1011. Dokken / Under Lock and Key. 1985. 3.5/5

Dokken was fortunate to be able to get to produce their sophomore album, let alone the trauma that it took to get the thing recorded and released. After the lacklustre effort of their first album their record label was ready to dump them, and it was only through the enormous efforts of the band’s management that they were able to secure a deal for a second album. After this effort to get to the starting line, the album was then plagued by problems within the band and also within the production. Don Dokken had wanted Michael Wagener to return, but the rest of the band wanted someone else, which led to the record label hiring Tom Werman. Werman then had to find a way to have Dokken and Lynch work together, which he did by having Lynch work the day shift and Dokken the night shift, He eventually quit the project, which led to Dokken pushing once again for Wagener to be reinstated which the other three still pushed back against. In the end, two producers were hired – Wagener to work with Dokken in the evenings, and Roy Thomas Baker to work with the rest of the band during the day. Somehow, it worked, and the album “Tooth and Nail” was completed and released, and signals the true beginning of the rise of the band.
Moving into the follow up album, and once again there are two producers names listed on the cover – Wagener returns, no doubt on the back of the triumph that was achieved with “Tooth and Nail”, but also Neil Kemon whose production and mixing record to this point was the resume of someone who knew what they were doing. The appearance of two producers again heavily suggests that Wagener was in charge of getting the most out of Don Doken and his vocals while Kemon handled the recording side with the band itself.
It was to be a pivotal moment for the band. The rise in stature that they had been able to garner with the success of “Tooth and Nail” had pulled them into the cyclonic rise of the glam and hair metal scene that was beginning to dominate the commercial side of metal music in the mid-1980's. The presence of a guitarist like Geroge Lynch, whose skills and abilities on his instrument were far greater than that of many of his contemporaries, gave the band a focal point that could gain them an audience beyond the soft metal side that many bands were aiming for. It just needed to have Lynch in a central role to do so. And the album that came from these efforts became the one titled “Under Lock and Key”.

In an era where hair metal was beginning to gain a greater hold of the airwaves especially with the soft rock ballads that were seeping through along with the advent of music videos, it’s interesting to find that while those kind of sounds do find a way onto this album it is not dominated by them as much as could possibly have been the case. And perhaps the separating of the recording played into that.
The opening song “Unchain the Night” has that hard hitting mid-range tempo that Dokken liked to settle into in their prime, with the solid rhythm of Mick Brown and Jeff Pilson allowing Don Dokken to showcase his great voice, backed by the harmony of Jeff and Mick, and then opens up for the smooth flowing George Lynch guitar solo that highlighted the best tracks. It is a solid opening to the album. “The Hunter” is similarly structured and is again another wholly enjoyable song without it ever stepping out and announcing itself as an outstanding track. This is the style that the band offer, but it can be frustrating to know that there is a terrific guitarist in the band who is capable of producing something more than what he offers. This was released as the opening single to the album, so it does meet all of the requirement of a hard rock track that is searching for that commercial success. “In My Dreams” moves down a different track, not being the full blown ballad track that is yet to come, but with a somewhat gentler and higher vocal range being used it engenders a different feel from the opening two tracks, despite retaining that hard rhythm throughout. The harmony vocals are especially prevalent here rather than Don being distinctly on his own, which adds to the sweet symphony of the song. It became the second single released from the album, but could only reach #77 on the US charts. Perhaps a hard track would have done better? Or am I just showing off my music bias here?
“Slippin’ Away” is far too much in the soft rock ballad area, at least in my humble opinion. Part of the problem is that this album is already less hard rock motivated than the previous album, it has dropped a notch into a more commercial sound, and that brings these kinds of tracks further into focus. As always, I understand the need for bands of this genre to indulge themselves in these types of songs in order to draw in that part of their supporter base, but to me it just acts as a distraction to the other great material on the album. There’s very little exciting here. “Lightnin’ Strikes Again” picks the tempo up again nicely, with the energy in the music driven by Don’s great vocals supported by the chorus of Jeff and Mick. This leads into George’s solo punctuation which is the centrepiece, before we come to the conclusion of the song where Mick’s drumming adds to Don’s piercing high octane vocal into the finish. It’s a terrific song to finish the first side of the album. Why on earth did they not just make the whole first side of the album with songs like this?!
Side Two opens with “It’s Not Love”, the tougher side of Dokken’s drawing power. The lyrics may well be about the kind of subject that rock ballads could be crafted around, but the music and attitude here ensures that this is nothing like that. A great rhythm seconded by the George Lynch guitar riff and solo, along with Don talking tough throughout makes for a song that is at the heart of Dokken’s success. “Jaded Heart” finds its way somewhere between this kind of song and the power ballad, so although we get the tough sounding vocal in the middle of the chorus of the song, we have the ‘cry for passion-like’ vocal as well, while the music is drawn right back much slower and looking more for the ballad effect than the previous song did. You know the drill if you listen to my episodes often enough. From here we dive back in to “Don’t Lie to Me” which reverts back to the classic Dokken sound, with the hard riffing guitar and harmony vocals through the bridge and chorus. This is their standard go-to song, one that is not the out and out power ballad, but also not the heavier material they can produce either. A similar course is run with “Will the Sun Rise”, once again settling finding the range of music and vocals that look to draw a certain emotion from the track. The album concludes with the upbeat and jaunty “Til the Livin’ End” which has that faster pace and Don reaching for the limit of his range. As with the closing track of side A, “Lightning Strikes Again”, this is a great track that utilises that faster tempo that suits this band better. There is an urgency in Don’s vocals, pushed along by Mick’s harder drumming and Jeff’s great bassline. This gives George the opportunity to put down a solo of substance that brings the whole song together, a showcase of the best this four piece has to offer. If only they had pushed harder from the outset.

If you have been following this podcast for a while, you will know that I missed a trick with Dokken back in the day. No one within my friend community had any Dokken, so it was a band where you would see the occasional music video of and think ‘gee, I wonder what they’re like?’ and then forget as I moved on to the next listening of Maiden or Metallica or whatever else I had just discovered in that time of the mid-to-late 1980’s. It wasn’t until the late 1990’s when my heavy metal music dealer (who I will always claim dropped the ball when it came to this band) came to me and said ‘you know, I’ve just started listening to Dokken. They’re really good!’ Yeah thanks Kearo, where was this a decade ago? And so I went back and listened to Dokken, and those two emotions drove me – yes, I really like most of this, and far out why wasn’t I listening to this in high school?! If I had been listening to this album then, I would be far less harsh on my judgement of it now than I probably am.
This is an album that for me showcases the hard-working and durable side of Dokken. No song on this album will come out at you and suggest it is an ‘all-time classic’, but the album as a whole tends to work well. As the middle release of what I would consider Dokken’s highlighted triumvirate of albums, bookended by “Tooth and Nail” and “Back for the Attack”, this album mightn’t be spectacular, but it is still very enjoyable. But, perhaps it is just overshadowed by what I believe to be the superiority of those two albums? I ended up getting all of Dokken’s first four albums at the same time, as I reached the age of 30, and so I listened to them all at the same time, and as my favourites emerged, they became the ones I spent more time indulging in. Perhaps more to the point, because I mostly enjoy my music a little harder, this gets judged harsher because they are three tracks here that I think are the best on the album, that showcase exactly what I believe Dokken can do with all of their music that, for me at least, would make it even better than it is, and that is have a faster tempo and allow George Lynch to let loose more often. Still, he is one of the main songwriters here, so he is involved in creating the songs as they are.
My CD has been on again for the last few days, and the two sides of the tale for this album remains true for me. When I put it on and play the album in full without thinking about anything except that I want to listen to this album, it is still terrific. I still enjoy it all. When I sit here and listen to it and try to put down my thoughts on the album as a whole and the tracks on their own, then that becomes a different story. There are three songs here I would probably ignore if it came to that. And those that just listen to songs rather than albums would indeed do that. But again, I need to emphasise, as an album this is still very good, and one I have again enjoyed revisiting this week. Yes, the previous album was better, and the one that came next was as well. But as this part of the best years of the band, “Under Lock and Key” is worthwhile of your attention.