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Dokken

Unchain The Night DVD

Review by Greg Olma

The 1980s were a great time for hard rock and metal.  There were a lot of bands, but some of them rose above the usual formula and consistently put out albums that I feel stood the test of time.  Dokken was one of those bands who, even though were MTV darlings, had more substance to their music.  Somewhere along the way they got lumped in with the hair metal bands which meant that after 1989, they were no longer cool.  Before the downfall of that genre, metal was big and top-rated bands were putting out retrospective video packages.  Dokken’s Unchain The Night video was fashioned in the same formula as Motley Crue’s Uncensored.  Both featured all their MTV videos up until that point interspersed with backstage shenanigans and camcorder video shot by the band.  This DVD essentially brings that old video tape into the new DVD technology but doesn’t really make any real enhancements to the original release.  The video quality is basically the same, which is fine for me because my video copy was worn out.  The extras that were added bring this DVD up to date with regards to their initial heyday before they broke up.  Aside from an interview with Don Dokken and Mick Brown from the 2000s, you get the additional videos for “Walk Away," “Dream Warriors," “Heaven Sent” and “Burning Like A Flame." All of this makes a nice package that encapsulates the best of Dokken from the 80s.  While the band still tours and puts out records, they will never match the glory of their initial run.  Dokken were better than the hair-metal tag, and this Unchain The Night DVD proves that there was more than just a look to the act.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2022  Volume 2. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2022.

 
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