What's Spinning: Season 2, Vol. 20

Rockin' with Dokken

Another album I picked up on Record Store Day this past Saturday.

Dokken is one of my favorite hair metal bands of the 80s. They had everything; a great lead singer, great drummer, and one hell of a guitarist.

Beast of the East was originally released in 1988 during the band's tour of Japan. It featured their hit songs on their first four albums, including their latest hit song, Dream Warriors. This was from the movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 3.

My thoughts on this album is nothing but high praise. It contains so many extended cuts of their hit songs which is filled with insane guitar shredding by one of the best to do it, George Lynch. Don Dokken is also at his best belting out these power ballads.

Betweem the guitar work and vocals, this is absolutely peak hair metal. And in my mind, one of my favorite non-Grateful Dead shows that I now own. It completely blows me away as the live versions are so far above and beyond the studio versions. A masterclass in metal.

It received high praise as the band's only Grammy nomination for best rock performance, where they lost to Metallica for their work on the song, One.

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Dokken - Beast from the East

BMG, 2025

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