Dokken: Live From The Sun(2000)

 

Dokken released this pretty decent Live album back in 2000. It features 3/4’s of the original lineup of 80’s dudes that being Don Dokken/Jeff Pilson & Mick Brown.  On guitar though is Reb Beach (Winger/Whitesnake)  as original Guitar Guy George Lynch is nowhere to be found.

11 songs are featured on Live From The Sun and there’s a good smattering of vintage Dokken tunes and a couple of newbie tracks that with one which I thought was a real cool addition. More on that later…

Dokken I bought all their stuff back in the 80’s and even as once  they imploded I bought(in 1990) the debut Lynch Mob record Wicked Sensation and the ridiculously fantastic Don Dokken ‘Up From The Ashes” discs.

Course in 1995 Dokken regrouped with the four original guys and blasted out the very good Dysfunctional album with Lynch in tow and than once again they  imploded under Dapper Don and Curious George not getting along and basically “Pissy Pants’ between the two once again derailed Dokken.

Dokken though kept plugging away with different string benders like John Norum and on this album with Beach manning the fretboard.

This live album was recorded in Anaheim(on both video and audio) and has Dokken in pretty decent form. The selling point for me was plain and simple  The Hunter was one of the tracks that for some reason Dokken had never recorded live before. It’s such a huge track and this song features all the trimmings of 80’s Dokken that I dig. Decent groove/Good vocals and a real slick guitar solo.

Course the typical Dokken Nuggets are scattered throughout. Kiss of Death has Beach flexing his guitar muscle throughout the track. Into The Fire/Breaking The Chains/It’s Not Love/Tooth and Nail are all blasted out at a decent clip and of course the biggie power ballad Alone Again is featured which is ok as this tune sold the Tooth and Nail album and propelled Dokken into the big league.

One of the real decent tracks is Too High To Fly which is a 13 minute stomper of a track and is one of the better songs released by Dokken  in the 90’s. Great hooky chorus plows this track forward.

Overall this is a good Dokken album. The production is real good and the Bass sounds wicked on these tracks.  Don was still sounding decent and even though this style of music was no where selling millions like it was 10 years earlier (1990) good on bands like Dokken that were still out their plying their trade…..

 

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