Legendary American hard rockers DOKKEN will release their 13th studio album, “Heaven Comes Down“, on October 27 via Silver Lining Music. The follow-up to 2012’s “Broken Bones” was produced by Bill Palmer and Don Dokken and was mixed by famed Kevin Shirley (AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN).
Don Dokken knows his voice ain’t what it used to be, and he wants fans to take note. “It’s like a motor car. It’s getting worn out,” the 70-year-old singer said in 2023. “If I can’t sing the way they remember me, then just don’t come to the show. I’ve got no problem with that.” True to his word, the piercing high notes of yesteryear are nowhere to be found on ”Heaven Comes Down”. But does it even matter?
With ‘Heaven Comes Down‘ Don shows he is aware of his limits and plays to his strengths, never over-exerting beyond his capabilities. While it does not reach the heights of ‘Lightning Strikes Again‘, it is way better than ‘Broken Bones‘. This is an album that he and the band can be proud of and will please long-time fans.
There is a chance that this could likely be the last Dokken album. If it is, he went out with his head held high.
A great capper to a tremendous career.
You want to rock? Sink your teeth into “Fugitive”, which rides some shimmering guitar work courtesy of 20-plus-year member Jon Levin, and if you want ballads, head on over to “I’ll Never Give Up”, hanging on that Coliseum chorus, Levin laying down a landmark solo.
The pattern of “Heaven Comes Down” never falters in delivering the goods on both sides of the fence. “Just Like A Rose” brings the Pacific Coast Highway to desert plains with its smooth, effortlessly-driven gears, and “Saving Grace” carries a mystical malevolence.
But “Santa Fe” is perhaps the most revealing with Don Dokken opening up with what amounts to a “life-moment biography”: a spartan acoustic arrangement allowing the rich yet road-driven vocals to frame what might well prove to be the defining moment of DOKKEN’s career.
1. Fugitive
2. Gypsy
3. Is It Me Or You?
4. Just Like A Rose
5. I'll Never Give Up
6. Saving Grace
7. Over The Mountain
8. I Remember
9. Lost In You
10. Santa Fe
Dokken – Heaven Comes Down 2023, MP3+FLAC
 |
