Another Great Dokken Album You Can't Keep Under Lock & Key
Written: Jan 27 '06
Product Rating:
Pros: Commercialization has only improved the music. A good CD to cut your teeth on Dokken.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: You can have this CD for less than $6. If you're an 80's metal fan, you need to buy it. Dokken changed the flavor of metal for all time.
swopedesign's Full Review: Under Lock And Key by Dokken
I'm a long time fan of Dokken, the heavy metal hair band who made it in the 80's with such early hits as "Tooth & Nail," "Just Got Lucky" and power ballad "Alone Again" in 1984. Riding the wave of these hits, Dokken quickly released another studio album in 1985, Under Lock & Key. As with all CDs from this era, the photography and band's appearance are typical of the heavy metal hair period. But the music on this CD, however, is not your run-of-the-mill metal. It is classic Dokken, unharmed by either the rush to release a new album or commercialization! Well, maybe not completely unharmed. Under Lock & Key is the first album to feature a photo of the hair band on the cover, instantly dating the music for buyers. In the 80s, this was a good thing as the band experienced national airplay.
Under Lock & Key Track List:
1) Unchain The Night
2) Hunter, The
3) In My Dreams
4) Slippin' Away
5) Lightnin' Strikes Again
6) It's Not Love
7) Jaded Heart
8) Don't Lie To Me
9) Will The Sun Rise
10) Til The Livin' End
Dokken's third album, Under Lock & Key contains some of my favorite tracks by the band. Like Breaking the Chains and Tooth & Nail, I can listen to this album from start to finish. No cut makes me skip ahead to the next. As with their first two albums, dreamscapes, desires, darkness, brilliance, heart-pounding drums, sharp vocals and snazzy guitarwork light the way.
One of the things that I enjoy about Dokken's work, and all my favorite bands, is the variety. Unlike other recording artists whose tunes sound nearly the same -- same rhythms, same turns of phrase, same droning chords -- Dokken offers variety. They can rip a heavy cut like nobody's business, but they can also power down for stirring ballads. And each has a sound and life all its own.
This album contains some signature Dokken rockers. "Unchain the Night" opens with guitar strums reminiscent of ancient church bells, then dives into a driving tune about the sacred, spellbound night. "In My Dreams," one of the more popular tracks, is Dokken at its best, featuring melodic vocals and haunting steel guitar, appropriate for the track's theme. "It's Not Love" is a pounding, stirring anthem for those who've been jilted by a cold-hearted lover at one time or other. "Will the Sun Rise" reminds me a bit of Stone Fury when it opens, another driving cut about risk and freedom. "Till the Livin' End" is a non-stop barrage from beginning to end, perfect for those familiar reckless moods.
Dokken also offers two ballads on this release. Both "Slippin' Away" and "Jaded Heart" are pleasing examples of this type of metal music. "Slippin' Away" is about the liquid nature of reality, and how easily the things that were once "real" - love, for instance - inexplicably slip away without reason. "Jaded Heart" is about the hurt that changes us and hardens us against taking risks, against future opportunities and future lovers.
Three cuts hold less appeal for me than the others. "The Hunter," "Lighting Strikes Again" and "Don't Lie to Me" are the least stirring tunes on this CD (IMHO). Though not Dokken's best, they are solid Dokken tunes, but with less artistry than the other seven tracks. I am not moved much by the lyrics or the music as much as the other tracks.
For three albums, Dokken, like all bands, have been increasingly commercialized. For some bands, such as Cinderella, this commercialization does more harm than good, altering a band's foundations to such degree that some fans are left behind. Dokken, in contrast, has only been improved by commercialization.
Under Lock & Key was a welcome release in 1985, following the success of 1984's singles from Tooth & Nail, "Just Got Lucky" and "Alone Again," both MTV favorites when MTV played nothing but music videos. It represents a conscious attempt to lure more listeners into the Dokken fold and gain more recognition, hence the photo of the band on the cover. Over twenty years later (has it really been that long!), the music still moves Dokken fans as powerfully as it did in 1985. For Docken, the future was bright.
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