Don Dokken explains what really happened, talks new album 'Broken Bones'
By Peter Lindblad
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| Dokken - Broken Bones 2012 |
It was time to let bygones be bygones, to beat swords into
ploughshares, to put the past in the past and start anew. Those masters of
melodic glam-metal, Dokken, were getting the band back together – that is to
say, a reformation of the classic lineup of Don Dokken, George Lynch, Jeff
Pilson, and Mick Brown was afoot.
The first sign of a thawing of tensions occurred in
November, 2009, when Lynch and Pilson joined Brown and Dokken for two songs at Dokken’s
House of Blues performance in Anaheim, Calif. Jumping the gun before all the “i’s”
were dotted and all the “t’s” were crossed, Lynch and Dokken went on “That
Metal Show”in May, 2010, to share the joyous news with the world.
Sheepishly, in December of that year, retractions would be
issued, and Lynch, Pilson and Brown later appeared again on “That Metal Show”
to explain how their best-laid plans had gone awry. Everybody seems to have
their own version of what happened.
Don Dokken has his, and in a recent interview, he was asked
what ultimately scuttled the Dokken reunion. He responded with, “Well, do you
want the lie or do you want the truth?”
Of course, we wanted the truth, and so Don continued, “We’ll
there’s about 20 versions from George – ‘I’m just an asshole, I want all the
money and I’m hard to deal with.’ Well, that’s just about the stupidest thing
I’ve ever heard in my life. I mean, Mick will tell you that … and Jeff. We got
together. We were going to do it last year, and we were excited to do it, and
it was going to be great, and we thought it would put the exclamation point on
our career. We had an offer to make an extreme amount of money to do it, so
that was nice. And the truth is we got back together”
Everything was going swimmingly until, “Mick flew down, we
all met, and Jeff said, ‘I want to do this, but I’m committed to Foreigner for
two years.’ And I said, ‘Two years? That’s the last of that,’” said Don. “I
couldn’t sit around waiting for two years, so that’s the truth.”
Not everyone seems to see it that way.
“I know George posted all this shit that I held it up and I
wanted too much money, and he didn’t want to be a hired gun and all that,” said
Dokken. “I don’t know why George does all that stuff. There’s something wrong
with that guy between the ears. He’s always been a little weird. Someone asked
me when we started not getting along, and I said, ‘It wasn’t toward the middle.
We didn’t get along from the day he joined the band.’ He’s two different
people, man. I mean, we played a couple of shows with him this summer, and he’s
always nice to me, saying, ‘How are you doing, Don?’ I said, ‘You know what
George? You’re always, “Hi, hi. How are you doing?” And then the very next day
you talk shit about me on the Internet. What the fuck is that all about? Why do
you keep this up?’ And if you say something, he’ll lie. Just tell the truth.
Practice what you preach. The truth will set you free. He’s just a different
personality. I don’t hate. I don’t worry about it. And I gave up trying to
defend myself on the Internet a long time ago. You get a guy, he goes to the
show and then he blogs, ‘I saw Dokken and they sucked.’ I just say to people
like that, ‘Well, that’s your opinion, and don’t skimp on the avocado. If you
think you can do better, here’s the microphone. Knock yourself out.’”
Whether Broken Bones,
Dokken’s upcoming new record, due out Sept. 25 via Frontiers, will get such a
frosty reception remains to be seen. Early on, however, it seems even factions
of the metal community that haven’t always embraced Dokken’s brand of hook-friendly
hard rock are ready to embrace Broken
Bones, which features the band’s current lineup of Dokken, Brown, Jon Levin
and Sean McNabb.
“Yeah, we’re getting even the diehard, hardcore metal
[publications] … like Metal Hammer
and all these people who don’t really like [bands], unless they’re thrash or
something like that, gave us nine out of 10,” says Dokken. “We wrote 30 songs,
but I just said, ‘Jon, I don’t know, but I’m going to take every fucking
producing skill I have for this record and put it in there.’ I started hearing
my peers – my peers – putting out these records – I’m not going to say who they
are – and I just go, ‘Man, the shit’s boring.’ Same old shit, you know. People
are like … I don’t know. They just get their advance and they just go and knock
out a Pro Tools record, and it doesn’t have much production, it sounds kind of
cheesy. I mean, I just heard that new TNN … that Pilson, Lynch, Mick did that
TNN thing – oy, yoy, yoy. It’s been out three days and it’s getting crucified.”
As for Broken Bones,
Dokken believes it shows a different side of the band, one that draws from a number of classic-rock sources while trying out a whole dazzling new range of tricks.
“Look at ‘Waterfall,’ that weird drum beat … I’ve never done
anything like that, or have a timing change in the middle of a solo – I’ve
never done that in my career,” said Dokken, again playing guitar in the band
with Levin, his longtime collaborator. “But yeah, Jon and I wrote the record,
and I just finally said, ‘I know what everybody wants, and they want the same
thing we did last year or a few years ago, which sounded very ‘80s like’ … and
I just said, ‘Jon, I can’t paint the same picture.’ I mean, what’s the point? I
hate it when people say, ‘I wish this record was like Tooth and Nail.’ Ok, then go buy Tooth and Nail.”
We’ll have more with Don Dokken in the coming weeks. In the
meantime, visit Frontiers Records site to get the lowdown on Dokken’s latest record.
Check out Dokken videos: Dokken's Official You Tube Channel
Check out Dokken videos: Dokken's Official You Tube Channel
