Dysfunctional (Dokken album)

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Dysfunctional
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 23, 1995
Recorded1994-1995
StudioAt 710 Studios and Total Access Recording, Redondo Beach, California
GenreHeavy metal, hard rock
Length54:22
LabelColumbia
ProducerDon Dokken, Michael Wagener
Dokken chronology
The Best of Dokken
(1994)
Dysfunctional
(1995)
One Live Night
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[2]

Dysfunctional is the fifth studio album by heavy metal band Dokken, released in 1995. It was the band's first release after reuniting in 1993.

Originally intended to be a Don Dokken solo album, it morphed into a Dokken album when guitarist George Lynch was brought back into the fold, with Jeff Pilson and Mick Brown already on board. The original album was produced for the Japanese market and released there in December 1994 on JVC/Victor, simply titled Dokken.[3] When Sony Music signed the band to the label internationally, the album was remixed and three additional songs recorded, "Hole In My Head", a cover of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "From the Beginning", and "If the Good Die Young" (the bonus track on the Japanese version). This last song is a heavily re-worked new version of the song "Snake Eyes",[citation needed] which Jeff Pilson had recorded with his post-Dokken band, Flesh & Blood (eventually re-named War & Peace). "Snake Eyes" was finally released as part of the War & Peace - The Flesh and Blood Sessions album in 1999.

Although Dysfunctional entered the chart respectably at No. 47 at a time when 1980s hard rock and heavy metal had largely declined, sales quickly dropped off and were not enough to reach gold RIAA certification. In a later interview, Don Dokken claimed that the album had sold 400,000 copies .[4][5]

The song "Too High to Fly" was released as a promo single from the album and was a minor hit.[6] It is one of the post 80s Dokken songs that is played live on a consistent basis.

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Inside Looking Out"Don Dokken, Jeff Pilson4:08
2."Hole in My Head"Dokken, Pilson, Mick Brown4:33
3."The Maze"Dokken, Pilson, George Lynch4:50
4."Too High to Fly"Dokken, Lynch7:10
5."Nothing Left to Say"Dokken, Pilson4:30
6."Shadows of Life"Dokken, Pilson4:33
7."Long Way Home"Dokken, Pilson, Lynch5:12
8."Sweet Chains"Dokken5:46
9."Lesser of Two Evils"Dokken, Pilson, Lynch4:03
10."What Price"Dokken, Brown, Pilson5:45
11."From the Beginning" (Emerson, Lake & Palmer cover)Greg Lake4:12
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."When the Good Die Young"Dokken, Pilson4:55

Personnel[edit]

Dokken[edit]

Production[edit]

Charts[edit]

Chart (1995) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[7]
47

References[edit]

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Dokken - Dysfunctional review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  2. ^ Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  3. ^ Dokken - Dokken (1994). discogs.com. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  4. ^ "Dysfunctional Billboard Albums". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  5. ^ Don Dokken - "There Was A Lot Of Talk About A DOKKEN Reunion; I Tried My Best To Make It Happen...". bravewords.com. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  6. ^ "Dysfunctional Billboard Singles". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  7. ^ "Dokken - Chart history - Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2021.