Shadowlife

Shadowlife is an extremely ambitious work on which Dokken, deliberately stepping far away from its former splendid melodic hard rock, foregrounded low-tuned guitar and a heavy, uneasy air. An experimental record that tried to boldly take in the changing times. Don Dokken’s singing is more restrained, and the songs value above all the distinctive feel of the riffs and their sure tension, rather than widely opening choruses. From the opener “Puppet on a String” and the drama of “Cracks in the Ground” to a cut like “Sky Beneath My Feet,” every song is engaging, while cuts like “Until I Know” and “Hello” convey the work’s fullness. George Lynch’s experimental guitar powerfully drives that dark world. A record on which the great change certainly faces a direction different from the band’s signature appeal, yet the vigorous drive that tried to sincerely take in the distinctive air of the late 1990s is truly clear. Though an experimental work that drew mixed opinions, it is truly intriguing heard as one unusual chapter of Dokken. An engaging record that inscribed the band’s challenge — a record where the band’s experimental spirit shines.