Dokken : Step Into the Light Review

Dokken is set to release a new album on August 28, 2020, called The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 on Silver lining Music. The album is a gem of unheard tracks from the early years of one of the most celebrated bands in the history of Metal. In 1978-1981, a hungry young Don Dokken embarked upon a journey that started in Southern California and Northern Germany. The album captures the sheer endeavor and perseverance Dokken showed in those years. In that period, he spent time at a guitar store called Drake’s Music, owned by Drake Levin in Manhattan Beach, California. When Don went into the studio, he didn’t have a band, so Drake hired Rustee Allen (bass) and Bill Lordan (drums) from the Robin Trower Band. Only 500 copies of that first recording were pressed, and when Levin introduced Dokken to a friend visiting L.A. from Hamburg, Germany, Michael Boyens (who owned the biggest venue in Hamburg, The Sounds Club) Dokken decided it was time to head to Europe.

“Michael said I should go to Germany because rock was still happening over there during a time in L.A. when the new wave scene was booming,” remembers Dokken. “Bands like Judas Priest and Saxon were nobody in America. I saw them both at the Whiskey, but they were big in Europe. The rock scene was way ahead of the curve in Germany, and besides, I was a fan of all those European bands, so it made sense to go there and give it a shot.” On arriving in Hamburg, Dokken would meet a young engineer called Michael Wagener, who would end up producing and mixing some of the biggest rock albums of the ‘80s: Motley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, Accept and of course Dokken. Like Don, Michael came from humble, hard-working beginnings. “Step Into the Light” is the first single to be taken from Dokken’s The Lost Songs: 1978-1981.

“Step Into the Light” will have a sense of familiarity to most Dokken fans, as “Step Into the Light” has a lot of familiar sounds found in “Just Got Lucky” from Dokken’s Tooth And Nail album. In “Step Into the Light,” the crunchy guitar plays a catchy figure that Dokken’s iconic rock voice fills the air. Dokken has a very identifiable vocal sound, and this earlier material he sings in his lower register, which is interesting to hear. The song has all the hallmarks of the material that make it on his Tooth And Nail and Under Lock And Key. The guitar sound is that classic ‘80s rock sound that we all know and love.

The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 is a collection of tracks that show the early days for Dokken, aswe spent time in both Germany, and LA., as he bounced between L.A. and Europe for gigs. During this period, he worked with a lot of talented musicians and producers. He worked with Juan Croucier on material, including perhaps the most authentic view of Dokken’s then-future “Hit and Run.” From the SoCal hook of “Step Into The Light” to the Sunset Strip sound of “Back In The Streets,” The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 shows Don Dokken in his early days of youthful unfettered attitude with his writing, recording and developing a sound that would forever make a mark on 80s metal history.