A fairly average affair for 'Dokken's' first album, contains a couple of cracking tracks and some below par material. This is also the only outing for 'Juan Croucier' as he would leave for fellow 'Hair Metal' giants 'Ratt', his replacement would be mainstay bassist 'Jeff Pilson'. The formula isn't quite right on this release, but there's plenty of glimpses of the brilliant 'Don Dokken / George Lynch' partnership that would be the driving force behind many great songs to come.

The live favourite 'Breaking the Chains' is one of the strongest tracks of the album, and it's little wonder why, with its catchy chorus, choice guitar work and sweetly sung lyrics. The less exciting 'In the Middle' falls a bit short, the trawling rhythm is unimaginative and lyrically predictable, even 'Lynch's' guitaring fails to liven up this number. Better is the weaving drum and bass driven plodder 'Felony', with its sing-a-long chorus and harmonious vocals. Less enjoyable is the poorly written and constructed 'I can't See You', with arrangements that make for a difficult and unmelodious listen. 'Live to Rock' is a pretty obvious sounding number, that won't win any awards for its song writing, but still is a fair upbeat rocker, with solid guitar solo. 'Nightrider' is a real improvement, and wouldn't look a miss on later albums, the rhythm is driving and the axe work complementary, 'Don's' vocals are also some of the best on the album. Other solid tracks include the plodding 'Seven Thunders' with its clever changes of pace and the catchy 'Young Girls' with its 'Mötley Crüe' approach. There's little hope for 'Stick to your Guns', lyrically feeble and only saved by quality vocals and fret work. Without a doubt the best song here is the live recording of 'Paris is Burning'. This is the only track where we see guitar wizard 'George Lynch' really open up, and boy does he do it here, this positively escalates this album from mediocre to not bad. Melodically sung, catchy and backed up with sizzling guitar work, easily my pick of the album.

Ok, they haven't got everything right here, the song writing will improve significantly and things only get better from here on.