From Conception: Live 1981 - Dokken

After Don Dokken was signed to Carrere Records in Europe and his band made its first LP, Breaking the Chains, the band went on a European tour. Some of these shows were recorded, and Don discovered these from the final gig on their first road-hog haul in a storage locker when going to pick up the masters for the aforementioned album in order to remaster them for a 25th anniversary edition. He found these in a faded box, baked them, transferred them to a hard drive, and this is what came out; well, not exactly -- he spent a month mixing them. The end result is the hardest-rocking Dokken ever! While those in the band at the time may disagree, this is the raw, unpolished, greasy, wild hair metal band at its most ambitious and dangerous. There are live version of five cuts from the debut album and three others that are previously unreleased that were part of the band's set at the time. George Lynch is simply unchained as an axeman here (there is a wilder guitar solo piece here than any issued on their other live records, simply titled "Gtr Solo"). Don's singing is more passionate, less affected than on any of the studio recordings. The unreleased cuts, "Goin Down" (not the cover of the Jeff Beck/Rod Stewart tune), "Hit and Run," and the final moment on the set, "Liar," all rip the roof off. For any Dokken fans this is an absolute necessity, and for any who wondered what the hoopla was about in L.A. in the early '80s, check this out. For trad metal and hard rock fans everywhere. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide