Breaking the Chains (album)

Breaking the Chains is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Dokken. It was originally released in Europe as Breakin' the Chains on the French label Carrere Records,^[10] in 1981. This version contains different mixes and titles of songs from the later U.S. edition. "Paris Is Burning" is called "Paris", and is actually a studio version as opposed to the live recording in Berlin from December 1982. The album also contains a song called "We're Illegal", which later turned into "Live to Rock (Rock to Live)".

Breaking the Chains
First edition cover art
Studio album by Dokken
Released	1981 (Europe) May 1982 (UK)^[1] September 1983 (US)
Studio	Dierks Studios, Cologne
Genre	Heavy metal^[2] glam metal^[3]
Length	34:37 (1981 version) 36:24 (1983 version)
Label	Carrere Elektra
Producer	Michael Wagener, Dokken
Dokken chronology
Back in the Streets (1979) Breaking the Chains (1981) Tooth and Nail (1984)
Singles from Breaking the Chains
"I Can't See You" Released: 1981 (Germany)^[4] "Young Girls" Released: 1981 (Germany)^[5] "We're Illegal" Released: April 1982 (UK)^[6] "Breaking the Chains" Released: November 1983 (US)^[7]
Alternative cover
1983 reissue

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[8]
The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	7/10^[9]

The album was remixed, partially re-recorded, renamed and released in the US in 1983 by Elektra Records, and reached number 136 on the Billboard 200 chart.^[11] The album was considered a flop by the label, which had the intention to drop the band.^{[citation needed]} However, Dokken management convinced Elektra that they could make a more successful album, which materialized in Tooth and Nail in September 1984. Breaking the Chains' title track was named the 62nd greatest hard rock song by VH1.^[12] It is featured on the radio station "V-ROCK" in the 2006 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

In a discussion with George Lynch on January 26, 2011, he mentioned the existence of 500 copies of the Carrere Records Breakin' the Chains version printed with the Don Dokken moniker, instead of Dokken. This version also featured different album cover art.^[13]

Track listing

1981 Breakin' the Chains (Carrere Records)

All tracks are written by Don Dokken and George Lynch, except where noted

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Breakin' the Chains"		3:50
2.	"Seven Thunders"	Dokken, Lynch, Mick Brown	3:50
3.	"I Can't See You"	Dokken, Juan Croucier	3:30
4.	"In the Middle"		3:45
5.	"We're Illegal"	Dokken, Lynch, Croucier	3:37

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Paris"		3:42
7.	"Stick to Your Guns"		3:30
8.	"Young Girls"		3:15
9.	"Felony"		3:07
10.	"Nightrider"	Dokken, Lynch, Brown	3:11
Total length:			34:37

1983 Breaking the Chains (Elektra Records)

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Breaking the Chains"		3:43
2.	"In the Middle"		3:43
3.	"Felony"		3:08
4.	"I Can't See You"	Dokken, Juan Croucier	3:12
5.	"Live to Rock (Rock to Live)"	Dokken, Lynch, Croucier	3:39

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Nightrider"	Dokken, Lynch, Mick Brown	3:13
7.	"Seven Thunders"	Dokken, Lynch, Brown	3:55
8.	"Young Girls"		3:14
9.	"Stick to Your Guns"		3:25
10.	"Paris Is Burning" (live in Berlin, December 1982)		5:07
Total length:			36:24

Personnel

1981 Album

• Don Dokken – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar (7, 8)
• George Lynch – lead guitar (1–5, 9, 10), overdubbed solo (6)
• Peter Baltes – bass (1–4, 6–8, 10), backing vocals (3, 6)
• Juan Croucier – bass and co-lead vocals (5, 9)
• Mick Brown – drums (1–5, 9, 10), backing vocals (3)
• Bobby Blotzer – drums (6–8)

Tracks 6, 7 and 8 were recorded at Dierks Studios as demos for Carrere. Don Dokken, Peter Baltes, and Bobby Blotzer were involved.^[14] Later, the main album sessions commenced with Dokken and Baltes as well as George Lynch and Mick Brown. Lynch overdubbed a guitar solo on track 6. The band soon returned to Germany with Juan Croucier, their regular bassist, to record tracks 5 and 9.

1983 Album

• Don Dokken – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar
• George Lynch – lead guitar
• Juan Croucier – bass, backing vocals
• Mick Brown – drums

Production

• Michael Wagener – production, engineering, mixing
• Wyn Davis – mixing
• Joe Gastwirt – mastering

Notes

On the original Breakin' the Chains Carrere Records version, released under the name Don Dokken, several song titles are misspelled on the back cover. Namely "I Can't See You" ("I Can See You"), "Stick to Your Guns" ("Still to Your Guns"), and "Young Girls" ("Young Girl"). On the French Carrere vinyl release, the songs are spelled correctly, but George Lynch's name is misspelled as "Georges Lynch".

Charts

Chart (1983)	Peak position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[15]	75
US Billboard 200^[16]	136

References

1. Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 230. ISBN 9780862415419.
2. October 2015, Paul Elliott02 (2 October 2015). "Dokken: The Hair Metal Band That Hated Itself". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-13. Breakin' The Chains, was initially released in Germany in 1981 as a Don Dokken solo album, then reissued under the Dokken band name. The music was mostly generic heavy metal.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. Popoff, Martin (2014). The big book of hair metal : the illustrated oral history of heavy metal's debauched decade. Minneapolis, MN. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-7603-4546-7. OCLC 858901054.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
4. "Dokken singles".
5. "Dokken singles".
6. "Dokken singles".
7. "Dokken singles".
8. Gomes, Z. "Dokken - Breaking the Chains review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
9. Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
10. "Dokken - Breakin' The Chains". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
11. "Breaking the Chains Billboard Albums". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
12. . Spreadit Music.org. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
13. "GEORGE LYNCH And DON DOKKEN Trade Barbs On DOKKEN's Breaking The Chains Debut; Audio Interviews Streaming". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. 5 January 2005. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PffdRrlYTHA
15. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
16. . Billboard. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2021.