Artist: Dokken
Title: “The Definitive Rock Collection”
Label: Rhino Entertainment
Release Date: 4/26/2006
Genre: Hard Rock/Heavy Metal
Rating: 4/5
For most of my years as a fan of the Metal I have always been able to appreciate the talents and contributions made to the genre by the guys in Dokken. Let’s face it, even though they were often unfairly dumped into the category of your average “Hair Metal” band, you have to agree that the guys clearly delivered the goods and brought a lot more to the table with their brand of Melodic Heavy Metal than most of their peers. That being said and understood makes looking over this particular Greatest Hits collection a little easier because from beginning to end there are just so many good songs to raise the horns about. The band released a “Very Best of Dokken” back in 1999 and every track from that release is presented here with the exception of the Don Dokken solo track of “Mirror, Mirror”. If you as a buyer of this CD can live without that particular tune, you can easily swap that collection for this one and make the older version a present to some young Metal head in training. This collection is a double CD affair and features thirty of the bands most essential numbers and makes the “Definitive” labeling rather appropriate.
Continue reading “The Definitive Rock Collection” by Dokken →
Artist: White Lion
Title: “The Definitive Rock Collection”
Label: Rhino Records
Release Date: 1/23/2007
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 4/5
Formed in 1983 by singer Mike Tramp and guitarist Vito Bratta; White Lion was a band that would rule the Melodic Hard Rock scene of the eighties. Together with drummer Greg D’Angelo and bassist James Lomenzo they would become darlings of the MTV sector with a number of their videos and while often associated with the “Hair Metal” focus that was prevalent at the time, would offer fans deeper musical content than many of their contemporaries. Theirs was the perfect formula for success with the pinup looking front man in Tramp and the guitar god in Bratta and this often found the pair being compared to the likes of Van Halen members Dave Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen. The offering of more socially relevant songs as opposed to what many of their contemporaries would be doing allowed the band to stand out a little more from the general pack. Yes they had some rousing anthems for love like “Tell Me” or “Love Don’t Come Easy”, but there was also “Little Fighter” which referenced a Greenpeace ship and “When The Children Cry”, their ballad that tugged at the heartstrings. With White Lion you got deeper stuff than that which focused on drinking and partying hard. Growing up in Brooklyn at a certain time allowed me to remember quite clearly how exciting this band was on stage and how well they were received by the audience. You felt as though you were a part of something special with White Lion and while I grew into much heavier stuff I always held them in special regard in my musical heart.
Continue reading “The Definitive Rock Collection” by White Lion →
Where Heavy Music & Pop Culture Collide
