Late last month, veteran rock band Dokken released its latest album, Heaven Comes Down, ending a wait of more than a decade for new music among the band’s fans. The band’s 12th album, it is also the first from the band on Silver Lining Music, which is also home to the likes of Saxon and its front man Biff Byford. Speaking of the label, it is now the sixth different label through which Dokken has released an album over the course of its nearly five decade life. The 10-song record will find the majority of its appeal among the band’s established audience and to 80s hair metal fans. That is due in large part to its featured musical arrangements, which will be addressed shortly. The lyrical themes that accompany that musical content plays its own part to the record’s appeal and will be examined a little later. The record’s production is mostly successful despite a few questionable spots and will also be examined later, too. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of the band’s new album. All things considered they make Heaven Comes Down a record that the noted targeted audiences will appreciate.
Heaven Comes Down, the latest album from Dokken, is a presentation that the band’s established audiences will find worth hearing, along with those of 80s hair metal. That is due in part to the musical arrangement featured throughout the 43-minute record. From one to the next, the arrangements all throw back to the sounds and styles of the 80s. Right from the record’s opener and lead single, ‘Fugitive,’ the big riffs from that era of equally big hair are right there. The bluesy riffs in the record’s third entry, ‘Is It Me Or You?’ takes the sounds of that era and blends it with the more timeless blues influence meanwhile, for a sound and style that works just as well today as in the noted bygone era and just as much engagement and entertainment as any of the record’s other songs. On yet another note, the much later entry that is ‘Saving Grace’ adds its own point of interest to the record as its sharp-edged riff is actually similar in style to works from Queensryche’s classic 1986 sophomore album, Rage For Order. At the same time the arrangement boasts its own unique identity that is just as engaging and entertaining as the works from that record. It is just one more example of the importance of the record’s musical arrangements to its presentation. When it and the other arrangements examined here are considered alongside the rest of the album’s musical content the whole becomes a presentation that in its own right, is reason for audiences to take in the album.
The lyrical themes that accompany the record’s musical arrangements work with that content to make for more interest for the noted target audiences. For the most part the lyrical themes focus on the all too familiar territory of relationships. That includes and is not limited to: ‘Just Like A Rose,’ ‘Lost In You’ and ‘I Remember.’ ‘Just Like A Rose’ is one of those plaintive songs that finds its subject remorsefully singing/admitting he should have treated his love interest better after she is gone, saying he should have treated her more “like a rose.” ‘Lost In You’ comes from the vantage point of someone who realizes after the fact that a relationship was not meant to be on either side because neither side was happy.’ ‘I Remember,’ meanwhile, ‘I Remember’ is very similar in its style, noting the subject is realizing the end of the relationship was there. ‘I’ll Never Give Up’ is another song whose lyrical theme centers on that all too familiar topic of relationships, this time coming from a person who refuses to…well…give up on a relationship.
For all of the familiarity in the noted songs, the album’s lyrical content is not limited to just the one topic. ‘Fugitive,’ which opens the record, is meant to be a commentary about the state of the world. Don Dokken, the band’s namesake made this clear in an interview in which he stated, “The inspiration for the lyrics came from what seems to be an uncertain world these days…I don’t know what the future holds for our world, so I decided to take a step back and watch it all unfold…Yes, I guess I’ve become like many these days, a fugitive from life. Hence the title!”
On another note, ‘Saving Grace,’ which comes just past the record’s midpoint, comes across as one of those songs of introspection and existentialism (for lack of better wording). That is inferred as Dokken sings, “I’ve been drowning in my soul/I’ve been swimming in my fear/The world has got me upside down/There’s no way back this time around/Destiny/Won’t you be my friend/Take me to that place that never ends/Saving grace/Guess I left it at that other place/Saving grace/Now there’s only sorrow/No more saving grace.” This comes across as someone who is looking and hoping for something or someone to come around and make things better but who feels like that won’t happen. He adds in the song’s second verse, “Now I’m drowning in my blood/In an ocean full of blood/The one that found his happiness/Lives beneath the tree of life.” This comes across as that person feeling at wit’s end, feeling so frustrated and that the only person who has any happiness is dead. It is that seeming sense of cynicism. That is just this critic’s interpretation, but certainly seems the case. Either way it is an interesting existential rumination that is certain to engage listeners and that also serves as a welcome change of pace from all of the songs about relationships.
‘Gypsy,’ the album’s second track, changes thins up just as much as it comes across as its own matter of a person looking for guidance in life. In this case, the subject is seeking guidance from a gypsy, who is typically considered a seer of sorts, someone with certain ability to know fortunes. The subject even tells the gypsy, “Won’t you tell me what you know/You know I’ve lost my way/Got no place to go.” This after he states the gypsy told him stories by the fire and looked up to the stars. It is a nice change of pace once again from all of the songs about relationships that is instead apparently about someone who is on a journey and looking for help. The unique way in which the familiar theme is presented here makes for all the more engagement and entertainment. When it is considered along with the somewhat similar theme in ‘Saving Grace’ that is delivered in its own original fashion, and with the global social commentary of ‘Fugitive’ those themes work alongside the equally familiar theme of relationships in so many of the album’s other songs, the whole gives the noted audiences more reason to give the album a chance.
As much as the musical and lyrical content does in this record to make it appealing for the noted audiences, they are not the only important elements in this record. The record’s production rounds out its most important elements. For the most part, the vocals and instrumentation are relatively well-balanced, ensuring no one performer overpowers his fellow band mates throughout the album. At others though, there are points at which the vocals sound distant and airy. The result is that the instrumentation takes precedence over the vocals. It is a somewhat uncomfortable imbalance but again, is thankfully limited to only a few tracks, so the negative is not enough to outweigh the more balanced moments across the record. To that end, the production proves largely as important to the album’s presentation as its overall content. Keeping that in mind the whole of the album’s presentation makes it such that the noted target audiences will largely agree it is another welcome addition to this year’s field of new rock albums.
Heaven Comes Down, the latest album from Dokken, is a presentation that the band’s established audiences and fans of the 80s hair metal genre will find appealing. That is due in large part to its musical arrangements which continue to exhibit the band’s leanings from its formative years while also bringing that sound and style into the modern age. The album’s lyrical themes add their own touch to the album because of their familiarity. From the all too familiar songs of relationships to the social commentary that is just as common today, to the introspective ruminations that are presents in so many acts’ albums too, the themes are sure to connect with the noted audiences just as much as the album’s musical content. The record’s production largely proves successful, too, balancing the vocals and instrumentation relatively well from one song to the next. There are some questionable moments in which the vocals do get overpowered by the instrumentation, but those moments are fewer than those in which the two sides are more balanced. To that end the production proves largely successful. When this is considered along with the impact of the album’s musical and lyrical content, the whole therein makes Heaven Comes Down another offering from Dokken that the band’s established audiences and hair metal fans alike will find appealing. They will agree is also another welcome addition to this year’s field of new rock albums.
Heaven Comes Down is available now through Silver Lining Music. More information on the album is available along with all of Dokken’s latest news at:
Website: https://dokken.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DokkenOfficial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dokken
