It’s one thing to love a band. It’s another thing to be obsessed. Where does the love end and obsession begin? It usually begins when a band’s primary catalog just doesn’t cut it anymore. Sure, we’ll never get sick of those classic albums. They’re the soundtrack to our lives. But its the outtakes, alternate mixes, live versions, and unreleased demos which, upon their unearthing, are met by fan hysteria worldwide.
Dokken are the latest band to jump on the archival recording bandwagon with The Lost Songs: 1978-1981. There’s a little bit of everything on here: an oft bootlegged 1980 demo, a pair of live tracks which I believe date back to 1979, various odds and ends, and a few new recordings of songs written during those salad days. Unfortunately, while these new cuts are a respectable effort at recreating history, they lack the primal energy on display throughout this compilation. Perhaps they’d be more effective if they appeared on the upcoming new Dokken studio album.
As for the remainder of the compilation, it really gives us a good, in depth look into the early days of Dokken. The hit making chops aren’t there just yet. Those wouldn’t fully develop until Tooth and Nail (1984). Instead, we have a young and hungry American metal band firing on all cylinders. “We’re Going Wrong” and “Broken Heart” are star spangled hard rockers that evoke classic KISS. There’s a ferocious first version of “Felony” which absolutely crushes the version we’d all come to know on Breaking the Chains (1983). The hard and soft interplay on “Hit and Run” foreshadows what would come with “Unchain the Night” and “Dream Warriors”.
My choice cuts on this ancient metal relic are “Back in the Streets” and “Prisoner”. Despite being bootlegged for the better part of 30 something years, this was my first time hearing “Back in the Streets”. Is this Los Angeles 1980 or England 1980? If I didn’t know better, I’d swear this was a lost Diamond Head song. Dokken and the boys must’ve been keeping tabs on the burgeoning NWOBHM scene from across the pond. Meanwhile, “Prisoner” is a snapshot of the band during their 1979 German tour. It’s slow, menacing, and almost Sabbathian in approach. Mind you, this is a completely different song than the sugary pop metal anthem of the same name which appears on Back for the Attack (1987).
Dokken would go on to bigger and better things, but that doesn’t undermine the raw power on display in The Lost Songs: 1978-1981. It may disillusion the casuals, but if you match the description of the archetypal diehard in the first paragraph, you’ll see this compilation as nothing less than “Heaven Sent”.
6 out of 10
Label: Silver Lining Music
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
For fans of: Quiet Riot, Y&T, Great White
Rockin’ with Dokken