Top 10: Dokken Songs

Glam metal, hair metal, pop metal: No matter what you wanna call it, when it came to hooks and musicianship, nobody touched Dokken. Granted, the band’s frontman and namesake would largely contest any of these labels, insisting that at the end of the day, Dokken is just a heavy metal band, but I digress. Album for album, song for song, no other band of this scene/era comes close and I’m willing to debate anyone who says otherwise. For the sake of argument, let’s take some of your hypothetical arguments into consideration. “What about W.A.S.P.?” I strongly believe their self titled debut is the greatest glam metal album of all time. That said, while The Last Command and Inside the Electric Circus are both great in their own right, they pale in comparison to the debut. Next. “Ratt!” Two masterpieces (Out of the Cellar, Invasion of Your Privacy), followed by a solid album (Dancing Undercover) and a steady decline. Next. “Mötley Crüe!” Please. Biggest doesn’t equal best. We could play this game all day and the answer will still be Dokken. So on that note, here’s our Top 10 Dokken Songs.

10. “Alone Again”

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to “How to Write a Power Ballad with Heart and Soul” 101. Falling comfortably in between the power ballad’s humble beginnings (i.e. Styx’s “The Best of Times”, Journey’s “Open Arms”, REO Speedwagon’s “Take It on the Run”) and untimely demise (i.e. practically every rock song that crossed over onto Top 40 radio come 1989), “Alone Again” stands as one of the format’s finest hours. Dokken delivers an impeccable vocal performance that doesn’t go overboard with range and dramatization, which was so often the case of the times. No, he keeps it cool and honest while the rest of the band alternates between atmospheric acoustic passages and bone crushing heaviness. And how can one forget that classic George Lynch guitar solo? Exactly. You can’t.

9. “Paris is Burning”

Despite hailing from Los Angeles, it was none other than Germany where Dokken first sought fame and fortune in the early 80s. It was here that the band released their first album, Breaking the Chains, in 1981. That’s right folks. Us Americans wouldn’t be lucky enough to hear this album until 1983 when it was slightly reworked and rerecorded for international release. Elektra decided all was well, but chose to replace the studio version of “Paris is Burning” with a live version from 1982. This remains one of the greatest record label decisions of all time. With all due respect to the studio version, George Lynch absolutely goes OFF on the rendition we all know and love. Even Eddie Van Halen must’ve been shaking in his boots after hearing this one!

8. “Heaven Sent”

The year is 1987. Teenage girls all over America are reeling over Def Leppard’s Hysteria and Whitesnake’s self titled, not to mention, Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet released just a year earlier. An album that should’ve been as big as those three? Dokken’s Back for the Attack. Arguably their most polished and stylistically diverse album, Back for the Attack includes many songs that should be included in active rock radio rotations to this day instead of being isolated to “Hair Metal Mondays” or whatever other dumb iHeartRadio gimmicks. One such song is “Heaven Sent”. The buildup to this one is so suspenseful. It’s almost the musical equivalent of film noir. It eventually builds up into a classic Dokken cut with an anthemic chorus and fiery soloing.

7. “Prisoner”

Dokken had no shortage of full metal assaults in their arsenal, many of which are featured on this list. However, unlike many of their peers, Dokken was able to tone down the heaviness without coming off as total wimps. Not only that, but they were able to write and record these more accessible tracks with the same conviction as their heavy material. Case in point: “Prisoner”. If “heavy AOR” was a proper genre, this would be in the top 10 songs ever written. Jon Bon Jovi would sell his left testicle to pay Desmond Child to write a song half as memorable and that’s FACTS. Only a lobotomy could successfully remove this earworm out of your head.

5. “Don’t Lie to Me”

To this day I’m blown away “Don’t Lie to Me” wasn’t released as a single off Under Lock and Key. Sure “In My Dreams”, “The Hunter”, and “It’s Not Love” made Dokken staples of rock radio and MTV, but this song had that extra addictive pop metal charm that could’ve launched them into the stratosphere. It’s the aforementioned “Prisoner” formula executed two years earlier and under the sonic direction of Michael Wagener. I never looked at it this way, but maybe it’s the unorthodox combination of sugary sweet melodies and a gritty metallic production that makes this song so damn alluring.

5. “Into the Fire”

The game is simple: Try not to sing. I promise you won’t make it past the first verse. From beginning to end, “Into the Fire” is one of the finest metal songs ever written. Not everything has to be “Hallowed Be Thy Name” or “Melissa”. Sometimes all you need is a simple pop rock song amplified to the max. That’s what “Into the Fire” is at its core. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, guitar solo, pre-chorus, chorus. That’s it. Mind you, this “chorus” consists of the song’s title repeated over and over. Only Dokken could take such a simplistic arrangement and make it sound so grand, but that’s what you do when you’re pros.

4. “Dream Warriors”

What is the greatest horror movie song of all time? John Carpenter’s Halloween theme? Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells”? Any number of Goblin songs? Nice guesses, but you’re wrong. The answer is our #4 on this list, “Dream Warriors”. Famously used as the theme to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, “Dream Warriors” remains a staple of the Halloween season to this day and for good reason. It’s the one Dokken song that even people who don’t know Dokken love. It’s assumed status alongside “Monster Mash” or “Somebody’s Watching Me” as a key fixture in everyone’s Halloween party playlist. Such crossover appeal deserves recognition on a Top 10 list, but the song itself rules too!

3. “Kiss of Death”

Ah yes, the backstabbing woman: A facet of life that every heterosexual man has experienced at least once. I always assumed “Kiss of Death” was yet another in a long line of songs chronicling such tragedy. Little did I know it went much deeper than that. Dokken wrote the song based on the ongoing AIDS pandemic that dominated the cultural landscape in the 1980s. Don’t believe me? Here’s the interview in which he says so. Back in those days, AIDS was a literal “Kiss of Death”. And with all the promiscuity taking place backstage and beyond, the rockstars of the era must’ve been terrified. Dokken expressed his fears on the issue the only way he could, through song. We’re glad he did. “Kiss of Death” serves as a blistering opener to Back for the Attack, setting the stage for a 60 minute clinic in hard and heavy music.

2. “Lightnin’ Strikes Again”

Buckle up and hang on for dear life. This is going to be a bumpy ride. “Lightnin’ Strikes Again” rounds out side A of Under Lock and Key in a musical display of all guns blazing. Lynch unleashes a barrage of riffs reminiscent of Priest and Maiden, while Jeff Pilson and Mick Brown join him with a pummeling rhythmic assault. Add to that the sound barrier shattering vocals of Dokken, vocals mind you that rival Rob Halford on his best day, and you’re in heavy metal heaven. Every time this song makes its way onto the car stereo, the speedometer automatically goes 20-35 ahead of the posted speed limit. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

1. “Unchain the Night”

Heavy metal has taught me some of my greatest life lessons. From Venom, I learned not to burn the witch. From Dio, I learned not to talk to strangers. And from Dokken, I learned to NEVER unchain the night. I also learned rather quickly that in a catalog of gems, this is their best song…subjectively speaking. I’m sure you’ll come up with your own Top 10 Dokken Songs, which you’ll then post in the comments and tell me what an idiot I am for choosing these 10 songs over yours…because that’s how the internet works. Or maybe this list will remind you of a simpler time before the internet was a thing and your biggest concern in life was asking out Becky from 6th period math to the Judas Priest/Dokken show at the *insert city here* Civic Center this Friday. Let’s hope more for the latter than the former.