Song · Dokken
“Breaking the Chains” by Dokken
Released 1981
“Breaking the Chains” by Dokken appears on 5 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1990 and 2002. It was first released in 1981. Its best result is #255 on the Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #827 hard rock song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (RHINO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Breaking the Chains" gave Dokken's debut album its name, and it took two tries to get the song heard. It first slipped out in Europe in 1981 on Carrere Records, spelled "Breakin' the Chains" and tucked away as the B-side of "I Can't See You"; then Elektra sent it out in 1983 as the band's first American single, and it hung around Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart for 13 weeks, topping out at 32.
Don Dokken sings lead and plays guitar alongside George Lynch, with Juan Croucier on bass and Mick Brown on drums, the rhythm section doubling on backing vocals. Dokken, Lynch and Brown wrote it, and the band produced with Michael Wagener, who engineered it and mixed it with Wyn Davis. The video leaned into the title: the band shackled in a dungeon, Lynch snapping loose to tear through the solo, the others breaking out one by one.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 255 | Z-Rock | Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) | 1000 |
| 1994 | 959 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) | 1000 |
| 1995 | 846 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) | 1000 |
| 1996 | 894 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) | 1000 |
| 2002 | 381 | KISW | KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) | 999 |
Also listed as: Breaking The Chains.
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