Rokken Like Dokken Vol I

C.W. McCall 
"Convoy"
Make no mistake about it... I love "trucker" songs. It's a strange off-shoot of popular country music that started in the late 40s and this is the one that made it cool again in the seventies. We need a new wave of trucker hits. I just might spearhead that myself!

Mr. Mister 
"Kyrie"
"Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel. Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night." Yeah, I'm not too much of a man to admit that back in the day I thought the actual lyrics to this song were, "Carry a laser down the road that I must travel." 

311 
"Love Song"
As a ska fan in 1998, two bands were always a thorn in my side. 311 was one. The other was Cake. Don't get me wrong. I like nearly everything that these bands have done, but these bands are not and never were ska bands. 311 is a reggae/dub influenced white rap/rock group. Cake is... well, who knows what cake is. Having said this, though, 311 does a great job on this desperately needed update of a Cure classic. Hell, I've noticed that the Cure has been making a comeback in the last few months, and I just imagine that this cover had a lot to do with it. Thank you 311 for introducing a new generation to the Cure. The only thing more depressing than a world without the Cure is Robert Smith's life (or possibly chocolate covered lard).

New Found Glory 
"Head on Collision"
Damn, two months ago that commercial for "Catalyst" was in heavier rotation on MTV than most videos. New Found Glory (or NFG as I am prone to call 'em) is one of the most popular bands from the new generation of punk rockdom... and for good reason. Here they're dealing with the familiar themes of pain and relationships gone bad (read: physical pain as metaphor for emotional pain), but unlike many of their contmporaries NFG's lyrics don't sound like they've come from a seventh grade Language Arts journal (trust me... I know). 

Blur 
"Girls and Boys"
Hell, I always thought that this was the Pet Shop Boys! Never would I have guessed that it came from 1994. Some serious, funkdified synth-groove happening here... and years after that was all the rage. Great (fabulous?) song that I'm afraid to turn up too loud.

Caroline's Spine
"Sullivan"
I've never heard of these guys before and my question is, "Why the hell not?!?!?" This song rocks in the vein of a slick, west coast (?) Dropkick Murphys crossedwith like... I dunno, maybe one of the better "Seattle" acts from the mid-90s. Good stuff and I'm gonna look for more from these guys.

Edwyn Collins 
"A Girl Like You"
This one of those songs from the 90s that you remember, but never know from where. It's haunting and poppy at the same time. A certifiable classic. It's just too bad that this guy never offered up anything close to the perfection of this one.

Dokken 
"Paris is Burning (Live)"
One word: Rokken! Download this one here.

Fenix TX 
"Surf Song"
Seriously, my new favorite band. Once again, why have I not heard of these guys... oh yeah, because I'm almost thirty. Anyway, I've downloaded a lot of stuff from these guys and it's all awesome!

Franz Ferdinand 
"Take Me Out"
Viva La New Wave! It's about time that we made a pop-cultural shift back to music with some substance and it's awesome that these new bands are taking cues from some of the great, later, Euro New Wave acts. 

Howard Jones 
"No One is to Blame"
I'm sticking to my guns... I've never heard this song before. But I do have to say that Howard Jones (or HoJo as I like to call him) does toss out a fine synth-pop ballad. It's like music to get a tooth filled to... and I mean that in a good way. He'll undoubtedly take his place in history amongst such exalted company as Toto and Air Supply.

Iron Maiden 
"Run to the Hills"
As far as Iron Maiden goes, back in the day when I was listening to metal almost exclusively I never was a big fan. They just seemed to be way too close to realizing Spinal Tap's parody of a metal band. "Run to the Hills," though is just THE ultimate quasi-Tolkeinian tale of doom and lurking fear that you just can't resist "thrashing" to.

Justin Timberlake 
"Cry Me a River"
...

Kenny Rogers 
"The Gambler"
I seem to remember the lyrics a little differently than they appear here. Hmmm... I dunno. I think I might have to get ahold of Fisher and see if he remembers what they were. Tee-hee!

Joy Division 
"Love Will Tear Us Apart"
It's been confirmed. This is not the song that Buffalo Bill tucks his wang to in "Silence of the Lambs." That's good, though, because it's a good song and you don't want it forever tainted with the mental image of a derranged psychopath fashioning a mock-vagina out of his own genitalia attached to it. Watch "24 Hour Party People" to get the whole story on Joy Division. Great band that I didn't know anything about until Jay turned me on to that film. Good stuff. Now, place the lotion in the f'ing basket!

L7 
"Andre"
Did you see on that VH1 shocking mmoments show where one of these classy ladies yanked out her O.B. Slender and winged it into the audience? Punk rock? Filthy assed spectacle? The jury's still out... oh wait, no it's not, that's just plain nasty. You gotta love L7's music, though. Hardore, dirty-dirty rock and roll. Of course, they're destined to be remembered as a "one hit wonder" (for "Pretend We're Dead"), but "Andre" rocks far harder than their bigger hit. Also, check out their track from the Natural Born Killers Soundtrack, "Shitlist."

Kings of Leon 
"California Waiting"
Here's another one that I hadn't heard of. Good, solid "rock" that makes me happy for the future of the music. It's like something that would've been buried in "120 Minutes" back in the day, finally getting it's due.

Laura Branigan 
"Gloria"
This song is forever tied to a weird memory. Probably mid-80s, shopping at the Goodwill that was over by the Muncie Mall with my mom and grandmother. The homely woman working at the counter was singing along while it played on the radio. While we were checking out, she pointed out that her name was, in fact, Gloria. Ah, good times.

Ok Go
"Get Over It"
Could you ask for a better song to end this volume? I say, "Hell no!" Damn, this one rocks. I'm not even gonna ask why I haven't heard of these guys.

About the Artwork:
The idea for this series was to tweak classic metal albums. This one is a version of Black Sabbath Vol. #4, but with Don Dokken featured instead of Ozzy.