It's been many, MANY moons since my Mother (God rest her soul) was able to convince a naive 12-year-old boy (namely... ME!) that KISS actually stood for "Knights In Satan's Sabath," that ALL hard rock/ heavy metal bands were "EVIL" and that my soul would rot in HELL for all eternity if I listened to any of them!!! Well, that naive 12-year-old boy grew up and reached the age of "reason" shortly there after and one of the very first real bands I was ever introduced to was DOKKEN. Before that, it was all Barry Manilow, BEE GEES and my official "Grease" soundtrack...
I still remember sneaking into the record store at the mall and buying "Tooth And Nail" and secretly listening to it when my mother wasn't around. To this day, it's still one of my all-time favorite CD's of the genre. It blew my mind... Don's powerful vocals, the pulse-pounding rhythm's of "Wild" Mick Brown, the aggressive bass fills of Jeff Pilson and the searing and astounding guitar licks of George Lynch... what an amazing combination. But that was then... now here we are approaching 30 years later and while some of my favorite band members Jeff Pilson and George Lynch have long moved on to their own successful careers, DOKKEN is back with their new release "Broken Bones" on Frontiers Records. While "Brown" remains the only original member of the band with the exception of Don himself, former HOUSE OF LORDS/ GREAT WHITE bassist Steve McNabb (who has been with the band since 2009) provides the rhythm lines this time around complimented by another man who is no stranger to DOKKEN, talented guitarist Jon Levin.
Now, to me, DOKKEN will ALWAYS be Don, Jeff, George and Mick and to be honest, I haven't been overly thrilled with anything that DOKKEN has done since that line-up was together... and sometimes not even then! So, with my own reservations, I reluctantly popped the CD into my stereo almost dreading what was going to come out. To my surprise and actual "delight" it turns out it not only isn't as bad as I had feared, but is actually rather impressive in it's own right at some points. Now don't get me wrong, while this is still DOKKEN, if you're expecting to hear the high-pitched screams and tones Don was able to hit on tracks like "Dream Warriors," you're sadly mistaken. While Don still has a "voice," "Broken Bones" is a bit of a "toned down" version of what he use to be but it still works on just about ever track on the release.
The CD opens up with the energy-filled track "Empire." The track is carried by the rich, fast-paced guitar work of Levin which are almost "eerily" similar to those of Lynch back in the day. And the hard-hitting rhythm and melody along with Don's unmistakable vocals make this one an early winner for the release.
HOLY SHIT!?! Seriously??? The opening riff to the title track "Broken Bones" is just so Lynch-like you'd think he was reincarnated in Levin's fingers while the haunting yet melodic verse truly reminds me of vintage DOKKEN tracks like "Heaven Sent" or "Will The Sun Rise." This all leads into a strong chorus with a brilliant harmony that is simply PURE DOKKEN.
"Best Of Me" has a more bluesier rhythm but features another nice, harmony-filled chorus with some more of those "Lynch-like" guitar leads and fills. "Blind" kicks it up a notch while maintaining that classic DOKKEN flair but the next track "Waterfall" seems to miss the mark a bit with a rather monotone melody which seems somewhat confusing at times and a dull chorus which causes the track to simply fall flat. I'll be skipping over this one from now on... Then "Victim of the Crime" is slightly better with a heavy, grittier vibe and some nice guitar solos and fills by Levin but the song still falls to deliver anything that could make the track truly memorable.
"Burning Tears" knocks the CD back into that classic DOKKEN feel with an opening riff and melody which reminds me of tracks like "Walk Away" with just a dash of "Alone Again" thrown in for good measure... good track. "Today" is another more somber, moody effort and while the acoustic driven verse tones down the overall tempo of the release it still seems to work as a nice change of pace and "For the Last Time" backs it up superbly as an up-tempo rocker with some tasty guitar licks, a vibrant bridge leading into a solid chorus and an impressive arrangement... as well as a sweet guitar feature provided by Levin.
"Fade Away" is just DOKKEN at their best... GREAT track with all the elements that any DOKKEN fan will appreciate and finally rounding off the release is "Today." I'm still a bit torn on this one. Yeah, for what's it's worth, it's a good, up-tempo number but for some reason, it just seems to fall a bit short of being a truly amazing track... I think Don's voice of 20 years ago really would have benefited him and the song here to make this one truly worthwhile.
As a long-time DOKKEN fan, I can't say that "Broken Bones" could possibly live up to the standards of "Tooth and Nail" or "Under Lock & Key" but overall, it can hold its own as a better than average effort. While it does have it's moments of falling a bit flat, there are still enough tasty tid-bits to make this one more than just a "listen and shelf." | 
