{"id":5510,"date":"2018-12-20T21:01:47","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T02:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=5510"},"modified":"2018-12-23T19:47:09","modified_gmt":"2018-12-24T00:47:09","slug":"a-very-dokken-christmas-part-i-breaking-the-chains-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/20\/a-very-dokken-christmas-part-i-breaking-the-chains-1983\/","title":{"rendered":"Portly Politico &#8211; A Very Dokken Christmas, Part I:\u00a0 Breaking the Chains (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>To celebrate the Christmas season, I\u2019d like to explore 80s hair metal giants Dokken\u2019s first three albums, starting with their 1983 debut, <em>Breaking the Chains<\/em>.\u00a0 The story of this album is curious in itself, as there are actually <em>two <\/em>versions:\u00a0 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).\u00a0 The best treatment of that story is The Rageaholic\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oqG7WAQJrxI\">Metal Mythos: DOKKEN<\/a><\/em> video; indeed, that video first turned me on to Dokken, a band I\u2019d almost entirely missed in past forays into 80s metal.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This review will cover the 1983 album, as that\u2019s properly when \u201cDokken\u201d as such began (some pressings of 1981\u2019s <em>Breakin\u2019 the Chains<\/em>\u2014note the dropped \u201cG\u201d in the \u201981 version\u2019s title\u2014listed the artist as \u201cDon Dokken\u201d).\u00a0 Also, I haven\u2019t heard enough of the \u201981 cut to comment upon it adequately.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Breaking the Chains<\/em> kicks off with its excellent title track, a tune that\u2019s both rockin\u2019 and sleek.\u00a0 It\u2019s central riff\u2014built around a persistent transition from E minor to D to C, and back again\u2014is simple but effective, and resolves nicely into the G major of the distinctive chorus.\u00a0 Like much of 80s hair metal, the tune effortlessly combines a brooding sense of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll machismo with a catchy, radio-friendly chorus.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The album\u2019s second track, \u201cIn The Middle,\u201d is another mid-tempo rocker, but feels like a missed opportunity.\u00a0 The opening track itself, while exquisite, is already a slower tune.\u00a0 The decision to follow that up with <em>another<\/em> andante selection makes for a lackluster double opener.\u00a0 Dokken would perfect the \u201crockin\u2019-double-opener\u201d approach on future albums, but the best tracks on <em>Breaking the Chains<\/em> await.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Really, the album doesn\u2019t really get cooking until the fifth track, \u201cLive to Rock (Rock to Live),\u201d an unapologetic rocker all about, well, rockin\u2019 out.\u00a0 I\u2019ve yet to give this track the \u201cdrive test\u201d I referenced in my <em><a href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/19\/the-portly-politicos-review-of-rainbows-down-to-earth\/\">Down to Earth review<\/a><\/em>, but I\u2019m sure it would pass.\u00a0 Speaking of the drive test, Dokken follows \u201cLive to Rock\u201d with \u201cNightrider,\u201d which sounds like driving a sports car with a panther on the roof through the rain-slick neon of an 80s night.\u00a0 These two tracks should have appeared a bit earlier on the album.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The album closes with a live recording of \u201cParis is Burning\u201d from a 1982 show in Berlin.\u00a0 That track rips open with a George Lynch guitar solo that sounds like Van Halen\u2019s \u201cEruption.\u201d\u00a0 That kind of guitar pyrotechnics is missing from most of the record, so this live recording is a welcome addition to the album.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Much of this initial effort is enjoyable but forgettable, but there are some real gems on <em>Breaking the Chains<\/em>, not just the title track.\u00a0 All in all, it\u2019s a solid record that points to the intensity and power of future Dokken releases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To celebrate the Christmas season, I\u2019d like to explore 80s hair metal giants Dokken\u2019s first three albums, starting with their 1983 debut, Breaking the Chains.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1489,1606,551,237,1605,1594],"tags":[1596,1622,1310,38,1595],"class_list":["post-5510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-contributors","category-heavy-metal-music","category-music-reviews","category-reviews","category-rock-and-roll-music","category-the-portly-politico","tag-guest-contributors","tag-heavy-metal-music","tag-music-review","tag-review","tag-the-portly-politico"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Portly Politico - A Very Dokken Christmas, Part I:\u00a0 Breaking the Chains (1983) - Orion&#039;s Cold 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