Metal Sludge Gossip Board

Great track!

Don sounds especially good on this one.

What do you think?

that whole album is great.

alleyrulez wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 9:46 am that whole album is great.

Agreed. "Crash N' Burn", "Mirror, Mirror", and "Stay" are my favorites off of UFTA, but the whole album is just heavenly good.

alleyrulez wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 9:46 am that whole album is great.

I concur. The album remains a favorite, and I continue to regularly enjoy it in its entirety. In my opinion, it represents some of Don's best work.

That album is just bland, nothing really sticks out...

Got my copy signed by Mickey Dee tho!

I really liked this album when it came out. Listening to it now, the songs were there but, it just sounds weak and wimpy. The guitars just don't have that edge that was needed. John Norum was the wrong choice for this one.

Thought it was pretty boring when it came out, but it definitely grew on me. Band sounds great and it definitely has that classic Dokken vibe to it. Much more so than Lynch Mob which is much more straight ahead, late 80 LA influenced. "Down In Flames" is a great track.

alleyrulez wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 9:46 am that whole album is great.

Yep. One of the best of the genre.

I was the biggest Dokken fan in the 80's, but this album really didn't do anything for me. I bought it and just never got into it. I remember Don Dokken opened for Poison, and I felt very disappointed in that.

The Lynch Mob album, however, I felt was a million times better. That one really delivered.

It was perfect because it showed Don’s melodic AOR side and Lynch Mob went for the darker sound.

I love both albums. Lynch Mob wins but this song and a few others are Dokken at his best.

War_in_D wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 2:18 pm The Lynch Mob album, however, I felt was a million times better. That was really delivered.

while I love them both, "Wicked Sensation" is the better of the two, IMO.

Dokken were so horrible at Monsters of Rock that I checked out totally. Heard one song on the reunion in mid 90s and checked out again. That shit sucked too. Tooth and Nail, Unchain, and a few on Back for the Attack ... otherwise, NO.

War_in_D wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 2:18 pm I was the biggest Dokken fan in the 80's, but this album really didn't do anything for me. I bought it and just never got into it.

The Lynch Mob album, however, I felt was a million times better. That one really delivered.

Same here, I liked the LM record more.

I was expecting Wicked Sensation to be an amazing record and I wasn't all that excited for Don's album, but I ended up feeling the exact opposite. I thought Up From The Ashes was great. I was very pleasantly surprised whereas Wicked Sensation I liked about 3 songs. I was very let down.

I like pretty much everything off UFTA. 1000 Miles Away and When Some Nights were so so, but everything else was damn solid. It ends very strong with Down In Flames and The Hunger. When Love Finds A Fool is a great ballad with great guitar.

The second Lynch Mob album I had pretty low expectations for, but it was much better than Wicked Sensation. It's too bad more people didn't give that album a chance. It had some really good stuff! I love Tangled In The Web. When Darkness Calls has one of Lynch's very best solos. The Secret is really cool. I didn't like the more fluid guitar tome he had on this one, but his playing was top notch. Robert Mason was better than Oni in my opinion.

The worst song on Up from the Ashes was the ballad "When love finds a fool" A surprisingly Terrible ballad from Don.

Up From The Ashes is a great AOR-ish melodic hard rock/metal album. If you're a fan of the genre, it's impossible to not like it. When Some Nights is really good, along with Crash & Burn, 1,000 Miles Away, Down In Flames, The Hunger, the album is great from start to finish. My only complaint is it could've had one or two more songs. Not long enough!

Mirror Mirror is excellent and When Some Nights is alright.

Rest of the album is pretty forgettable - all super serious, minor key, mid-tempo. Half the songs sound like rewrites of other songs on the album. "Stay" ain't a hit.

We've talked about it on here a while back - the main problem is that this isn't adult contemporary/AOR, this is adult contemporary/AOR *for metalheads*. And the demand there is pretty small for a major label band with serious money invested.