"Burning Like a Flame" by Dokken

Song#:  3361
Date:  12/19/1987
Debut:  98
Peak:  72
Weeks:  8
Genre:  Hard Rock



Pop Bits:  Dokken's third album, Under Lock and Key, was their most successful to-date reaching #32 and going platinum. It got a boost thanks to the single "In My Dreams," which got to #24 Rock/#77 Pop. Building on that momentum, the band recorded their fourth studio album Back for the Attack. While a track from the album had already been released earlier in February ("Dream Warriors," the title song to the horror flick A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, which got to #22 Rock), this follow-up single was the first released to truly promote the album. It became their second Top 20 hit at Rock getting to #20. The tune then crossed over to Pop where it hung around the bottom quarter of the chart for a couple of months. Despite the lackluster performance of the single, the band's reputation and fans helped the album get to #13 and become a platinum seller. It would be the best charting effort of their career.

ReduxReview:  Dokken were definitely good at writing solid arena rock track that pleased fans of the genre, but they never were able to come up with that one hooky song that could secure them a mainstream hit. At this point in the 80s with other hard rock/glam bands grabbing hits, it was the perfect time for them to unleash something that would take them to the next level. Unfortunately, this tune didn't do the trick. It was probably the closest thing to a radio-ready track they ever did, but it still didn't have that extra commercial-leaning edge that brought fame to the likes of Bon Jovi or Def Leppard. The chorus was hooky and memorable, but the rest of the tune didn't come up to that level, so parts of it fell a bit flat. Overall it just wasn't enough to really grab radio listeners.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  After Back for the Attack was released, the band went out on tour. Performances from those shows were collected to form the band's first live album, 1988's Beast from the East. To help promote the album, a new studio track was tacked on the end of the LP and released as a single. "Walk Away" would get to #48 at Rock. The album sold well getting to #33 and going gold. The live disc would earn Dokken their first and only Grammy nomination (for Best Metal Performance). In 1989, Dokken would formally split due to issues between members along with ongoing creative differences. Members would start their own projects and perhaps the most successful was guitarist George Lynch's band Lynch Mob. Their first two albums in '90 and '92 sold well thanks to a pair of Rock Top 20 hits including the #13 "Tangled in the Web." Don Dokken's 1990 solo album Up from the Ashes also did fairly well reaching #50. Like a lot of band, Dokken would get back together in 1993. They would record several albums, but none would perform nearly as well as their earlier platinum and gold efforts.

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