A thought about Dave's musical career/legacy....

[WV2112]

Hello, this is my first post on this site. I had a David Lee Roth moment, and I wanted to share it with the folks on this site. I was hanging out at home one cold winter, West Virginia day taking a ride in my 1967 Riviera painted 420 green. When some early 80s Van Halen came over the Internet radio, it dawned on me that Dave's musical career is incomplete. Hearing the songs from "Women & Children First and Fair Warning" made me realize that the first six albums Dave did with Van Halen are certainly worth mentioning in the same breath as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. And the reunion of Dave with Eddie and Alex has been pretty cool in its own right. Even though not having Michael Anthony is bullshit.

Where Dave's musical legacy is incomplete is with the Eat 'Em & Smile Band. Arguably as good, or better, than Van Halen. I think the Eat 'Em & Smile Band never reached its full potential. I think Dave should put this Van Halen reunion on hold and write/record a new album with the Eat 'Em & Smile Band. Eat 'Em & Smile's members are close to the same ages as the original Van Halen. They owe it to themselves to make at least one record, while they can still do it.

Frankly speaking, in my opinion, "A Different Kind of Truth" is not nearly as good as the first six albums. Van Halen will never again write songs like the first six records, because Eddie is too much of a fucking retard to allow it to happen, and Alex is going along with this brother no matter what. Therefore, I think that Dave should focus his boundless energy with the three Eat 'Em and Smile musicians.

Keep in mind I don't know the history of the Eat 'Em & Smile Band. In other words, did Dave get along with Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan and Gregg Bissonette? Did they part on good terms? Would that band want to get back with Dave? Also, do y'all think that the guys in the Eat 'Em & Smile band are easier to get along with than the Van Halen brothers? I would certainly hope so....

One last thing, is Dave going to make anymore episodes for the Roth Show? It seems like it stopped around episode 13 or thereabouts.

[ZahZoo]

Welcome to the site...

I don't follow Vai much these days, but as guitar players go he can play some awesome stuff... but as song writing for songs with vocals... Vai just doesn't cut it. Then add the complex, odd-ball timing signatures that Dave uses in his vocal melodies it's even a worse fit...

I'd rather see Dave and Ed actually collaborate together in the same room... rather than having Dave phone in vocals after the music has been laid out already.

[DLR Bridge]

No truer words ZZ. And in Dave's words, they need to "woodshed". They'd be fools to think they can't still go it. Sadly, there's just not enough fire in the belly.

[DONNIEP]

Ed is too busy doing nothing to be bothered.

I think everybody should message or twit or whatever the fuck it's called to Wolfie. He's the leader of the band. So twit him and tell him to get the ball rolling. I'm sure he'll respond right away.

[wolfsbane]

Hard to follow your logic.
Dave put out an album every year from 1978-1991 except for 2 years. That is 10 albums in 12 years.

Then he put out 4 albums in the next 20 years.

He did everything he wanted to do and more.

It has been a great ride. Everything from ADKOT and on is all a bonus.

Thank you David Lee Roth.

[twonabomber]

As for an EEAS reunion...I wonder if Vai would be up for it. He's been pretty successful doing his own thing. He could see a reunion as a step backwards.

[DavidLeeNatra]

EEAS-Band came to closure with Skyscraper...I don't need anything like that again...and just because Vai, Sheehan and Bisonette are great musicians does that not mean that they will make great music together with Dave. Dave's got the blues...Vai doesn't.

[george]

Vai, Bisonette and Sheehan all speak highly of Dave. I saw the Winery Dogs this past year and they played "Shy Boy" as their closer. Billy said "I hope to sing this as great as my friend Dave Roth does". Major respect from all of those guys towards Dave and I suspect he feels the same way.

I don't ever really see a full blown reunion of the EEAS band. I could see a one off like Dave did with Grohl if Vai and Sheehan were playing somewhere together. That'd be some shit!

[MmboSlmrCasalad]

Dave's first solo band became victims of the times and having to give in to record company pressure for hits. I love "Skyscraper" for the most part, but you can see the formula for the day just by reading the liner notes and songwriting credits.

Tuggle wasn't a known entity like Jim Vallance or Desmond Child, but cover tunes and mysterious '84 Michael McDonald collaboration aside, it was the first time DLR used an outside songwriter. Sheehan bailed before the album's release, Vai hung on for the tour, but the direction definitely went against their credo as musicians. Kind of ironic that Billy wound up in Mr. Big!

[DLR Bridge]

Kind of ironic that Billy wound up in Mr. Big!

I think Billy hopped at the opportunity to play with Paul. Songs in his wheel house are the ones where he's in sync with a lead guitarist on a monster riff. After all, he is a guitar convert. That band doomed it's self with schmaltzy power ballads. I never got the allure of that singer, either. Winery Dogs is home for him.

[ELVIS]

but the direction definitely went against their credo as musicians.

I disagree...

In fact, the opposite is true...

[78/84 guy]

It sounds like Dave let Vai do his weird thing for the music on Scraper from what I've read. And as much as I like that album musically it was way off coarse for what Dave was about. Straight up rock. I think there was tons of great ideas on it but people didn't get it. I think the Becker stuff was more Dave. But Scraper turned people away from Dave & grunge was hitting big. Hell the only reason VH stayed popular for a few more albums was Ed and pop ballads on the radio. I would love a live dvd of that Eat Em' band. New or a one off reunion show.

[FORD]

Well, it is ironic that both Vai & Sheehan were in hard rock bands before working with Dave, left Dave's band presumably because SkyCrapper had too much cheese on it, and then Billy ends up in Mr Big while Vai hooks up with the king of hair band cheese ballad lamenosity, Covercheese himself.

Go figure.....

And if somebody knows how to get in touch with Mr. Sheehan.... tell him we still want to hear that original master tape of the Skyscraper album before the extra layers of Velveeta were added to it.

It's called Bit Torrent, Bill. Everybody's heard of that by now, right?

[DLR Bridge]

Vai's playing on Skyscraper was a bit of a return to the style his solo Flex-Able CD. It wasn't just his playing. It was all of the wacky effects on Dave's voice. The end of Stand Up was a lot like Little Green Men. ALAE was more his vibe. Had more of a loose, bluesy feel. It came off more Van Halenish than the Vai collaborations. Even though Dave claimed he and Ed have two completely different record collections, there's no mistaking the blues suits them both.

[78/84 guy]

Well that makes no sense to me they left if it was Vai's music. It never hit me that Dave gave him the leeway to do it. Until I read it some where. It makes total sense now listening too it. I wasn't smart enough to even get it. I thought it was Dave being weird and gambling a little musically. And I guess he was. Eat Em was more straight up rock. I didn't know much about Vai really when it came out,his history with Zappa and all that. I enjoy that album but not good for Dave in 1988. Maybe 1995 it would have worked. Billy said he left partly because Dave said dance music was the next big thing. I don't get that one ? Hell the stuff with Becker was more like VH than Eat Em' I thought. Did he think Dave was going to record a dance album ? I never understood what he meant by that statement. He could have rocked on that tour with Vai again. I think Dave broke that band up for no good reason.

[DLR Bridge]

Well, he did put out a 10 minute "floor music" version of Stand Up.

[DLR Bridge]

Well that makes no sense to me they left if it was Vai's music. It never hit me that Dave gave him the leeway to do it. Until I read it some where. It makes total sense now listening too it. I wasn't smart enough to even get it. I thought it was Dave being weird and gambling a little musically.

I think it was a gamble that just didn't pay off too well. I think Vai had stated that the inclusion of Tuggle into the mix threw him off a bit. Vai hated Just Like Paradise. Probably wasn't too thrilled with what the keys did to Knucklebones and Bottom Line, either. I don't know. The CD just has total identity issues. In a sense, that's a good thing that it didn't resemble the watered down hair bands that were trying to have a career by aping Dave and Ed. It's a bad thing in that the material just wasn't strong enough to hold it's self up.

[78/84 guy]

Yeah well I thought Paradise was a good tune. Hell that was more Dave than Hina right ? I loved Hina. I didn't get some of it lyrically more than the music in a way. The whole thing is all over the place. I don't hate it though.

[DLR Bridge]

I love Hina. Definitely wouldn't work live, but a great song indeed. My least faves were Hotdog And A Shake, Perfect Timing and Two Fools A Minute.

[wolfsbane]

So, to look at these albums as what DLR wants to put out, The most logical thing is that he sees the first album with each guitarist as the most important. So, the albums he tried the hardest on and he wanted to sound the best from a performance and songwriting perspective must be the first ones:
VH I
EEAS
ALAE
DLR Band
ADKOT

[themighty]

I don't follow Vai much these days, but as guitar players go he can play some awesome stuff... but as song writing for songs with vocals... Vai just doesn't cut it.

yeah I love EEAS, but Vai isn't the best rock/songwriting kind of guy. More quirky and wacky, more like Skyscraper.

I love Hina. Definitely wouldn't work live, but a great song indeed. My least faves were Hotdog And A Shake, Perfect Timing and Two Fools A Minute.

Hina I love. Think you're spot on the other 3 being weaker songs of the bunch...although Hotdog (ignoring the silly title) is a pretty smoking song for the most part.