Japan Live '95

by Rob Theakston

You simply have to hand it to Dokken. Through highly documented public spats and various lineup changes, the group has remained as true to itself as a band with such longevity can possibly be. However, this 2003 release of a 1995 concert finds Dokken to be a band void of any sort of creative evolution, which can be good and bad -- good because it's giving the fans exactly what they paid for in a concert (the hits) and bad because after a while "Mr. Scary" just doesn't do the trick like it used to. While trying to re-create the fire of its glory years, the group runs through some of its most well-known hits (predominantly from the seminal Beast from the East release), and it seems almost effortless how the musicianship comes across first and foremost. However, this could be a sure sign that the band is just on autopilot and waiting for the real party to begin backstage after the concert. The band sounds as fine-tuned as ever, especially the guitar theatrics of George Lynch, but this is definitely a release only for the die-hard fanatic.