A very misleading title to a very good disc
Chad Ouimette | Ottawa, ON | 04/26/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This import collection of Dokken tunes is actually pretty good, but I can easily see where previous reviewer Darth Kommissar is coming from (he has some great reviews check em out. The title of this compilation is very misleading, and you should be warned of exactly what you are getting should you pick up this album
This is basically an introduction to Dokken's 1990s era music, and for that, it is a pretty great album. I am a big fan of Dokken and although I prefer thier classic 80s music, I also do dig a lot of thier 90s and 2000 stuff (2004's HELL TO PAY is in constant rotation at my house) but on this disc you are getting a pretty damn good overview of thier sometimes scattered 90s output. The disc focus on the best album tracks from 1997's SHADOWLIFE (the worst disc they EVER released) 1999's ERASE THE SLATE and 2002's LONG WAY HOME, with a few of thier 80s hits in live/acoustic form, which I don't really go for. So it breaks down like this:
SHADOWLIFE: Convieniance Store Messiah, Puppet on a String
This album was pure garbage but it did produce a few good songs, these two are ok, but I would have also liked to have seen "I Feel" and "Sweet Life". This compilation glossed quickly over this album, and thats best
ERASE THE SLATE: Maddest Hatter, Change the World, Erase The Slate, One, In Your Honour, Drown, Voice of the Soul
This album gets HEAVY representation which is great cause this was a great return from SHADOWLIFE, and the last of bassist Jeff Pilson, which is a real shame, they have not been the same since. Anyway, this CD collects all the best from that album, so I'm very happy with that. The only glaring omission I can see was "Shattered" but then that may have been too much
LONG WAY HOME: Sunless Days, Magic Road, Little Girl, Goodbye My Friend
2002's album with John Norum and Barry Sparks was a bit of a disappointment to me, and was originally intended as a Don Dokken solo album, but these are the best tracks from the album, including the single "Sunless Days". It gets a good helping of 4 tracks, but where is "You"? That and "Magic Road" are the two best songs on LWH. And "You" could easily have replaced any one of the unplugged/live tracks.
So all in all, these, mixed with some 80s live cuts for good measure, is the complete overview you will need for 90s Dokken, should you not wish to own all 3 of these albums. Pick this up along with HELL TO PAY and that's my recommendation. 14/18"
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1