War & Peace
The Flesh and Blood Sessions

April 2013
Released: 2013, Deadline Music
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Celtic Bob

These old War & Peace tracks from the late 80’s and mid-90‘s have been re-issued with new artwork, liner notes and the bonus track, Heaven Knows”. Why this band never took off back then is a mystery. They had all the makings of something huge but it just wasn’t meant to be.



Being a fan of Dokken throughout the late 80’s this release fell under the radar which is no surprise due to the lack of internet. For those of you that never had the privilege of experiencing the 80’s, we had to rely on word of mouth, radio and print magazines like Circus, Hit Parader, Metal Edge, Rip and later on Metal Maniacs. Sounds a bit archaic now but it was a great time to be a Metalhead.



As you’d expect there is a heavy Dokken sound throughout this album. You can even visualize “Wild” Mick Brown banging out the songs on drums. Vinny’s drum work is very similar to Brown’s on this recording. Randy is a fantastic player but lacking that certain element or flair that Lynch has. Vocally Jeff is very strong but you never realized until now just how strong he is. His harmonies and back-ups complimented Don’s leads but he is just as strong a vocalist himself.




The new liner note’s by Pilson shed some light onto the origin of the band and how this release came to be. A fine piece of Metal information that I am sure will enlighten you as much as it did me.



Any project Jeff does is going to be compared with Dokken and that is an unavoidable fact. Dokken made him famous and for that he will always be associated with them. That is a good complaint as their 80’s output was truly fantastic and original.