Artist: Dokken
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2012
Length: 47:02
Rating: 3/5
»Broken Bones« is the new studio album from glam metal legends Dokken! It’s the third without George Lynch in the lineup and the third with John Levin on guitar. The most interesting part is that John Levin is really the one holding Dokken together these days when it comes to writing new music. He proves once again that he’s one hell of a guitarist. Fast, explosive, with superior control and real expressive insight. That last bit means he knows how to drop a riff into a song and then season it with a damn good guitar solo.
The weak spot of the band remains Don Dokken himself. His singing is no longer what he could once pull out of himself. By now we’ve gotten used to the new situation, and it’s not fair to expect Don to conquer vocal heights that are impossible for him. Don stays in the middle of his range, and whenever he tries to go higher, his voice thins out and loses power in proportion. In that sense Don could rename himself »Don Brokken« and the album »Dokken Bones«, but as said, there’s no room for poking fun at a legendary vocalist who once boasted one of the most venomous voices in glam metal / hard rock. Don keeps up the nice melodic lines, with a well-developed character, so these are tunes that stick in the listener’s memory fast. The lion’s share of the arranging on Dokken albums these days comes from Levin. So this is really his album. More than Don Dokken’s, who is credited as a co-writer on only two songs (Victim Of Crime, Waterfall). Dressing up the lead melodies with harmonies successfully masks the wear in Dokken’s voice.
»Broken Bones« mostly sticks to mid-tempo songs. The opener Empire is a direct »shrapnel between the eyes« and you just wish the record would keep developing in that vein, but it doesn’t. What follows is a bunch of mid-tempo tracks that do build up nicely on moods and lead melodies, where the bulk of the backing sound is covered by the slightly smeared distortion of modern-sounding produced guitars, with occasional touches of acoustic guitar that weave together into a lovely accompaniment (For the Last Time).
Interestingly, it’s only the song Tonight that puts the album back on the explosive track it opened with (Empire)! Tonight has one of the most beautiful choruses, which will surely become a live favorite in the band’s shows in this new era. Levin really »lets loose« in one of the sharpest, most ruffled-up, ultrasonic solos. It’s one of the strongest songs on the album in terms of arrangement. So just right for an intense finish to the record!
However you look at it, this is a quality album, woven in the manner of new-era melodic rock. No standouts, but good enough to hold its own under the Dokken name. Levin’s driving riffs successfully keep the new-era Dokken figure going with the tradition of the band’s classic days, and his fantastic soloing also quite decently fills the gaps left by George Lynch’s departure. So with »Broken Bones« Dokken have survived once again. The problem is that if they swapped the singer, there’d be no leverage left for the band to exist, so we’ll have to come to terms with Don Dokken’s worn-out vocals, full stop. That said, the album isn’t a must for your collection. Only those with a strong sense of nostalgia for the band’s golden days will reach for it. Otherwise, turn to the better releases Frontiers Records put out this fall, like the new Pride Of Lions record called »Immmortal«.
Lineup
Don Dokken – vocals
Jon Levin – guitar
Barry Sparks – bass
Mick Brown – drums
Production
Don Dokken
Tracklist
01. Empire
02. Broken Bones
03. Best Of Me
04. Blind
05. Waterfall
06. Victim Of The Crime
07. Burning Tears
08. Today
09. For The Last Time
10. Fade Away
11. Tonight
