The Classic Metal Album Reviews:
Title: Tooth and Nail
Artist: Dokken
Label: Elektra
Release Date: 1984

Rating: 3 Skulls
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    • Reviewed by Solomon:
    After being exposed to relentless black metal, overbearing death metal, and hyper-intensive progressive metal, sometimes it's nice to sit back and listen to some stuff that's easier to digest. The L.A. metal rat (Ratt?) pack of the 80's can do it for you: no fifteen-minute songs with 263 parts, no "cookie-monster" vocals (see web board for this discussion), no rantings about Odin, just poofy-hair and some dirty guitar parts you can sink you teeth into. Motley Crue is probably my favorite group of this particular bunch, but Dokken were no slouches when it came to layin' down the licks. Back for the Attack or Under Lock and Key have more of my favorite Dokken songs than Tooth and Nail, but this last one provides a good template for what Dokken had to offer: relatively short, catchy sing-alongs that were big on melody and turbo-charged six-string flash.

    It's funny, even though I grew up playing guitar while Dokken was big, I still pay more attention to Don Dokken's singing than George Lynch's playing. Lynch certainly has chops, and he commands plenty of respect from me and countless others, but I also consider Don to be one of metal's great vocalists. His voice has a warm, full, sonorous quality that really shines through, particularly in the acoustic-laden verses of "Into The Fire" and on "Alone Again," probably one of the greatest metal ballads of all time. "When Heaven Comes Down" is a groove-laden stomper with a tasty pre-chorus riff. "Heartless Heart" and "Don't Close Your Eyes" are other hard-driving favorites, with the latter featuring a descending guitar lick that you can really chew on. Man, when you compare stuff like this to modern 90's metal, it seems so damn primititve by comparison, but it's a symbol of a time when metal, with all the cosmetics and spandex, had a sense of humor and actually had something to do with, like, you know... fun.
    3 out of 5

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