Dokken/Beast From The East(1988) Part 2!

 

Let’s get right to it Folks with sides 3&4 of Beast From The East….

Cast of Characters- Don Dokken(Vocals),George Lynch(Geetar),Jeff Pilson(Bass) and Mick Brown(Drums)

King Of Yammering- Deke

Actually before we get to it everyone knows my deal with Greatest Hits Albums and how I have a issue with them. Ha! Well one of my faithful Arena Rock Readers BMellis said within my review on Wednesday in regards to the first part of Beast From The East  I was bashing Greatest Hits albums that I was taking Cheap(Pot)  Shots at him (BMellis) and his sidekick  Rockin Roberts without naming them! Hahaha,myself and BMellis had a good laugh about this as this wasn’t my intention but from now on…yeah it’s gonna be!

To Be Fair to these two Greatest Hits Guru’s (BMellis&RockinRoberts) they like the best  songs on compilations so be it……

Seriously though where is The Hunter?

HEAVEN SENT-Don leads the Japanese faithfull with some opening “oh oh oh!” And they follow and George plays some real chill cool riffs during the verses and the song like so many Dokken tracks ramps up at the chorus! Great tune! Slow build of a tune but it still has some ommph to it!

ITS NOT LOVE-more Curious George playing some more real chill riffs and this song has single written all over it! Don tells us “Why Baby Why?” Seriously Don you just regroup,pick up the chics hit the next town and party down on the Tour Bus like there’s no tomorrow! Thats how Tbone explained it to me on how Rockstars roll! Ha! Great catchy chorus and more back and forth banter between Don and the Japanese faithful!  You realize if your a fan of Dokken just how many of these tunes on this double live  were singles …..speaking of singles…lookie what’s next!

ALONE AGAIN-oh oh power ballad ….make it mega power ballad time! This song sold the Tooth And Nail album and out of the ten tracks on Tooth And Nail this was the only power ballad! Actually compared to a lot of crap at the time this is pretty good and a lot of bands copied Dokkens format. By that I mean nice soft quiet verses and once the chorus hits….KABOOM big time power riffs, Que big time guitar hero solo than back for one more romp around the chorus and nice little fade out…..back in the mid to late 80s this is how LA Bands made a ton of cash! Myself I made little cash washing dishes in a cafeteria to fund my music addiction! FIRST TIME EVER…A POWER BALLAD VIDEO IS POSTED here at ARENA ROCK….Ummm no I’m not mellowing!

JUST GOT LUCKY-things in Tokyo ramp back up and Just Got Lucky is Don going on  about how the woman is the devil in disguise! Ha…we all have been there done it….George plays some good guitar whereas the song sounds like a big solo but it’s not if that makes sense. Just watch the video!

BREAKING THE CHAINS-when most people think of Dokken they think of this song! Fair enough as its a good song for me though when I think of It I remember the adds Rokken with Dokken! What I wanna know is how much was the record company Yahoo being paid yearly to come up with selling slogans like Rokken With Dokken! This song features a real good lead vocal into the chorus. Lunch peels rubber on the solo while Pilson and Don handle the vocals ….

IN MY DREAMS-Don,Jeff and Mick do some acapella with  the intro and the songs goes from there. This was a pretty good decent rock single and it pushed Dokken in sales and solidified there fan base! Watch the video from Philly 1987 style…these cats can play and sing…

TURN ON THE ACTION-end of the show, time to hot dog some quick rock. George shreds, Don howls, Pilson holds down the bass while Wild Mick smashes his drums and there off! Rokken Dokkens night in Tokyo comes to a end!

WALK AWAY-so here’s  a studio track tacked on the end of the live  album! Walk Away is kinda a ballad. Walk Away Dokken and they all literally did just that! I recall this video and I think Don was sporting some real funky looking dreads in the hair dept. I was fuckin spooked and never revisited Walk Away again….can’t even tell you about the track other than its not a rocker….

IN CONCLUSION – Dokken,too bad they split. I dug these guys and was pleasantly surprised that in 2015 I still dig this live album! It’s a solid ball of live rock well I’m sure there was tweaking in the studio but who cares. What I don’t know what was tweaked  won’t hurt my deal with this record! Lynch is awesome on this and when I thought about reviewing this album I was thinking I hope I can make it through with Curious George going off to shredville. Sure George does during some solos and of course his guitar solo but no worries folks he stays within the lines(ha!) .

These guys if they would have stayed together were  well on there way to Arena Headline  Status but …….

SHIT HAPPENS!

Cool Lil Numbers….Living Colour/ Glamour Boys

Oh yeah man! Summer of 1988, me and Tbone jacked Glamour Boys In his car for all of Tbay to hear! Also on our playlist that summer was Aerosmiths Permanent Vacation(full album except Angel like c’mon?!)/Beatles Revolution and Van Halens Fair Warning (full album) Man,Glamour Boys by Living Colour from there very good debut Vivid album is a classic! I Ain’t No Glamour Boys(I’m fierce…ha)

Corey Glover/Vernon Reid/Muzz Skillings and Will Calhoun drop down a real cool hard rock n funk song that kicks!  These cats rocked it loud enough for the 21 year old me at the time to stand up and take notice! Hey man even Ol Mick Jagger dug EM as he played harmonica on Vivid and had Living Colour open for the Stones on there Steel Wheels tour of 1989! That’s using your connections kids!

As you know my deal with albums I really love songs that are buried at the back end of the record and Glamour Boys is one em! Track 9 out of 11 on Vivid! So there Ya go and man oh man these cats can play and Corey can sing! These dudes got the chops!Love the happy feel good picking and than the power riff along with the drumming slamming head first to rock out the chorus!

In case your wondering yeah these are the dudes that layed waste in the song Cult Of Personality!……

Crank Glamour Boys! Wooooooooo Whooooooooooooo!

Cool Lil Numbers….Keith Richards/Take It So Hard

Special thank to ‘J’ at Resurrection Songs for reviewing Richards Talk Is Cheap album and triggering my OL noggin on this great track…..let me explain to Ya!

1988 and Keef Don’t like Mick,Mick don’t like Keef case in point Keef in Rolling Stone magazine calls Jagger’s touring solo musicians  ‘Jerk Off Band”while Mick goes and sells out the Tokyo Dome in Japan and plays Stones and Jagger’s own solo stuff(yawn)

Keef decides to finally cut a solo record and boom Take It So Hard is the lead single and man if there was a definition in the dictionary for the term Cool  Ass Kicker,Take It So Hard is a Cool Ass Kicker of a track!

When I first seen the vid for Take It So Hard on Muchmusic I was hooked man ….totally hooked! Watch the video it’s a good video and hard to believe it’s 27 years old it’s kinda futuristic look and Keef and the Winos playing in a post apocalyptic setting and this makes sense as Keef would out live everyone anyways! Dig the leg kicks,head bobs and skull ring….Keef is the deal…..

Take It So Hard has it all in the track …that opening riff is just sick! Now Keef has assembled a backing band including Steve Jordan/ Waddy Wachtel,Ivan Neville and Charlie Drayton a band Keef calls the X Pensive Winos(great name)

Well done Mr Richards on the strength of this single I bought the album and it’s good but man Take It So Hard! Does not get any better than this……and Mick hahaha….sucked it up got back with the Stones and they financially cleaned out  everyone’s wallets with the Steel Wheels album and tour…..