Dokken are a band that formed in the early eighties who released their first album, Tooth and Nail, in 1984. The follow up album Under Lock and Key built on their success as did the next album Back For the Attack, establishing them throughout the US, Europe and Japan. After riding this wave of success and the release of the live album Beast From The East in 1988, they decided to break up. This was due to a falling out between front man Don Dokken and guitarist George Lynch - Don Dokken had to then continue recording under his full name while a court battle raged.

In 1995 the band managed to put aside their differences and reform. To gauge how the audience would react to this, they decided to perform an 'unplugged' show and then gauge the response. Were it unfavourable, they would do one last tour of Japan where they could do no wrong and then call it quits for good. Dokken – One Live Night is the aforementioned 'unplugged' show and this led to major tours by the band and further recording.

Track listing:

Dokken are not a band that everyone will like, but most should enjoy this performance. Much in the same style as many heavier bands of the eighties, this acoustic session doesn’t convey how good this band are playing in their usual heavy style, but it is a good introduction to their musical ability. This show also contains a version of the Beatles hit Nowhere Man which is performed very well. One other thing, the last song, From the Beginning, is not from the live show, it is the song played over a montage of footage of the band and the closing credits.

George Lynch did again leave the band, with guitarist Reb Beach replacing him, and the only current members now are Don Dokken and drummer Mick Brown. Don Dokken is the first to admit he is hard to live with, but Dokken fans will at least have their older material to listen to and the current release on DVD. Be sure to check out my other review for Dokken – Live From the Sun which will give fans a good dose of the band in their best environment.

Well the first word that springs to mind to describe this NTSC video transfer is "terrible". First of all the picture at times looks decidedly blurred, with a total lack of sharpness throughout. This really looks like it has been copied straight from a VHS tape. The usual problems associated with live shows such as grain, aliasing, poor shadow detail and colour bleeding are all here, but they are only visible when the picture is clear. Pixelisation is also present, as well as some edge enhancement, and there are no subtitles available. Presented in full frame, the one good thing about this release is that there's no layer change as it is a single layer disc. Quite frankly, this is watch-able, but only just.

Thankfully the audio is a completely different story to the video, and is reasonable. Audio options are Dolby Digital 2.0 and DD 5.1 and apart from a slight problem with synch on occasions, both are quite good. For the live show itself, sound is very good. Lyrics are clear at all times and separation is used well for audience noise. The subwoofer gets a little action but, being an acoustic show, it isn’t called into action too often. There is not too much to choose between the 2.0 and 5.1, both are good and serve this performance well. Sound for the interview segments is decent, but sections have a constant hum, which does become quite annoying. Thankfully the audio is much better than the video and makes this a decent performance.

As far as extras go, there are two listed in the menu, but seeing as one of them is DVD Credits, to my mind there is only one. That sole extra is the featurette Backstage Pass. This runs for 6:01 and is made up of interviews with the band. It is quite humorous at times, especially drummer Mick Brown who states he was once told he is not the worst drummer in the world... but when he dies!

Overall this is only really for Dokken fans and those with an interest in this style of music. The video quality is so poor that even fans should view before buying, but the audio does make it a respectable account of this event.