''Breaking the Chains'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band

Dokken Dokken is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as " Alone Again", " In My Dreams", and " Burn ...

. It was originally released in Europe as ''Breakin' the Chains'' on the French label

Carrere Records Carrere Records (french: Disques Carrère, link=no, ) was a French record label which specialized in Euro disco and rock music. The record company was sold to Warner Music Group in the early 1990s. Early days Claude Carrere started working with ...

, 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 Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

from December 1982. The album also contains a song called "We're Illegal", which later turned into "Live to Rock (Rock to Live)". The album was remixed, partially re-recorded, renamed and released in the US in 1983 by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

, and reached number 136 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The album was considered a flop by the label, which had the intention to drop the band. 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. 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.

Track listing

1981 Breakin' the Chains (Carrere Records)

1983 Breaking the Chains (Elektra Records)

Personnel

Band members

Don Dokken Donald Maynard Dokken (born June 29, 1953) is an American singer and musician. He's best known for being the lead singer, occasional guitarist, and founder of the glam metal band Dokken. He is known for his vibrato-laden, melodic vocal style whi ...

– lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitar * George Lynch – lead guitar * Mick Brown – drums *

Juan Croucier Juan Croucier (born August 22, 1959) is a Cuban-born American musician. He is best known as the bassist for the hard rock/glam metal band Ratt. Career Croucier attended Torrance High School in Torrance, California, and played in various ban ...

– bass, background vocals, co-lead vocals on "We're Illegal"

Production

Michael Wagener Michael Wagener (born 25 April 1949) is a German former music producer, mixer, and engineer from Hamburg, best known for his work with many top glam metal and heavy metal bands in the late 1980s. He is particularly renowned for his multi-amping an ...

– production, engineering, mixing *Wyn Davis – mixing *

Joe Gastwirt Joe Gastwirt is an American audio engineer, known for digitally remastering hundreds of CDs and LPs for famous artists, including the Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, Helen Reddy, Electric Light Orchestra, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The B ...

– mastering *Peter Baltes – additional bass

Notes

On the original ''Breakin' the Chains''

Carrere Carrere or Carrère may refer to: As a name * Georges Carrère (1897–1986), French classical violinist * Edward Carrere (1906–1984), Mexican art director * Emmanuel Carrère (1957–), French author, screenwriter, and director * Fernando Car ...

version, released under the band 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 Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

release, the songs are spelled correctly, but George Lynch's name is misspelled as "Georges Lynch".

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breaking The Chains (Dokken Album) 1981 debut albums Albums produced by Michael Wagener Dokken albums Elektra Records albums Carrere Records albums