Back for the Attack explained

Back for the Attack
Type:studio
Artist:Dokken
Cover:Dokken - Back for the Attack.jpg
Recorded:December 1986,[1]
August 1987
Genre:
Length:63:02
Label:Elektra
Producer:Neil Kernon
Prev Title:Under Lock and Key
Prev Year:1985
Next Title:Beast from the East
Next Year:1988

Back for the Attack is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Dokken, released on November 2, 1987, through Elektra Records.

Back for the Attack was certified Gold and Platinum on January 14, 1988.[2] The album sold about 1,5 million records worldwide.[3]

A remastered edition featuring a bonus track was reissued in 2009 through Warner Music Japan. It is the band's best-selling album, reaching No. 13 on the U.S. Billboard 200[4] and remaining on that chart for 33 weeks.[5]

Three singles also charted on Billboards Mainstream Rock chart: "Dream Warriors" reached No. 22, "Prisoner" at No. 37, and "Burning Like a Flame" at No. 20 as well as No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6]

The single "Dream Warriors" was originally released in February 10, 1987, as the theme song for the horror film .

The album title for Back for the Attack was taken from an earlier Dokken song of the same name, recorded during the sessions for Under Lock and Key (1985) and released as the B-side to "Dream Warriors". It was later included in the 2009 remastered edition of the album as a bonus track.

Critical reception

Barry Weber at AllMusic wrote that Back for the Attack "certainly isn't Dokken's greatest album, yet it remains a worthwhile listen". He praised the band for sounding "tighter than they ever have before", with frontman Don Dokken and guitarist George Lynch being "at the top of their game."

Canadian journalist Martin Popoff praised the album, which "offers length, variation and a sense of ambition as never before", and called it "one of those lost records brimming with bravado" but not so unique to be "one's life soundtrack". He added that the "excruciating" circumstances of its recording took their toll as the band tried to assemble "a more competent, mature, substantial record".

Paul Elliott at Classic Rock called it "arena rock with a heavy metal edge" and "an album filled with anthems", while remarking that "it was with this album that their glory days ended".[7]

The album was ranked number 12 on Metal Rules list of the Top 50 Glam Metal Albums.[8]

Track listing

All Credits adapted from the original LP.[9]

Personnel

All credits adapted from the original LP.

Dokken

Production

Charts

Chart (1987-1988)Peak
position
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[10] 18
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[11] 21
US Billboard 200[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bio - Dokken . Dokken Official Website . January 20, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140407135014/http://www.dokkencentral.com/index.php/biography . April 7, 2014.
  2. Web site: RIAA Searchable Database: search for Dokken . . September 28, 2015.
  3. Web site: Why Don Dokken owns the band name Dokken . . 2023-10-11 . 2023-10-15 . en.
  4. Web site: Back for the Attack Billboard Almums . . . October 8, 2015 .
  5. "Dokken - Chart history"
  6. Web site: Back for the Attack Billboard Singles . . . October 8, 2015 .
  7. Elliott, Paul (June 12, 2015). "Dokken: Back For The Attack". Classic Rock. Future. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  8. Web site: METAL RULES . 2017-11-26 . 2021-02-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171126083532/http://www.metal-rules.com/polls/index.php?id=8 . November 26, 2017.
  9. Back for the Attack . . 1987 . LP sleeve . Elektra Records . 9 60735-1 . Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York.
  10. Book: Pennanen, Timo . Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 . 1st . Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava . Helsinki . 2006 . 978-951-1-21053-5 . fi.
  11. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 . . Roppongi, Tokyo . 2006 . 4-87131-077-9 . ja.
  12. Dokken - Chart history - Billboard . https://web.archive.org/web/20180509053546/https://www.billboard.com/music/dokken/chart-history/billboard-200 . . 9 May 2018 . 15 April 2021.