DOKKEN - The Anthems (redone classics)

[AlphaMale]

from BANNED WEBSITE: http://BANNED WEBSITE.blogspot.com/2015/12/DOKKEN-The-Anthems-Japan-bonus-tracks-Keel-Motley-Crue-Lynch-Mob.html

 

 

Some of you requested 'Greatest Hits', the collection of re-worked '80s hits recorded by DOKKEN few years ago, more specifically its Japan version featuring 2 bonus tracks. As the Japanese release turned out of print, this reissue by UK label Store For Music under the new title "The Anthems" is the one to get, as it's exactly like the Japanese (but with a new cover artwork and digipak case).

 

Don Dokken had his greatest success with Dokken in the mid '80s with great albums like Breaking The Chains , Tooth And Nail, Under Lock and Key and Back For the Attack. The voice of Don and the excellent guitar work from George Lynch were the trademarks of the US Hard Rock. But the band felt apart a few years later.

 

Don came back with an excellent album Up From The Ashes with a mega line-up: John Norum on guitar, Mikkey Dee on drums and Peter Baltes on bass. George Lynch came with an even better album Wicked Sensation with his own band Lynch Mob.

 

 

Both bands didn’t last very long, and George and Don tried to make some magic again together, but seems the chemistry was gone. So George decided to quit the band and continued as solo-artist.

 

Don put Dokken back on the map with awesome guitarist Jon Levin (with a similar guitar style as George) and bass player Sean McNabb. Sean played in bands like Great White, House Of Lords, XYZ and Paul Shortino.

 

This is the combo which re-recorded some Dokken classics and added two new tracks, and a couple of covers originally featured on the original Japanese release.

 

 

On the album you’ll find ten of the greatest hits from Dokken. They have been re-recorded with the new line-up and I am pleased to say all sound terrific. Jon Levin is monster of a guitarist and Don sounds great in my opinion.

 

There where rumors that the voice of Don wasn’t what it used to be... Don has slightly re-arranged his vocal-lines here to spare his voice, and frankly most of the time he’s gotten away with it. He gets some help from the rest of the band during the harmonies and it all works out perfectly.

 

So we can enjoy classic Dokken tunes like “Just Got Lucky”, “Breaking The Chains”, “Into The Fire” and “Unchain The Night”.

 

Even “In My Dreams” and “Alone Again” - perhaps the more harder to re-create - come out greatly. Perhpas it's in the speedy “Tooth and Nail” where is more noticeable Don's struggle to hit the original high vocal notes, but the groove in the arrangement provides a refreshing new take on the song.

 

The overall resulting sound of these classic songs is a bit more punchier than the originals, and although Jon Levin has a guitar set-up similar to Lynch, he still adds a little touch of his own flair all over.

 

"The Anthems" has also 4 new songs to offer, and all are juicy.

 

The First “Almost Over” is a mid-tempo rocker with a great sounding Don accompanied by excellent guitars from Jon. Then “Magic Man” is a truly awesome track, faster & heavier and has that extremely furious guitar riff. Mick Brown’s drumming is outstanding, fiercely bashing the skins.

 

One of the Japanese bonus tracks is “Bus Stop”, a surprising cover from The Hollies from 1966! Don't worry; the smooth vocals from Don and the acoustic guitar from Jon make this a real treat for the ears.

 

The other, “Lies”, is a cover from the one hit wonder from a band called The Knickerboxers (never heard the original). Dokken's version is fun and somehow reminds you Enuff Z'Nuff (plus the Beatles influence) with a scorching guitar solo, and it's perfect to close an album.

 

 

Many Hard Rock aficionados (and some Dokken fans) didn't know this new line-up of Dokken re-recorded these classic songs - and believe me, this baby worth the purchase.

 

Of course the original '80s recordings are the timeless ones and my favorites, but the new takes featured here seriously Rock.

 

Additionally, you have two new songs exclusive to this release, plus the two Japanese bonus tracks (also exclusive here).

 

Highly Recommended

 

01 - Just Got Lucky
02 - Breaking The Chains
03 - Into The Fire
04 - The Hunter
05 - In My Dreams
06 - It's Not Love
07 - Alone Again
08 - Dream Warriors
09 - Unchain The Night
10 - Tooth And Nail
11 - Almost Over (new track)
12 - Magic Man (new track)
13 - Bus Stop [Japanese bonus track]
14 - Lies [Japanese bonus track]

 

Don Dokken - Vocals
Jon Levin - Guitars
Barry Sparks - Bass
Sean McNabb - Bass
Mick Brown - Drums

 

BUY IT !
www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8458727
.

 

 

Has anyone checked this out? Just wondering how it sounds with Don's crap voice nowadays.

[Jacob M.]

Up From The Ashes is way better than Wicked Sensation.

[heavyharmonies]

 

 

 

[Fat Freddy]

I just bought Anthems a few weeks ago cuz I'm a Dokken fanboy and I wanted to hear the four "new" tracks - which are all quite good. The cover art on the Greatest Hits version is cooler, but that one only has two new songs, so Anthems was better bang for the buck.

 

Anyway, the re-recordings of the old songs are pointless at best. If nothing else, they show how much Don's voice has deteriorated and how much of a complete and total George Lynch clone Jon Levin is.

 

My advice is to skip straight to the four new tracks at the end of the disc, and stick to the original versions of the classics.

P.S. I've heard thru the grapevine that the band considers "Anthems" as "unauthorized"...apparently Don tried to block its release in Europe.

[Fat Freddy]

Oh, and by the way, thanks for reminding me about this "BANNED WEBSITE" site - this prick's "reviews" of the Shotgun Messiah reissues were cut and pasted out of the article *I* wrote about them on my blog. He added a few sentences here and there to pass them off as his own writing, but he lifted most of them from me.

 

I need to send them a nasty e-mail about that....

[Fat Freddy]

Oh, and by the way, thanks for reminding me about this "BANNED WEBSITE" site - this prick's "reviews" of the Shotgun Messiah reissues were cut and pasted out of the article *I* wrote about them on my blog. He added a few sentences here and there to pass them off as his own writing, but he lifted most of them from me.

 

 

I couldn't resist, I went to the guy's Shotgun Messiah review(s) and left the same comment under each one:

 

Hey there... for some reason your Shotgun Messiah reviews seem VERY familiar... maybe that's because you copied large portions of them from an article on MY blog??

http://hubpages.com/entertainment/Forgotten-Hard-Rock-Albums-The-SHOTGUN-MESSIAH-Discography

^^ Originally posted on June 1st, 2015... two weeks before you carved it up and used it for your review(s). Nobody likes a copy cat. If you're gonna steal somebody's shit (adding a few random sentences of your own doesn't make it YOURS), at least give him some credit.

You'll probably ignore this message but fuck it, I had to get that off my chest.

 

...OK, I just wanted to share that. Thread hijack over. Back to discussing Dokken.

[martinsane]

Keith, let us know if you hear anything. Totally lame.

 

And speaking of lame the reworks would and are silly and an utter waste. Those covers are also suspect at best.

 

And as for that wicked sensation disc it's worth the investment if not for the title track alone.

 

And the dupe is dumped. ?

[Dead Planet]

Those vids are not available for me....

[Fat Freddy]

Keith, let us know if you hear anything. Totally lame.

 

(shrugs) I don't really expect to hear anything... the Net's full of guys/sites like that and this is not my first ride on this merry go round.

 

I sent his Web host an official take-down notice (DMCA) but they'll likely ignore that too. Dude's probably in Bangladesh or some similarly third world hellhole that doesn't honor copyrights. Fuck him in his ear.

[The Rocker]

Up From The Ashes is way better than Wicked Sensation.

Agree, but WS is awesome to.

[Geoff]

Yeah, I can't get the video tracks either.

 

Good luck on your campaign, Keef. I agree it's unlikely you'll get any resolution, but I hope you do in form of his empty ballsack in the mail.

[glam_junkie]

Oh, and by the way, thanks for reminding me about this "BANNED WEBSITE" site - this prick's "reviews" of the Shotgun Messiah reissues were cut and pasted out of the article *I* wrote about them on my blog. He added a few sentences here and there to pass them off as his own writing, but he lifted most of them from me.

 

I need to send them a nasty e-mail about that....

 

It appears that you have now been credited on the article

[Fat Freddy]

It appears that you have now been credited on the article

Haha, for real? I guess I scared him. I would rather see them taken down than have my name associated with this copy cat's page, but if that's all I'm gonna get, I guess it's better than nothin'.

[AlphaMale]

Without missing a beat, bassist Tim Skold promptly stepped up to take over the frontman position, and Shotgun Messiah came back with a vengeance on album number two: the Hard Rock masterpiece 1991's 'Second Coming'.
(review by Keith Abt)

 

:lol: