(RockAndMetal.com) (06/23/04)

Edited By Michael Bennett

NEW YORK, NY, USA - Melodic Hard Rock/Metal veterans DOKKEN will return with their new studio album, "Hell To Pay," on July 13th.

If Dokken ever heard the famous quote by Andy Warhol that "everybody gets 15 minutes of fame," it looks like someone forgot to tell them.

After 25 years, the group continues to have a recording contract with a major label as well as a loyal fan base, allowing them to "still follow their bliss and make a living at it," as singer and founder of the group Don Dokken puts it.

"I used to think if you had talent that's all you needed to survive the music business."

"After all these years, I've come to realize you need an equal amount of luck!"

Dokken also kicked off a new world tour June 17th to promote the new CD "and have some fun," as drummer "Wild" Mick Brown puts it.

Unlike some of their peers, the group has survived member changes, drugs, alcohol and egos - qualities that seemed to be almost mandatory during the '80s and '90s for a rock band.

Dokken have been often lumped into the genre of "hair metal" bands, even though the group had already been established as a multi-platinum arena act by 1985.

Their videos were a staple in the early days of the then fledgling MTV and continued on into the late '80s.

"We've always taken our music very seriously. But I think it's healthy when you can be self-deprecating," says Don, commenting about a recent show.

"We were headlining a concert last summer with a lot of other '80s bands. When we arrived in town we heard a radio commercial that the show was being promoted as a hair ball fest."

"We bought a can of extra-hold Aqua Net and put our hair as high as we could get it. When we hit the stage we were laughing so hard at each other we barely made it through the first song."

"We've never considered ourselves a pop band. We've had commercial hits, but we've always prided ourselves for our heavy edge."

Dokken has shared the stage with rock acts such as AC/DC, Metallica, Aerosmith, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Kiss, Scorpions, as well as Bon Jovi, just to name a few.

"When people ask us who we've toured with we just say EVERYBODY!" says Don.

The band hit stadium status in 1988, playing in front of over a million fans in just five weeks.

Their current LP at the time 'Back For the Attack' had sold over 1 million copies in just 21 days. It seemed Dokken was on the verge of superstardom.

But like so many other bands that have come before and after them Dokken broke up in 1989.

"It's tough to go from nothing to everything and no one to guide you or say stop. We made millions and spent millions but none of it on therapy," says Don dryly.

In 1994, legendary A&R man John Kalodner moved to Sony Music.

Kalodner has been credited for reviving many groups' careers with similar breakup problems, most notably Aerosmith.

Even though it was at the height of the Seattle grunge sound phase and groups like Dokken were out of vogue, Kalodner offered Dokken a recording contract on the condition the group had to consist of the original members.

"I hadn't spoken to the other members in five years but I made the call anyway. I figured we'd had five years to grow up," says Dokken laughingly.

The group released the appropriately titled "Dysfunctional" in 1995 selling 250,000 copies, which by the mid '90s was considered by industry standards very respectable.

Dokken was really happy and excited, but just as they were on the verge of releasing a second single, filming a video, starting a world tour and "taking it all the way," as Don puts it, the baggage from their past reared its ugly head, and again the group began to unravel.

Soon after, guitarist George Lynch again left the group. "It was really a shame," says "Wild" Mick Brown.

"We were on a roll! It seems lead singers and guitarists are always at odds, it's been going on since before The Beatles."

Don Dokken' take on surviving fame: "I think it should be mandatory that all recording contracts have the stipulation that their artists go to marriage counseling together at least once a month."

Meanwhile, the band minus Lynch plus a new guitarist in John Norum signed to CMC International/Sanctuary Records in 1995, and continued to forge forward.

With new guitar wizard Jon Levin on board the group has "gone back to their roots," as he puts it, with "Hell To Pay," their sixth release for Sanctuary.

"We just recorded what we liked, not what's in fashion musically this week," says Levin.

In the last year between the recording of the new album, Dokken has performed with a crop of new groups including the likes of Sevendust, Trapt, Eve 6 and Staind.V "It's really a trip when a new generation of fans knows all the words to your songs even though some of them were written 15 years ago or more."

"It puts a big smile on your face, and reminds us that good songs can stand the test of time," says Dokken bass player Barry Sparks on performing with Staind to a soldout audience of 10,000.

Dokken exploded out of the boiling hard rock/heavy metal scene in Los Angeles in the early 1980s.

1983's "Breaking The Chains," with its catchy title track, set the stage for Dokken becoming one of the most most dominant creative and commercial forces in the world of melodic hard rock.

"Tooth And Nail," "Under Lock And Key" and "Back For The Attack" all became platinum-selling smashes, with the live "Beast From The East" achieving gold status.

Songs like 'Alone Again,' 'Just Got Lucky,' 'Into The Fire,' 'In My Dreams,' 'Unchain The Night,' 'Dream Warriors,' 'Burning Like A Flame' and 'Heaven Sent' are among Dokken's most well-known tracks.

Not only has Dokken survived and kept their loyal fans in a time when people's tastes change as fast as Britney Spears' wardrobe, they have been embraced by a whole new generation of rock fans.

Upcoming "Hell To Pay" Tour Dates:

06/23 Cleveland, OH [Agora Theatre]
06/24 Royal Oak, MI [Royal Oak Music Theatre]
06/25 Cincinnati, OH [Annie's]
06/26 Chicago, IL [House Of Blues]
06/27 Columbus, OH [Al Rosa]
07/01 Bottineau, ND [Wild Rose Amp]
07/03 Crown Point, IN [Lake County Fairgrounds]
07/09 Sayreville, NJ [Starland Ballroom]
07/10 West Springfield, VA [Jaxx]
07/11 Hartford, CT [Webster Theatre]
07/13 Philadelphia, PA [The Trocadero]
07/15 Allentown, PA [Crocodile Rock Cafe]
07/17 Wantagh, NY [Mulcahy's Rock & Roll Sports Bar]
07/18 Baltimore, MD [Thunder Dome]
07/21 N. Myrtle Beach, SC [House Of Blues]
07/24 Lake Buena Vista, FL [House Of Blues]
08/10 Tempe, AZ [Marquee Theatre]
08/12 Las Vegas, NV [House Of Blues]
08/16 San Francisco, CA [The Fillmore]
08/18 Redding, CA [Redding Convention Center]

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