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. 
 

 

WE RANK THE ALBUMS!

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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