The main conclusion about this album must be -
Dokken is still rocking.
Even though
George Lynch, who was a huge part of
Dokken's sound, isn't with the band anymore as well as charismatic bass player Jeff Pilson -
Dokken still sounds pretty much the same.
Barry Sparks is once again playing bass as he did on "Long Way Home". New axe slinger is Jon Levin, who previously played with German 80's rockers Warlock. Even thought it's hard to replace
George Lynch and also Reb Beach plus John Nourm, Jon Levin really impresses on "Hell to Pay". Levin is a technical great player and his style doesn't deviate much from Lynch. Levin really sets his mark on this recording and therefore it's a "classic"
Dokken album with over the top guitars, brilliant musicianship and Don's unique voice.
On "Hell to Pay"
Dokken has experimented with eastern inspired sound on
The Last Goodbye and also worked on creating emotions to songs like the beautiful power ballad
Still I'm Sad, which has a dark and moody feel to it.
Also Can You See and album highlight
Escape has lots of atmosphere.
Escape is a very clever choice as first single. The emotional verse explodes in a brilliant catchy chorus with some lyrics that personally describes my current situation - so that's an extra plus.
Prozac Nation has a very powerful riff and melody. Jon Levin plays a mean guitar on
Prozac Nation, which
is Don's take on the various drugs floating around the world.
"Hell To Pay" lacks more up-tempo songs and a little more spark in the songs. The songs have a slight tendency to float together since they are mainly mid tempo songs. The album's heaviest song
Don't Bring Me Down is a bit primitive and all in all Don's voice is a bit flat and he mainly sings lower than on
Dokken's masterpieces "Tooth and Nail", "Under Lock and Key" and my personal favorite "Back for the Attack". Jon Levin's guitar is usaully the icebreaker on Don's flat vocals like on
The Last Goodbye where a great guitar solo breaks the monotone rhythm and vocals.
Even though Don's sings a bit lower, doesn't hit the high notes and thereby a sounds a little more monotone - there is plenty of classic
Dokken vocals. His characteristic voice is so recognizable that most songs could be featured on any
Dokken album. Songs like
I Surrender and
Better Off Before all contain lots of classic
Dokken elements spiced with Jon Levin. Jon Levin's tone really suits Don's vocals. Levin's tone cuts through the sound like a knife in butter. Of course Mick Brown and Barry Sparks is a super tight rhythm section giving some of the mid-tempo songs a lot more hair on the chest.
"Hell to Pay" is a traditional sounding release, but with a more mature approach compared with classic
Dokken material. However, in contrast to the old albums there are only a few real killer tracks to be found on "Hell To Pay" with
Escape as the musical diamond, but it's a very consistent release. The only pointless track is album closer
Care for You played in
an acoustic version pretty close to the "original" version also featured on the album.
I am a
Dokken fan and always have high expectations for their albums. "Hell To Pay" is a pleasant surprise and like stated at the beginning of this review -
Dokken is still rocking.
Written by
Michael Tuesday, August 3, 2004
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