Dokken

Emerging from the same Los Angeles pop-metal milieu that gave rise to Mötley Crüe and Ratt, Dokken emphasized frontman Don Dokken’s melodic songcraft and multi-octave range alongside George Lynch’s flashy guitar work. Active since the late 1970s, the group first attracted widespread notice after Elektra acquired their 1983 debut. The label then issued three subsequent Dokken albums—Tooth and Nail, Under Lock and Key, and Back for the Attack—each outperforming its predecessor. By the start of the 1990s the musicians had become established rock figures, only to dissolve amid internal disputes. When they reconvened in 1992, the music took on a darker yet still melodic character that reflected the band’s expanding ambitions. Frequent lineup changes curtailed releases throughout the 2010s, yet Dokken kept creating, issuing their thirteenth studio album, Heaven Comes Down, in 2023.

Dokken’s origins reach back to the late 1970s, when Lynch and drummer Mick Brown joined Don Dokken in the Boyz. In 1981 Don relocated to Germany and secured a deal with Carerre Records. The band, now called Dokken, recorded and issued Breaking the Chains in 1983. Although the album made little impression on American charts, it found strong favor across Europe. Following a German tour, Dokken landed on Elektra Records, bringing in Jeff Pilson as their first steady bassist. Tooth and Nail appeared in 1984, containing the hit tracks “Into the Fire,” “Just Got Lucky,” and “Alone Again.” Bolstered by heavy MTV and radio exposure, the record topped charts internationally and eventually surpassed a million copies sold in the United States. After supporting the Scorpions on the road, the band cut Under Lock and Key in 1985, which matched that success thanks to “In My Dreams” and “It’s Not Love.” Back for the Attack arrived in 1987 and included “Dream Warriors,” a song written for the third Nightmare on Elm Street film. Its accompanying video, showing the musicians alongside the movie’s characters, became their most viewed clip, and the album earned Dokken’s third platinum certification. The ensuing tour yielded the live set Beast from the East, released shortly before the group split in 1988 over creative friction between Don Dokken and Lynch.

Following the breakup, Don launched a solo career with Up from the Ashes while Lynch started the Lynch Mob, whose 1990 album also failed to chart. The original lineup reunited in 1992, signed with Columbia Records, and delivered Dysfunctional in 1995 to unfavorable notices and weak sales. Lingering tensions accompanied the live acoustic collection One Live Night, issued on CMC. Shadowlife, an alt-rock-leaning effort from 1997, drew comparable reactions. Lynch departed once more in 1998 to revive the Lynch Mob and was replaced by Winger guitarist Reb Beach for Erase the Slate in 1999. The Beach configuration was documented on the 2000 concert album Live from the Sun, recorded at Anaheim’s Sun Theater. After Beach exited, John Norum joined and the band recorded Long Way Home, released in spring 2002. In 2003 ex-Warlock guitarist Jonathan Levin and ex-Ted Nugent and Yngwie Malmsteen bassist Barry Sparks came aboard, leading to Hell to Pay the next year. Dokken returned to the studio for 2008’s well-received Lightning Strikes Again, their strongest-charting release in some time. Scheduling issues kept co-founder Mick Brown off 2012’s Broken Bones—the first Dokken album without him—leaving session drummer Jimmy DeGrasso to fill in, though Brown rejoined for the 2018 concert set Return to the East: Live 2016, which also featured Lynch and Pilson. Heaven Comes Down, the band’s thirteenth studio album, arrived in 2023 and explored themes of isolation, uncertainty, and resilience.