Rokken With Dokken

Dokken was first formed when Don Dokken teamed up with Greg Pecka (drums) and Steven R. Barry (bass). Prior to this Don had been playing club shows in the Los Angeles area billed as Airborn, but had to change the band because another band with the same name had already acquired a record deal. In 1981 Don Dokken flew to Germany to sing background vocals on the Scorpions album Blackout to help the band's vocalist Klaus Meine who was suffering from a vocal ailment. While there, Accept was recording in another studio and its manager was able to secure Don a record deal on a German record label. Shortly thereafter Don met up with George Lynch and Mick Brown, playing in a band called Xciter at the time. With the addition of Juan Croucier, Dokken finally had a steady line-up and Breaking the Chains was released. Juan Croucier left Dokken  prior to the release of the "Breaking the Chains" video to join Ratt. He was replaced by Jeff Pilson, who joined in time to film the video (without having played the song). Meanwhile in the United States, manager Cliff Bernstein got the band signed in the United States. The band did an arena tour, but when the tour ended the band was left with little money and was nearly dropped from their label,

 The Tooth and Nail album released in September 1984. The album contained several hit songs including "Just Got Lucky", "Alone Again", and "Into The Fire", and sold over one million copies in the US alone, and selling another estimated one million copies worldwide. In November of 1985 the band's third album Under Lock and Key was released. It also sold over one million copies with the singles "In My Dreams", "The Hunter", and "It's Not Love". During this time, Dokken opened for Judas Priest, AC/DC, Aerosmith, and Dio among others. In 1986, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, a documentary about concert goers before a Dokken and Judas Priest concert, was filmed and released.

Following a successful tour with Scorpions, Dokken returned to the studio in December 1986 to record "Dream Warriors", a song for the movie soundtrack A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. The track brought the band to the attention of many UK hard rock fans. The song was released as a single on February 10, 1987. After this release, the band took nearly 6 months off before recording Back for the Attack, released in November of 1987, with the singles "Burning Like a Flame", "Heaven Sent" and "Prisoner". (Ironicly, the album didn't feature the song "Back For The Attack' didn't appear on the album, only as the B-side to the 'Dream Warriors' single.) Back for the Attack became Dokken's third record to reach platinum status, reaching no.13 on US charts, making it the band's most successful release. They released a video for "Dream Warriors" that featured the band members interacting with the film's characters.

After releasing "Back for the Attack", the band toured as part of the Monsters of Rock Tour 1988 festival in the summer of 1988 along with Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica, and Kingdom Come. Recordings from their tour in Japan led to the release of live album Beast from the East. The album contained one new studio recording, titled "Walk Away". Shortly after the album's release Dokken broke up in March 1989, due to creative and personal differences between Don Dokken and George Lynch.

 During this split Lynch and Brown formed Lynch Mob. The first Lynch Mob album was released in 1990, titled Wicked Sensation, and it is highly regarded as the group's best work. Many feel that the album would have done very well in the 80's hair metal scene. However, with the waning popularity of "hair metal", the album didn't make much of an impact. Vocalist Oni Logan was fired shortly after the tour, as his life style had negatively impacted his performance. The next album Lynch Mob fared even worse upon its release due to the explosion of grunge. Despite attempts to re-unite with Oni Logan, the album features the vocals of new vocalist Robert Mason. Lynch Mob disbanded after the tour for the album, and eventually Lynch and drummer Mick Brown reunited with Dokken.

Bassist Jeff Pilson, switching to lead vocals and guitar, formed Flesh & Blood in 1989 and recorded a 5-song demo. Further War & Peace recordings surfaced as Time Capsule in 1993, by which time the group had already disbanded. Pilson joined the McAuley Schenker Group for their 1992 album, M.S.G.. Afterwards, Pilson joined Dio for the Strange Highways album, reuniting with former Flesh & Blood band mate Vinny Appice.

Lynch also recorded a solo effort, 1993's Sacred Groove, reuniting him with Don Dokken (who co-wrote the track "We Don't Own This World"). Don Dokken was also supposed to sing lead on the track, but he never made it to the studio and was replaced by Matthew and Gunnar Nelson. Jeff Pilson also collaborated with Lynch on the album, co-writing the lyrics to "Flesh and Blood" and playing bass on "We Don't Own This World."

 Also during the split, Don Dokken recorded a solo album very much in the vein of previous Dokken efforts, titled Up from the Ashes. It featured unknown guitarist Billy White, ex-Europe guitarist John Norum, Accept bassist Peter Baltes, and ex-King Diamond drummer Mikkey Dee. After releasing Up from the Ashes, Don Dokken wrote another solo album in 1993. Titled Dysfunctional, the album was recorded and produced in Don's studio. However John Kalodner suggested that George Lynch be brought back into the band so that the album could be marketed as a Dokken album, and not another solo effort. Despite the fact that the tension between Lynch and Don Dokken was the cause of the band's 1989 split, the two agreed to put their problems behind them for the time being. The band re-united in 1994 along with Mick Brown and Jeff Pilson, with Lynch re-writing and re-recording the guitar solos on the album. During the tour supporting Dysfunctional, old tensions between George and Don had resurfaced and the band began to split apart. During a radio appearance  during which the band was scheduled to play live, Lynch unexpectedly left the studio and refused to re-enter. The record company dropped Dokken four days later, presumably because of this and other incidents of Lynch's irrational behavior. One Live Night, a live acoustic album available also as a DVD was released in 1996 and was followed with Shadowlife in 1997. Don Dokken was dissatisfied with Shadowlife, an album in which George Lynch took total control and even replaced the original Dokken logo on the album. Don alleges that George intended to destroy the band with this album, reciting the following quote from Lynch in an interview: "This is the perfect record. This is gonna be the end of Dokken, and that is what I wanted to accomplish."

In late 1997, Lynch left the band. Needing a guitarist, Dokken looked to John Norum who had previously played on his solo album and was familiar with the band's catalog, to help him finish the tour. Lynch tried to re-join the group just days before the tour began, but was told that he was "out" by the rest of the group. A lawsuit followed in which Lynch sued the band for $1 million, but the band prevailed.

 Consequently, Lynch attempted to reform the original Lynch Mob line-up. The band broke-up again after a single writing session. The fruits of this session was a three song demo released as Syzygy. A Lynch Mob tour of 13 U.S. cities was realised in 1998 featuring vocalist John West, and returning bassist Anthony Esposito. Lynch then formed the third incarnation of the group, with all new unknown members taking the music into a rap metal direction. Smoke This was released to disappointed fans and critics. Disappointed fans referred to the  album as "Lynch Bizkit". A tour followed but the group disbanded again.

 After the European tour, guitarist John Norum was unable to continue with Dokken, as he had previously committed to a solo record. The band then hired former Winger guitarist Reb Beach, and recorded Erase the Slate. Dokken released another live album titled Live from the Sun in 2000, also available on DVD. Beach, who wanted to work on some other projects and could not commit to Dokken long term, was replaced by John Norum, who was now in between projects and able to participate in the band's touring schedule. Bassist Jeff Pilson also left the band, and was replaced by Barry Sparks. Of the original members, only Dokken and Mick Brown remained. This line-up released the album Long Way Home, but Norum suffered a hand injury and had to be replaced by Alex De Rosso, previously of Dark Lord.  After the tour guitarist Alex De Rosso lost his visa and had to return to Italy. Don Dokken called Jon Levin who formerly played guitar on Doro's Force Majeure, and also had previously met with the band and played a single show in 1998. Levin joined the band, and the line-up of Dokken, Brown, Levin, and Sparks would remain through 2008.

Meanwhile in 2003, George Lynch was reforming Lynch Mob with original bassist Anthony Esposito and second vocalist Robert Mason. Mick Brown stayed with Dokken and Michael Frowein was hired as the drummer. to record. The band recorded modernized Lynch Mob and Dokken material for the album titled REvolution that were heavier and faster than the originals. Frowein was replaced by Chas Stumbo (ex-Earshot) for the 2003 REvolution Tour. A live CD/DVD package of the final show of that tour was later released, strangely the audio was from a different performance and often does not match the images.

George Lynch toured Europe in 2006 under his own name. In 2007, George and his solo band performed a marathon 26 show/30 day tour. The line-up was: George Lynch - guitars, Andrew Freeman - vocals, Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath/Dio) - drums and Marten Andersson (Lizzy Borden) - bass. Lynch also started a new band, Souls of We.

 Dokken released Hell to Pay in 2004, a modern approach to the band's style. The band continued touring in 2005 and 2006. 2007 saw the release of both a live CD and a compilation DVD. The CD, titled From Conception: Live 1981, is a previously unreleased live recording from the band's early years which Don found, The DVD release titled Unchain the Night was first released on VHS in 1986 and is a compilation of the band's music videos along with interviews and other footage. The band also performed at the glam metal festival Rocklahoma in both 2007 and 2008.

The popular lineup of Dokken was set to reunite to play Rocklahoma 2008 in and tour during the summer, however those plans fell apart. George used this chance to reunite Lynch Mob (with vocalist Oni Logan) to play at Rocklahoma. As of January 2010, Oni Logan and George Lynch have tried another incarnation of the Lynch Mob. Releasing Smoke and Mirrors in 2009, featuring Marco Mendoza on bass. A tour followed, with Fred Coury and then Brian Tichy on drums. Bassist James Lomenzo joined Lynch Mob in late July 2010, replacing Marco Mendoza.Two shows during a Canadian tour saw Marq Torien (Bullet Boys) handle the vocal duties. Keith St. John (Montrose and Burning Rain) replaced Marq Torien on vocals for the last two US dates on the tour. Bassist Robbie Crane of Ratt joined the touring line up of Lynch Mob for the band's fall of 2010 European tour and become the permanent bassist of Lynch Mob thereafter,

Former Lynch Mob bassist Anthony Esposito tours with former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley and plays on his 2009 release Anomaly. Former Lynch Mob vocalist Robert Mason is currently Warrant's lead singer.

On May 13, 2008, Dokken released their first studio album in four years titled Lightning Strikes Again, which was a commercial success and the band's highest-charting album in 13 years, debuting at No. 133 in the United States. The album was a return to the band's signature sound and the songs follow the classic Dokken formula. Jon Levin was the bandmate who wanted the band to make an album with the classic sound in mind.

During the summer of 2008, Dokken toured with Sebastian Bach and Poison. Sparks and Brown were not part of the summer 2008 touring line-up. Brown signed on to play with Ted Nugent before Dokken was offered the slot on the Poison tour, making him unavailable to tour with Dokken. Sparks was in Asia performing with a stadium act and was unable to tour with Dokken. Chris McCarvill from House of Lords played bass. Jeff Martin of Racer X and Badlands played drums for the tour until he was fired by Don Dokken. Chris McCarvill's House of Lords bandmate B.J. Zampa filled in as drummer for the remainder of the tour.

Since then Dokken have toured extensively with Mick Brown back on drums (BJ Zampa filling in when Mick is busy touring with Ted Nugent). Sean McNabb (ex-Quiet Riot) is playing bass, along with Jon Levin on guitar and Don Dokken on vocals. On November 29, 2009 during an encore at The House Of Blues in Anaheim, George Lynch and Jeff Pilson joined Mick Brown and Don Dokken for two songs, their first time on stage together in 12 years.

Dokken released a new studio album in the fall of 2012. Broken Bones was released on September 25 2012 and is rumored to be the last Dokken album. Which is just as well because Don's voice is shot. He sings in a much lower register now and can't hite the high notes that he sang in classic Dokken songs. Don Dokken is said to be working with guitarist Michael Schenker following the current tour.

During a taping for "That Metal Show" George Lynch mentioned a reunion of the four members of Dokken. This didn't come to fruition and the blame, according to Lynch, Pilson, and Brown, is Don Dokken. The trio, calling themselves Tooth & Nail, after the Dokken album, began work on a new recording of several Dokken tunes with guest vocalists (Doug Pinnick of King's X, Robert Mason, Sebastian Bach, and Tim "Ripper" Owens), and Pilson singing on the new material. After changing their name to T&N, the band released Slave To The Empire.

In July of 2013, Lynch Mob released  Sound Mountain Sessions  with the first single, "Slow Drag"

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