THE BAND:
George Lynch –guitars, backing vocals
Jeff Pilson – vocals, bass, keyboard
Michael Frowein - drums
TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) “Breath & A Scream”-This track opens with a electronic drum pattern.
When the guitar arrangement of the intro kicks in you can certainly tell it is
George Lynch. Musically through the intro George and Jeff are playing the same
notes on their relative instruments, which makes for a great effect. There
is a small lead scale through the intro also. Vocally this track is very
similar to the last War and Peace stuff. The background arrangement
through the verse has a very abstract feel to it. There is an unbelievable
sounding bass line behind the chorus. George used an effects pedal on the
solo which added a nice effect to the arrangement. Solo wise George has
and will always amaze you!! During the breakdown section of the song Jeff
chose to use a little girl singing backing harmony. The song has a huge
sound to it, that musically will sends chills up your spine!!! At
the end of the last chorus there is a huge echo effect on the musical
arrangement.
2.) “Beast in the Box”- This track opens with a very simple in a George Lynch
way guitar overdub rhythm. Regarding the vocals of the verse all I can say is..."Hey
Don! put this in your pipe and choke on it"... The main guitar
arrangement through the verse has one of the best Lynch rhythms I've heard.
The chorus is very laid back with a huge Pilson hook. For the small solo
George added a few signature licks that only he could do properly.
3.) “When you Bleed”-This track opens with a real strange sounding bass line.
The main body of the intro has a very intense George style arrangement.
The guitar arrangements for the verses has a "Kiss of Death" style intensity.
For the pre-chorus Michael chose to play the drum rhythm with just the tom-toms
which adds to the songs intensity. There is a small rhythm change for a few bars
before the second verse that has a very syncopated feel to it. The solo
has a hollowed sound to it... if that makes sense... almost like it was being
played through a tube.
4.) “Vaccine” - This track opens with a very intense guitar arrangement and lead
scale. Jeff added an effect to the mic to give the vocals a different
sound to his vocal line. At times through the verse it sounds like Jeff's vocals
are overdubbed on certain vocal parts. There is a very small but very
effective backing harmony overdub through the chorus. During the second
chorus George incorporates a very strange guitar effect. It is not even a
bar long but really adds to the dynamics of the song. The solo, like the majority of the song, has a
very abstract feel.
5.) “Ever Higher” - During the intro, George plays an almost "old Western-style"
acoustic guitar arrangement with an orchestrated violin section beneath it.
When the main body of the song kicks in George keeps the same rhythm arrangement
as the intro. Also, for the main body of the song, the band incorporates
several percussion pieces which fills in a lot of the dead air. After
listening to the verse with the Jeff Pilson vocal overdubs, most Dokken fans
will say, "Don who?" and want to know why Jeff never did any lead vocals
with Dokken. The chorus is very subtle. Vocally the vocal lines build with
intensity as the song progresses. For the breakdown section George
plays several signature licks underneath Jeff's vocal line. The solo
itself sounds like it is all over the place. But actual it is controlled
chaos.
6.) “Zero the End” - This track opens with a drum fill and lead guitar scale.
The main body of the song has a very intense abstract feel to it. The
chorus has a huge Jeff songwriting hook within the vocal lines. For the
chorus a huge vocal echo would have sounded real cool. The vocal lines of
the verse have a darkness to them. The bass line is real heavy and solid
sounding, especially between the musical sections of the verse and chorus.
George pulled way back for the solo. You think it is going to be real
intense like the rest of the song, but it really wasn't.
7.) “The Evil that you are”-This track opens with a backwards sounding guitar
arrangement. When the main intro kicks in you can really tell by the
guitar lead scale that these two guys where spawned from the same band.
Vocally Jeff has a very Don feel for the pre-verse than going into a more Pilson
sound for the main verse. The musical arrangement for the pre-verse is
very laid back with a solid groove. During the second verse there are a
couple real cool drum arrangements that real stand out. The solo is very
laid back in a George Lynch way. The song has a very intense hook to it.
8.) “Awaken”-This track opens with a modern rock guitar arrangement and vocal
line. For the main verse George incorporates a little acoustic guitar
arrangement that really fills in a lot of the emptiness of the song.
After the first chorus there is a real short minor lead guitar solo. The
main solo for the song has a very intense George Lynch feel to it.
9.) “Cromanic”-Instrumental
10.) “Goodbye Utopia”-This track opens with a very strange "It's Not Love"
sounding guitar effect. When the main intro kicks in you really can hear
the George Lynch signature riff. This signature riff has a huge hook laced
within it. It sounds like for the pre-verse Jeff
added a few vocal effects to the vocal line, this does nothing but gives his
vocals a more Don Dokken feel. Which I really enjoyed because it's like a
slap in the face to Don. The breakdown before the solo has a very abstract
feel to it. There is a very heavy vocal effect for the pre-verse after the
solo.
11.) “Inner View”-This track opens with a sampled drum pattern and acoustic
guitar. The vocal lines of the verse are very subtle sounding. This
is mainly caused by the vocal echo that is added to the vocal line.
George's lead scales used during the verse have a bird chirping sound to them.
The song in whole is just very kicked back.
12.) “Closer to None”-This track opens with an acoustic guitar arrangement.
The vocal lines have a modern Pop music effect to them. After the first
verse George really kicks the song in with an electric guitar arrangement.
With "Wicked Underground" what you get is a stripped down
Dokken during their "Dysfunctional" days. One of the most notable
differences between Lynch/Pilson and Dokken is Jeff is a hell of a lot better
vocalist and writer then Don ever thought about being!!! And just shows me Don
was, and
is just figure head for the band. The second major difference is for years now
I've thought George's playing ability has not been as good has I know it can be.
On "Wicked Underground" George mentally is in a very good place and musically it
really shows. His playing style on this release has a real sweet sound to
it, a sound I have not heard in a very long time!!!
Here is the deal...If it was me and I just had the money to
buy one CD and I had to choose between Dokken's latest release or Lynch/Pilson,
it would be Lynch/Pilson I would walk away with. As not only a fan
of Dokken and their relative members past and present I have too say..."Hey Jeff
and George screw Don...who needs him with a release this strong. I think Don
needs to continue with the current Dokken line-up. And Jeff needs to work
on his solo project "War & Peace" plus, all the studio work
currently his working on. Where George can concentrate on Lynch Mob or any
other projects he maybe considering. All along performing as Lynch/Pilson.