T&N – Slave To the Empire (2012)
What can you expect on T&N’s new CD Slave To the Empire? How about five cool versions of Dokken songs, and some killer new stuff as well?! Slave to The Empire has
plenty of guest stars (Doug Pinnick, Robert Mason, Sebastian Bach, Tim “Ripper” Owens), and each one of these singers do an outstanding job on the Dokken songs they sing.
The new T&N songs are pretty good too.
I always new Jeff Pilson was a great back up singer to Don Dokken, but after listening to “Into the Fire”, it is clear to me that Jeff Pilson’s voice is superior to Don’s. I like the
extended version of the song on this CD. It is a great update to a Dokken classic. In fact, Pilson’s voice shines on all of the songs that he sings on this album. Give the song “Rhythm of the Soul” a listen and you will understand just how big Mr. Pilson’s voice.
The Dokken song that I was concerned about the most on this album, was “Tooth & Nail”. I wasn’t sure how Doug Pinnick’s voice would translate on this song. Pinnick added a little more soul, but also a lot more power to this song. I love this version!
Warrant singer Robert Mason does a trenmdous job on “It’s Not Love”. I am sure he sang this one a few times during his tenure with Lynch Mob, and it shows, as this version is excellent!
I never thought I would like Sebastian Bach singing a Dokken tune, but I love his voice on “Alone Again”. His vibrato and voice are quite different from Don Dokken. While this version is similar to the original, I think I prefer this version. I like this so much that I would love to see Sebastian perform this song live.
“Mind Control” is my favorite out of all of the new T&N songs. This song really rocks. “Kiss of Death” on the other hand is my least favorite out of the Dokken tunes. Tim “Ripper” Owens does a good job on the song, but I still prefer the original “Kiss of Death” version to this one.
George Lynch takes a more bluesy approach to his playing on “Jesus Train”, and it really works on this song. I am not used to hearing George play like this, and I love his sound on this song.
“Access Denied” is a heavy tune that sounds as if it could have been left over from the George Lynch Kill All Control sessions.
This is not a filler tune by any means. George Lynch plays his ass off.
Overall, Slave to the Empire is a very enjoyable album. Half of it does play like a Dokken cover album, but quite frankly some of the versions on this album are superior to the original songs. They give the album a nice flow.
The new songs show off the crazy talent of George Lynch, Jeff Pilson Mick Brown and Brian Tichy (who handles the drumming on the new T&N tracks). If you are a fan of Dokken, you NEED to pick this up!
You can pick up Slave to the Empire here!
Rating: 
Out of 10
TRACK LISTING:
- Slave to the Empire
- Sweet Unknown
- Tooth and Nail (featuring Doug Pinnick of Kings X)
- It’s Not Love (featuring Robert Mason of Warrant)
- Rhythm of the Soul
- When Eagles Die
- Into The Fire
- Alone Again (featuring Sebastian Bach)
- Mind Control
- Kiss of Death (featuring Tim “Ripper” Owens)
- Jesus Train
- Access Denied
T&N is:
George Lynch – Vocals
Jeff Pilson – Vocals and Bass
Mick Brown – Drums
Brian Tichy – Drums
Additional Musicians:
Doug Pinnick – Vocals (Tooth & Nail)
Sebastian Bach – Vocals (Alone Again)
Tim “Ripper” Owens – Vocals (Kiss of Death
Robert Mason – Vocals (It’s Not Love)
Leave A Comment ↓
I can’t agree that any of the vocal performances on this album are better than the originals although I do appreciate the performances by Sebastian Bach and Robert Mason. Let’s not lose sight of the magic that was Dokken back in the ’80s…Don Dokken may be an asshole but nobody can sing these songs the way he did back in the day!
I used to be a big Dokken fan back in the day, and the more I listen to their older stuff, it makes me realize just how much Pilson was signing on the older tracks. Not knocking Don, but Jeff made him sound a whole lot better.
On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 5:00 PM, Hard Rock Hideout
Yeah…I have to say that his Into the Fire vocal performance is impressive on this album.
Can’t wait to buy it from Lynch’s site…with some other swag!