So this is why
you are here.. right? The Music... that is what this site is all about. If it
weren't for the music none of us would be on this website.
The music below is like a road map of sorts. This
is the music.. of our generation. This is the music you were listening to
when you had your first beer, your first blowjob.. your first date. This
might have been the music you were listening to when you got married.. or
better yet.. GOT DIVORCED. This is also the same music that you listened
to last week. It's part of rock history, but it's also aggressive and
modern. It's classic but nudged right there on the pulse of American
popularity.
If you want aggressive lyrics, full of
testosterone.. but mixed in with a wink and smile.. then you want
something written by David Lee Roth. That's why you clicked on this link
isn't it?
Below
you will find links to each album, with sound clips, lyrics and notes per each
one. For our Rankings check the bottom of this page.
I
decided to rank my *Favorite* David Lee Roth releases. To create a
little controversy I compared David Lee Roth solo with Classic Van Halen.
We are fans that run this website.. so relax.. it's just an opinion.
Don't write and and tell me that "You don't know what the fuck you
are talking about" because ALL of these albums are great! I enjoy
Classic Van Halen as well as David Lee Roth solo so you will find some
of Dave's solo recordings above the classics. This is how I judged
it...
A. Which album stayed on the turntable the longest. That's basically it.
We are not looking for historical significance or anything else. These
are based on "what rocked" and what didn't. Like said earlier,
these are subjective.. so RELAX! Best of Volume 1 and The Best are omitted
because of not enough material.
Sarge
Webmaster
ROTHARMY.COM
1.
Fair
Warning! Fair Warning is an undisputed Van Halen masterpiece. This cd doesn't
have a
bad track from start to finish. The aggressive style of this album
hooked me into Van Halen Super Fandom. Not a single party anthem was
included and this cd rocks from top to bottom.
The only negative I can think of is that I didn't like the album cover.
I work out to this CD all the time. Favorite song: Dirty Movies
2.
Van
Halen
The first Van Halen album blew the doors off of the world of Rock n'
Roll when it was released. Nobody had heard or seen anything like it
before or since. This album triumphantly introduced the world to
flamboyant front man David Lee Roth and the awe-inspiring skill of Eddie
Van Halen. Recorded in 18 days, this album remains the gold standard for
musicians and listeners of Rock 'n Roll. Favorite song: Runnin With the Devil
3.
1984
Van Halen's 1984 is arguably the best and most defining rock release of
the '80s. The video's were great and just beamed with Dave's
personality. I have a lot of good memories playing this (on tape) in my
car on dates. Panama and Jump still get major airplay and defined this
last full length Album Dave had with the brothers. Favorite song: Hot For Teacher/ Drop Dead Legs
4.
Women
and Children First This album was too short!
Everybody Wants
Some is just a great hit.. and every time I hear it I think of the
Better off Dead Hamburger. Favorite song: In A
Simple Rhyme
5.
DLRBAND Holy shit I was blown away when I first heard this. From start
to finish this cd flat out rocks. Starting with Slam Dunk and ending
with Black Sand this cd is just awesome! Dave had a really tight band
with Lowery and Luzier and I wish we could have heard more from them
besides this 1 cd. I think this was one of the best rock cd's release in
the 90's and it got more time in the cd player than any other for the
last 5 years. I really think "Weekend with the babysitter"
could have been a huge hit earlier in Dave's career. My favorite DLR
solo release. Lead with your face Dave.. Favorite song: Slam Dunk
6.
A
Little Ain't Enough You have to be a total Dave fan to rate this higher than Van Halen
II. I loved this cd. It had a lot of energy and the videos were great.
This was such a welcome departure from SkyScraper. I think this is a
gem and I am surprised it didn't sell better. Drop in the Bucket
firmly displays Jason Becker's greatness. Favorite song: 40 below
7.
Van
Halen II I hate to rate this album 7th but it is just way too short. This
just seems like a bunch of left overs from the first cd, Van Halen.
Women in Love and Beautiful Girls are great and the inside album
pictures are some of the best. Favorite song: Beautiful Girls
8.
EAT
'Em and Smile This was Diamond Dave's statement of independence from under the Van
Halen banner.. and what a statement he made. The cover art and inside
photos are great and the videos showed Dave's creativity. I liked this
cd but more as the years go by I came to realize that Steve Vai wasn't a
good match for Dave. I really enjoyed ALAE and DLRBAND and thought that
the riffs on those cd's were more suited to Dave's style. Favorite song: Yankee Rose
9.
Diver
Down
You are probably wondering what this is doing so low! Well it's still
great! Anything that has my all time favorite song on it, "Little
Guitars" gets a lot of play. I didn't dig all the covers.. but they
were done well and because of those Van Halen started to attract some of
the pop audience. Favorite song: Little Guitars
10.
SKYSCRAPER
It's funny.. This album has it's fair share of fans and also it's fair share of detractors that didn't like it's overproduced sound.
Dave
spent 9 months recording this album and the sound is more pop, less raw
than anything he did with Van Halen. There is just too much of the
keyboards and it sounds dated when you listen to it. Damn Good, Hina and
Knucklebones were the shining stars of this cd. I am not trying to down
the cd. I still listen to it on occasion and lyrically it has it
merits.. just not one of my favorites. Favorite song: Damn Good
11.
CRAZY
FROM THE HEAT The only reason why this isn't higher is because it's only 4 songs
long. Dave did a masterful job on this cd and it showed with some
of the most popular videos ever played on MTV and some covers that were
just tight. Of course missing from this was Eddie Van Halen and at least
1 song that had a silo full of 200 proof testosterone but this was a
good way to start off a solo career.
Favorite song: California Girls
12.
Your
Filthy Little Mouth Ok lyrically this is in my opinion was Dave's best album. What I
didn't like about it was .. well.. this was the worst band in my opinion
that he recorded with. The sound was just not there along with all the
energy of his previous releases. This cd has 2 of my least favorite Dave
songs "You're Breathin' It [Urban NYC Mix] and Cheatin Heart Cafe
(with Travis Tritt). Everybody's got the Monkey is another song I am not
fond of. The tour for this CD was disappointing as well. She's My
Machine.. a decent song.. could have sounded better with a decent
band. This cd was delayed several times and I remember going into the
record store and asking when it was finally coming out and getting
laughed at by some guy claiming to be a Sammy Fan.
Anyways.. this cd just did not ROCK! That being said it still gets play
on my cd player and is better than anything I heard from Van Halen post
1985. Favorite song: Experience
13.
Diamond
Dave The only reason why this gets rated here is because it is
practically all covers. Dave did a great job on them but this album
pales in comparison to his previous release "DLR BAND". You
can tell that Dave did spend some time making this album and it is worth
buying. I did like the shoo-bop video and if this is the direction that
Dave's career is headed in then I am happy buying more stuff of this
nature.
The thing I don't like about covers.. is that you don't get Dave's lyrics.
DLR has wrote some of the greatest lyrical masterpieces in Rock history.
I firmly believe that. I feel like he is way under hyped lyrically and I
would have enjoyed to listen to a few more tunes that expressed his
sense of humor and insight. Favorite song: Thug Pop
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