Original Dokken Lineup Reunites!! (Yes WITH Lynch!)

From the clips I watched, Pilson and Mick are the only two that got the memo that this was a live show and not a sound check. Don and George both appear completely disengaged.

Oh, and Don sounds awful, but that's been the case for years.

Dear god... I didn't think he sucked that much. While Lynch doesn't look very happy to be there, I have nothing to say about his playing.

Dokken sucked bad when I saw him open for Whitesnake and Scorpions something like 10 years ago but never as bad as this. Poor people who paid to see this...
 
He unexpectedly damaged his voice during said rehearsal show, he was saving it, ultimately in vain it would appear. His voice isn't "shot" by any measure of the imagination though.


I admire you're being a fan but you shouldn't try to defend the undefendable... I've played a couple more songs from their shows in Japan since then, it's as horrible... He keeps ditching all the high notes and even some midrange. He has absolutely no power.

Go listen to Dee Snyder or Bruce Dickinson for example. They might not have the voice they had when they were 20 but they can still belch it out. Dokken isn't even trying. Is he keeping his voice for the old folks house?
 
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It's not even about being a fan, it's about analyzing his voice as it is. I agree, his performances in Japan were awful. What about him damaging his voice during rehearsal don't you understand? Not to mention he's obviously disinterested in a reunion with the joker who's relentlessly shit talked him ad nauseam like an ass for 20 years.

I don't buy the rehearsal incident. As I said before, he already sounded bad something like more than 10 years ago. He's probably still smoking, it's not like it's helping. If he damaged his voice then take care of it. Rest for a while, take lessons, whatever but don't make people pay for music you can't sing anymore. As I said, I can understand that he wouldn't hit the high notes but he's not even trying for the mid-range stuff. It's like he's mumbling the words on the same note.

Dickinson was loosing his voice at one point and he really took care of it since then. No, he doesn't sing like he's still 30 years old but he sounds pretty good and can hit most of the high notes. Have you heard John Bush lately? Biff from Saxon? Even Hetfield? Besides Bush who's a force of nature who's still pitch perfect after all these years, they all changed the way they're singing and ditching some highs but you can still recognize the melodies.

You keep listening to him singing nowadays as much as you want, I'm done. You probably pardon that kind of stuff more easily than me. :p
 
It's not even about being a fan, it's about analyzing his voice as it is. I agree, his performances in Japan were awful. What about him damaging his voice during rehearsal don't you understand? Not to mention he's obviously disinterested in a reunion with the joker who's relentlessly shit talked him ad nauseam like an ass for 20 years.

He was really interested in cashing the huge money they were offered though... Be a pro, and at least pretend you're happy to be on the stage, even though your voice is long gone....
 
I don't buy the rehearsal incident. As I said before, he already sounded bad something like more than 10 years ago. He's probably still smoking, it's not like it's helping. If he damaged his voice then take care of it. Rest for a while, take lessons, whatever but don't make people pay for music you can't sing anymore. As I said, I can understand that he wouldn't hit the high notes but he's not even trying for the mid-range stuff. It's like he's mumbling the words on the same note.

Dickinson was loosing his voice at one point and he really took care of it since then. No, he doesn't sing like he's still 30 years old but he sounds pretty good and can hit most of the high notes. Have you heard John Bush lately? Biff from Saxon? Even Hetfield? Besides Bush who's a force of nature who's still pitch perfect after all these years, they all changed the way they're singing and ditching some highs but you can still recognize the melodies.

You keep listening to him singing nowadays as much as you want, I'm done. You probably pardon that kind of stuff more easily than me. :p
I would add Joe Lynn Turner to the list of aging singers who still do great. At 65, he's 2 years older than Dokken and still sings great live.

Another one, younger though at 56, is Doogie White. The guy is a real trooper. Performs great every night, sings in a million bands/projects, and never uses a teleprompter... What a memory!

Joey Belladonna, 56, still has plenty of power too. Blackie Lawless (60), as well.

Bob Catley, 69, is not what he used to be, but still is so much better live than Dokken... Even Rob Halford (65) and Ian Gillan (71), which are both shadows of what they once were, are still able to perform just fine on stage most of the times, having changed their way singing.

Don Dokken should retire, he's embarrassing himself on the stage... Of course, IMO... :)
 
He was interested in cashing the check. Which he's been clear and open about from the start. I agree, he should've at least made an attempt to pretend, but he's been very clear that he's doing this to make money and simply to put to rest the demand for the original band. Also, for the eight trillionth time, his voice is not "long gone". Considering he's been performing classic Dokken songs in their original key and hitting all the notes, albeit not as forcefully as originally, I'd say his voice is anything but "gone".

"Hitting all the notes" ??? Never in a million years... In the multitude of videos I checked in the last couple years at least...
 
Dreams Warriors? Are you kidding? Vocals are flat as hell... And this song needs the high parts, which he doesn't even try anymore. Stop singing this Don... As Halford should stop trying to sing Painkiller...
 
Don's bass players have been covering for his lack of range for years now. The BETTER vocals are routinely from them, whether it's Jeff Pilson (who is a solid singer, check out War & Peace) or Mark Boals in his brief stint.... Don is very smart about hiring musicians who can make up for his inadequacies.

Again, though, this has much less to do with where his voice is today (damaged recently or otherwise) and more about the lack of any amount of effort at doing something for the people who made his ass famous in the first place. I'd much rather see flat Don with Pilson covering, but acting genuinely THANKFUL, than the sham of a show they put on.