take the opener, “Unchain the Night.” Just like Tooth and Nail’s “Without Warning,” Under Lock and Key kicks off with a brief but effective instrumental intro (albeit part of the title track, instead of a separate tune), this time with synthesizers. I crank this part up as far as my Dodge minivan’s sound system will allow for the full, gut-punching effect—after a slow synth arpeggio drop, the guitars kick in full blast, and “Unchain the Night” truly begins.

I don’t know exactly what Dokken is trying to convey when he sings, “Never unchain the night/don’t tell me that the love is gone/never unchain the night/’Cause tomorrow’s another turn,” but it’s powerful, and a powerful earworm. I also can’t help but note the contrast with Breaking the Chain’s title track, which is all about breaking free of personal and emotional chains (a later chorus in “Unchain the Night” ends with “I’m never gonna set you free”—dang).

“The Hunter” is an equally effective second track. It’s the perfect song before heading out for a night on the town, as it’s all about being a hunter on the prowl, “Searching for love on these lonely streets again.” A common theme in rock ‘n’ roll is the pantheric nature of the wandering troubadour, never fully satisfied with his lot in life and love, constantly stalking the concrete jungles for a shot at romance—or unbridled lust. It’s not as intensely sexy as Whitesnake’s “Still of the Night,” but it gets the point across well.

The third track, “In My Dreams,” is a solid track, and was a minor hit for the band. Here the fullness of the band’s ensemble vocals is heard from the get-go. It’s a strong rocker, and one that showcases the band’s overall style and range well.

But for money, the best track on the album is “Lightnin’ Strikes Again,” a furious, intense, full-throttle rocker that never lets up. Like sitting through a raging thunderstorm, you can feel this track in your bones. It features an incredible, multi-measure drum fill that sounds like acoustical lightning, and some of Don Dokken’s finest vocal work as he leaps to seemingly impossible heights, with a call-and-response, “Lightnin’!/Lightnin’ Strikes Again!” repeats until the end.

The rest of the album is solid throughout; if anything, my failure as a reviewer is how hooked I am on “Lightnin’ Strikes Again.” When I listen to Under Lock and Key, I force myself to listen to the last five tracks, not because they suck, but because “Lightnin’ Strikes Again” is so good. “It’s Not Love” is a fun song about breaking with an obsessive girlfriend (not fun if you’ve ever experienced, but the song handles it cheekily). “Will the Sun Rise” is a brooding, beautiful, sad tune about warriors setting off in a post-nuclear war, and asks dolefully if they’ll ever see the sun or sky again.

Most reviewers recommend Under Lock and Key as a good place to start with Dokken, and I will repeat that advice unabashedly. It represents a mature version of the band, and it has something for almost any taste (as long as you’re broadly into hard rock and heavy metal from the 1980s). It remains one of my favorite albums of all time; if not in the Top Five, it’s definitely in the Top Ten. Highly recommended.

Portly Politico – A Very Dokken Christmas, Part II: Tooth and Nail

December 23, 2018December 24, 2018 photog Guest Contributors, Heavy Metal Music, Music Reviews, Reviews, Rock & Roll Music, The Portly Politico Guest Contributors, heavy metal music, music review, review, The Portly Politico

We continue our yuletide celebration of Dokken with the 1984’s Tooth and Nail. After the tepid performance of 1983’s Breaking the Chains, Dokken found themselves in debt to the tune of a cool half-a-million, and Elektra contemplated dropping the band. Don Dokken and his management convinced the label to give the group one last shot; thus, the tenacious title.

That tenacity paid off, and is heard in every riff of Tooth and Nail. If Breaking the Chains had some gems, Tooth and Nail shines like a diamond throughout. Indeed, it’s a testament to the band’s songwriting that their third album, Under Lock and Key, would improve upon Tooth and Nail’s sonic attack.

Simply put, this album rocks, while also offering up more pop-oriented tunes. Dokken opens the album with an atmospheric instrumental opener that’s just the right length. I’m a big fan of extended instrumental introductions, so long as they lead somewhere. “Without Warning” lives up to its title, as it seamlessly, suddenly transitions into the full-frontal assault of the title track, “Tooth and Nail.”

“Tooth and Nail” is the kind of opening rocker that should start every metal album. The track is fast and fun, with an excellent, memorable chorus. Don Dokken had been working with a vocal coach in Germany, and his improved range and technique are evident on “Tooth and Nail,” as he hits a stratospheric “Straight to the top!” toward the end of the song.

There are several other standout tracks, including the power ballad “Alone Again,” a song that helped boost flagging album sales. Some listeners scoff at power ballads, but I love them if they’re executed well, with solid dynamic contrast, memorable choruses, interesting bridges, etc. “Alone Again” doesn’t quite get to the level of, say, Heart’s “Alone” by these metrics, but it’s fun to sing in your car.

For my money, though, “When Heaven Comes Down” is a solid, underappreciated rocker, one that demonstrates the strength of the backing vocals. Don’t underestimate the power of good backing vocals (see also: Michael Anthony on almost every Van Halen song).

“Bullets to Spare” and “Turn on the Action,” the album’s closer, are similarly rockin’ affairs, though I’m partial to the latter. “Bullets to Spare” is the kind of cheeky tune that makes me love the macho humor of glam metal, but “Turn on the Action” sounds like the kind of tune that could have come on the heels of “Tooth and Nail” to make for the iconic double-rocker-opener that I crave.

Ultimately, Tooth and Nail helped get the band off life-support, and set the stage for the exquisite Under Lock and Key—the subject of our the third and final album in our series A Very Dokken Christmas.

Portly Politico – A Very Dokken Christmas, Part I: Breaking the Chains (1983)

December 20, 2018December 23, 2018 photog Guest Contributors, Heavy Metal Music, Music Reviews, Reviews, Rock & Roll Music, The Portly Politico Guest Contributors, heavy metal music, music review, review, The Portly Politico

To celebrate the Christmas season, I’d like to explore 80s hair metal giants Dokken’s first three albums, starting with their 1983 debut, Breaking the Chains. The story of this album is curious in itself, as there are actually two versions: one recorded in 1981, then in another with the classic Dokken line-up of Don Dokken, George Lynch, Mick Brown, and Jeff Pilson (Pilson played bass on the tour, but not on the album). The best treatment of that story is The Rageaholic’s Metal Mythos: DOKKEN video; indeed, that video first turned me on to Dokken, a band I’d almost entirely missed in past forays into 80s metal.

This review will cover the 1983 album, as that’s properly when “Dokken” as such began (some pressings of 1981’s Breakin’ the Chains—note the dropped “G” in the ’81 version’s title—listed the artist as “Don Dokken”). Also, I haven’t heard enough of the ’81 cut to comment upon it adequately.

Breaking the Chains kicks off with its excellent title track, a tune that’s both rockin’ and sleek. It’s central riff—built around a persistent transition from E minor to D to C, and back again—is simple but effective, and resolves nicely into the G major of the distinctive chorus. Like much of 80s hair metal, the tune effortlessly combines a brooding sense of rock ‘n’ roll machismo with a catchy, radio-friendly chorus.

The album’s second track, “In The Middle,” is another mid-tempo rocker, but feels like a missed opportunity. The opening track itself, while exquisite, is already a slower tune. The decision to follow that up with another andante selection makes for a lackluster double opener. Dokken would perfect the “rockin’-double-opener” approach on future albums, but the best tracks on Breaking the Chains await.

Really, the album doesn’t really get cooking until the fifth track, “Live to Rock (Rock to Live),” an unapologetic rocker all about, well, rockin’ out. I’ve yet to give this track the “drive test” I referenced in my Down to Earth review, but I’m sure it would pass. Speaking of the drive test, Dokken follows “Live to Rock” with “Nightrider,” which sounds like driving a sports car with a panther on the roof through the rain-slick neon of an 80s night. These two tracks should have appeared a bit earlier on the album.

The album closes with a live recording of “Paris is Burning” from a 1982 show in Berlin. That track rips open with a George Lynch guitar solo that sounds like Van Halen’s “Eruption.” That kind of guitar pyrotechnics is missing from most of the record, so this live recording is a welcome addition to the album.

Much of this initial effort is enjoyable but forgettable, but there are some real gems on Breaking the Chains, not just the title track. All in all, it’s a solid record that points to the intensity and power of future Dokken releases.