With Lynch now openly saying he would love to play in DOKKEN again after all the cr@p he's said about Don in the Dojo, and listening to Lynch's latest material, it makes you wonder: what happened to the mojo Dokken once had? Hooks a mile wide coupled with incendiary guitar playing and actual guitar tone.
Well, look no further than the latest DOKKEN album, Lightning Strikes Again, proving that Don Dokken can still write in the style that made him famous.
Lightning Strikes Again is the album Dokken fans have been pining for since Back For The Attack and their last shot at '80s glory, the oft-ignored Walk Away single.
LSA sees Dokken's return to form after several tepid albums. From opening to closing, this album is chock full of great riffs, brilliant solos and classic Dokken vocal hooks. Jeff Scott Soto provides backing tracks on several songs, sometimes mixed more prominently than even Dokken himself (Heart To Stone).
Jon Levin finally proves himself a worthy as Lynch's successor. While being vaguely Lynch-like in style, his tone is a bit mellower and more modern and his phrasing is more linear than Lynch. He also uses a wider, slower vibrato.
The mix is masterful, another great effort from Wyn Davis, the unseen 5th member of Dokken.
My minor complaints --
1. It's a crime to have a bass player of Barry Sparks' ability half-buried in the mix. I would like to have heard louder and more active bass parts.
2. I would have chucked one of the slower songs and added another barn-burner to the album. The album almost becomes mired in mid-tempo purgatory if not for the inventive soloing of Levin.
3. The price! $19 is too much to pay for a CD, though gladly forked over my money for it. I would've preferred a simpler package and lower price -- I mean, really, who needs lyrics for a Dokken album?!!
See Dokken's official podcast for song clips.
