THE VIDEO Dokken, "Alone Again," Tooth and Nail, 1984, Elektra Records
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SAMPLE LYRIC "Tried so hard to make you see-ee-ee / but I couldn't find the words / now the tears, they fall liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike rain / I'm aloooone again without youuuuuuuuuu"
EXCESSIVELY DETAILED DESCRIPTION The side of a bus moves across the frame. The scene begins in Room 113 of a lonely motel. After a bus drives by, reflecting the motel's neon sign in its chrome flank, an anonymous hand opens the room's door. Before we enter the room, however, we cut away to a brief montage of 1) hot chicks at a Dokken concert, 2) meatheads headbanging at same concert, 3) one of George Lynch's pecs (yes!).
Suddenly back at the motel, we check out our accommodations. Ooh, lucky us, The Dukes of Hazzard is already on! But no, before we can settle in on one of those double beds to catch up with Boss Hog, we're back at the Dokken concert (not that that's really a bad thing). Fans begin to hoist lighters as a heavily made-up Don Dokken starts singing (and let me state for the record that I think this song is totally gorgeous). Don Dokken's perfect ski-slope nose takes over much of the screen -- even in many of the shots that are not of him, a ghostly image of his face is still sort of superimposed over the scene. But then oh, (oh!), we're rocking out with George Lynch again. Nice!
Meanwhile, Don's staring into the mirror in the motel bathroom, moodily reflecting on the loneliness he feels even in the midst of the swirling whirlpool of fame (or perhaps merely adjusting his headband). But no time, we're about to hit the first chorus, and back at the Dokken concert, things are staring to really rock. If there's something I like better than nice, slow concert shots of leaps, kicks, and of course, hair being flung to and fro, I don't know what it is. A lot of it is probably b-roll of them playing completely other songs, but no worries. It looks great.
As Don sings "now the tears, they fall liiiiiiiike rainnnnnnnn," we see him rinsing his face in his sink, then balefully staring at his own reflection (looking for all the world like Linda Richman without her makeup on). It's a pretty good pantomime of loneliness, yes, but it's no "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (which I'd argue is the all-time greatest "I might have all this fame and money and rock stardom, but I'm so painfully alone" video).
The second verse is all live footage and again, it looks amazing. Jeff Pilson just always knows exactly what to do when the camera's on him -- he always manages to create this cool little moment between himself and the camera (one of my favorite shots ever, in "The Hunter", is of him doing a random little jump). At the same time, clearly, George Lynch is giving it all he's got -- we're nowhere near the solo, and he's already dishing up more guitar face than I can fit on one plate. Yes, even Don Dokken's got his leg up on something, reaching out and gesturing toward the crowd, who all wave their hands nonstop for the duration of the video. We do briefly see him covering his face with his hands before the mirror and tossing and turning on his motel bed, but at this point, the balance of power has tipped toward rocking.
The guitar solo in this song is (what else?) amazing, and the camera hardly leaves George Lynch as he peels through it, from his hair, which has almost completely grown out the amazing half-and-half dye job, to what appear to be Nikes. And let it be noted that he has further accessorized this look with a single long, feathery earring, a bandanna, and some kind of leather-looking lacing tied around one bicep a la the Ultimate Warrior. I love it!
As the song wraps up, we have Don Dokken singing for all it's worth, with his face taking up the entire frame almost the entire time. Though he closes the door on the motel bathroom finally, the superimposition of his face over shots of the crowd's outstretched hands reinforce our sense that he's "alone again," as does the final shot of the bus from the beginning of the video pulling out from whatever town they're in.
THE VERDICT In spite of being roughly contemporaneous with "Into the Fire," this video couldn't look more different. While "Into the Fire" is a tremendous example of the early 80s video aesthetic (sets that appear to have been made by a high school drama club, excessive use of kabuki-style makeup), "Alone Again" really shows the direction videos were headed. Though there's still a story (there's always a story), the balance tips away from dramatic encounters involving the entire band to a focus on the lead singer as the lone actor.
It also a harbinger of things to come with the upscaling of heavy metal videos. With MTV suddenly airing metal in near-saturation level rotation (for better or for worse) circa 1987-88, there's definitely a turn away from using foil and "lasers" (or really any sort of special effects). Though that can be written off as part of the shift described above, where this difference is most notable is in the performance footage.
As compared to a video like "Into the Fire," which also contains a substantial amount of performance footage, "Alone Again" is much more advanced. The live footage appears cinematic, with approximately a jillion camera angles (compared to the other video's hmm, three). While even the most amateurish looking videos aired on MTV were undoubtedly professionally made, videos like these definitely show a marked turn toward a much more finished looking product.
In any event, in spite of attempts to tie the video together with a Don Dokken-based plot about the loneliness of the road (itself a common song and video trope, though possibly just a thinly-veiled ploy to win the sympathy of potential groupies), for me at least this video is all about George Lynch. Yes, the camera gives a lot of play to Don Dokken's perfectly pinched nostrils and precisely plucked brows, but the extent to which the camera lovingly captures every last inch of Lynch's alarmingly intoxicating physique can not be ignored. Likewise, while Dokken has opted to enhance his wardrobe with what's soon to become his signature headband, Lynch has tied rags around his torso. Do I even need to ask which looks hotter? Yes, my dearest George wins every time. Donny doesn't even have a chance.