Dokken is an American rock band formed in 1979. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The classic Dokken line-up consisted of founder Don Dokken on vocals, George Lynch on lead guitar, Mick Brown on drums and Jeff Pilson, who replaced the Ratt-bound Juan Croucier in 1983, on bass; this line-up remained stable from 1983 to 1989, and again from 1993 to 1998, and briefly reunited in 2016.
Don Dokken’s first band formed in 1976, named Airborn. He played shows at clubs in the Los Angeles area, including the Starwood on Sunset Strip. Airborn included Bobby Blotzer on drums and Juan Croucier on bass, but Blotzer and Croucier left the band in 1978 to form FireFoxx. Don Dokken was unable to keep the Airborn name because another band named Airborn had already acquired a record deal.
A Dokken line-up consisting of Don, guitarist Greg Leon, drummer Gary Holland (both from the band Suite 19 which also once featured Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee), and bassist Gary Link toured Germany in 1979 where the band met an up-and-coming producer by the name of Michael Wagener, also the live sound engineer for Accept, who would follow Don back to Los Angeles for a short vacation, a move that became permanent shortly thereafter. The ’79 touring line-up quickly fell apart with Leon taking over Randy Rhoads’ spot in Quiet Riot and Holland joining Dante Fox, later known as Great White. A Michael Wagener-produced Hamburg recording of the ’79 line-up surfaced in 1989 under the title Back in the Streets, released by the German label Repertoire Records without the band’s consent. Dokken toured Germany again in 1980, this time with Croucier back on bass.
In early 1981, Don Dokken returned to Germany trying to get a record deal with a new band in tow, guitarist George Lynch and drummer Mick Brown, who had been playing in a band called Xciter at the time, with Croucier remaining on bass. After recording demos with Wagener and with the help of Accept’s manager, Gaby Hauke, a deal was secured with Carrere Records. Recorded between July and September 1981 at Studio Stommeln with Wagener and Dieter Dierks, Breaking the Chains was initially released under the name “Don Dokken” before it was changed to simply Dokken on subsequent pressings.
Back in the United States, Dokken were now managed by Cliff Bernstein who got the band signed to Elektra Records for a stateside release of Breaking The Chains, remixed for the American market.
Artist: Dokken
Album: Breaking The Chains
Year: 1983
Label: Elektra
Style: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Format: mp3/320, flac (tracks, 48kHz/24bit), flac Hi-res. (tracks, 192kHz/24bit)
Tracklist
01 Breaking The Chains 3:50
02 In The Middle 3:43
03 Felony 3:07
04 I Can’t See You 3:12
05 Live To Rock (Rock To Live) 3:33
06 Nightrider 3:13
07 Seven Thunders 3:55
08 Young Girls 3:14
09 Stick To Your Guns 3:26
10 Paris Is Burning (Recorded Live In Berlin Dec. 1982) 5:08
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