{"id":6931,"date":"2012-09-21T00:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T00:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=6931"},"modified":"2013-06-01T16:02:40","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T16:02:40","slug":"album-review-dokken-broken-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-dokken-broken-bones\/","title":{"rendered":"DOKKEN – Broken Bones (2012) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOKKEN
Broken Bones<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nFrontiers (2012)<\/span>
Rating: 6.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rumour has it that this is to be Dokken\u2019s final record. Broken Bones<\/em> is the band\u2019s 11th opus, and in my opinion if this is the album they are going to go out on then I\u2019d be disappointed, because it\u2019s not the blaze of glory I expected.<\/p>\n

Fans are constantly comparing the guitar work of Jon Levin to ex-Dokken guitar wizard George Lynch, but Broken Bones<\/em> should be judged on its own merits. Sadly, too much of the record, despite boasting a handful of solid tracks, does nothing to shake the foundations. Don Dokken\u2019s vocals somehow seem removed from the actual recording of bass, drum and guitar, and the music seems to act only as a background to Don\u2019s rather ineffective voice. The only exception being on album opener \u2018Empire\u2019, which is one of the most upbeat tracks on the record with Levin\u2019s strong solos and riffs plastering the song as it gallops at pace.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no denying the talent of Levin, and with Steve McNabb employed for bass duties, and Mick Brown\u2019s impressive drum work, the opener suggests a band on fire. But by the time we\u2019ve reached third track, \u2018Best Of Me\u2019, the band have taken their foot off the gas, and, again, the vocals are fragile and removed from the music. While the track boasts an infectious chorus and some impressive guitar work, particularly the killer riff, there\u2019s something missing; a lack of attitude and vigour about the whole affair.<\/p>\n

My favourite track is the fourth cut, \u2018Blind\u2019, with its dark, brooding chug and Don\u2019s almost broken rasp. However, this isn\u2019t the Dokken of old, but hey, Tooth And Nail<\/em> (1984) et al are decades ago, so it\u2019s only natural that Don\u2019s voice is not as potent, and at times he struggles to hit the notes despite some sultry melodies.<\/p>\n

\u2018Burning Tears\u2019 sums up the album; a slow, pleasant-sounding rocker, and I guess the word \u201cpleasant\u201d is what best describes Broken Bones<\/em>. Others would say that Broken Bones<\/em> is more of a Don Dokken solo album rather than being a Dokken metal album, and the cover of Jefferson Airplane\u2019s \u2018Today\u2019 would suggest this; a wistful ballad that fails to make its mark. And the same could be said for tepid rocker \u2018For The Last Time\u2019, in which Don warbles, \u201cYou know I\u2019ve walked that road before, don\u2019t wanna walk it anymore\u201d<\/em>, and one senses from this album that it\u2019s the sad truth.<\/p>\n

Broken Bones<\/em> never once raises its voice above a whimper, occasionally punctuated by Levin\u2019s smooth, yet Lynch-esque riffs and solos, which reach a harder climax in the form of closing cut \u2018Tonight\u2019, which follows the same formulaic route. This is pretty middle of the road metal \u2013 at times bog standard \u2013 as once again Don rambles on about how he\u2019s \u201cwalked this road before\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This is really lukewarm metal most of the time, although I\u2019m sure that many others will disagree. In fact, I\u2019ve read numerous reviews stating this record boasts \u201cmetallic edge aggression\u201d, but I\u2019m just not hearing that here at all. Overall, this is an average record that is steeped in melody, delivering a number of catchy hooks. But if it\u2019s ballsy rock you\u2019re after then it\u2019s time to look elsewhere, because the Dokken flame has finally burned out.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DOKKENBroken Bones Frontiers (2012)Rating: 6.5\/10 Rumour has it that this is to be Dokken\u2019s final record. Broken Bones is the band\u2019s 11th opus, and in my opinion if this is the album they are going to go out on then I\u2019d be disappointed, because it\u2019s not the blaze of glory I expected. Fans are constantly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dokken"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6931"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12211,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6931\/revisions\/12211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}