Vintage Rock Pod spoke to bassist Jeff Pilson (Dokken, Dio, Foreigner, Black Swan, The End Machine) all about his time in those bands plus future plans for them all.

On how he felt when Dokken broke up in 1988, Pilson reveals: "I felt it was the wrong thing to do, and I voiced my opinion at the time. It was really, you know, it was Don leaving is what happened. And, you know, I had a problem with that. I didn't think it was the right thing to do. I mean, I understood why. I mean, I got his frustrations. I also think there was ambition in there on his part that I thought was not going to serve him well. But I was a bit distraught. I was also partly relieved though, I gotta say, because the tension was heavy. That was five intense years of, kind of a dark feeling. More days than not, you'd walk onto the bus and there was that “eurgh” feeling between everybody and that ages you quick and I was relieved to be away from that. But overall I felt it was a mistake and you know, certainly financially it was a mistake, career-wise it was a mistake. I think maybe had we not done that, maybe we would have burned out in a different way that would not have given us life later on down the line. So that could be one positive of us breaking up, then. And it certainly gave me an opportunity where I had to deal with my personal demons and addictions. Um, so that was good about breaking up, but overall I was not happy about it."

Any plans for any kind of Dokken reunion again? "Not yet," says Jeff. "Not at this point. I don't know if there will be or not. We all get along now, well enough to talk and, you know, we actually have some business to deal with, concerning our legacy. So, you know, it wouldn't be because we don't get along, that we wouldn't tour. It would be because of scheduling and just everything else. But I know that, you know, we all, I think, at least George (Lynch) and Don (Dokken) and I, feel like we have one big record left in us so maybe, we'll see. We'll just have to see, no concrete plans."