Dokken: Don Dokken (vocals, guitar); Jeff Pilson (vocals, keyboards, bass); Mick Brown (vocals, drums); Juan Croucher (bass, background vocals); George Lynch (guitar).

Additional personnel: Johnk Norum (vocals, guitar); Peter Baltes (vocals, bass); Billy White (guitar); Mikkey Dee (drums, percussion).

Producers include: Michael Wagener, Dokken, Tom Werman, Neil Kernon, Angelo Arcuri.

Compilation producers: David McLees, Emily Cagan.

Engineers include: Neil Kernon, Michael Wagener.

Includes liner notes by Katherine Turman.

Digitally remastered by Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot (Digiprep).

While Dokken is considered a heavy metal band by many, the band was one of the most melodic hard rock bands of the 1980s, which 1999's THE VERY BEST OF proves. The 16-track compilation focuses mainly on the band's '80s peak, although two selections are from the '90s--one from Don Dokken's 1990 solo album UP FROM THE ASHES ("Mirror Mirror") and one from Dokken's 1995 reunion album, DYSFUNCTIONAL ("Too High to Fly").

Nearly all of the selections prove to be the among the best of the whole '80s pop metal genre--rockers such as "Just Got Lucky," "The Hunter," "In My Dreams," "Burning Like a Flame," and "Heaven Sent," as well as their breakthrough power ballad, "Alone Again." THE VERY BEST OF is a fine overview of Dokken's best moments.