What are your opinions on Dave's solo career?

[cwsmith17]

I hear many different opinions on this subject. Some belive that all of his material is excellent. Some believe it was awesome in the beginning and went down the drain later. However, I enjoy listening to all of his material(new and old). I want to hear what the other members of our army think.

[Terry]

Crazy From The Heat was ok for what it was.

Eat 'Em And Smile was just a roaring record. Hard rock to the max. I remember 5150 coming out a few months before it, and all that bullshit Van Hagar were saying about Dave....and he and the EEAS band just blew Sam Halen's fuckin doors out. No contest.

Skyscraper was good. Solid. Never cared for Just Like Paradise too much, but Hot Dog and a Shake, Damn Good and the rest were solid.

A Little Aint Enough was way underrated. Great record.

Didn't care for Your Filthy Little Mouth at first, and there's a couple of tracks I skip when listening to it, but it grew on me eventually. Dug the 1-2-3 punch of She's My Train, Everybody's Got The Monkey and Big Train straight away.

DLR Band is just a great all around album. Probably listen to that most out of Dave's solo stuff next to EEAS.

Diamond Dave......hate to say it, but as of right now I think it was an inspired misfire with some utterly disposable tracks (Act One and Medicine Man) that have no business being on a Roth record. About the only tune that grabbed me was Thug Pop.

I dig Dave, but that doesn't mean I think everything he does is great.

All that aside, I thought the No-Holds-Bar-B-Que was brilliant, and several of those tracks could have been substituted for a lot of what ended up on Diamond Dave and made for a much better album.

His live act is beginning to wear thin, as well. Too much repetition.

[Rubnose]

Originally posted by Terry
.

Dug the 1-2-3 punch of She's My Train, Everybody's Got The Monkey and Big Train straight away.

DLR Band is just a great all around album. Probably listen to that most out of Dave's solo stuff next to EEAS.

Wow someone I can relate to. DLR Band is my favorite. Listen to it all the time. Like Sky Scraper second and EEAS 3rd. ALAE 4th. YFLM rarely and DD never. Garbage. Sorry.

BTW what the heck is "She's My Train"?

[hot for david]

i love his solo carrer for me is good , but offcourse i cannot foget the great years n´ songs with van halen , but for me his solo work is awesome , is good i lo him

[Bill Lumbergh]

There's something to love on all of Dave's solo albums. There's so much variety, and Dave has never given under 100 percent effort on all his albums. ALAE is criminally underated, I absolutely love that album.

[Panamark]

Dave Solo Rocks, but Van Halen was better !

But most importantly, Dave Solo was better than Van Hagar !!!

[vanshipman]

A Little in't Enough is what the F.U.C.K. should have sounded like no doubt. Next to Eat Em' And Smile my favorite Roth effort. Skyscraper was an ok record, but it made me a bit nervous. Your Filthy Little Mouth was good for half of a listening. The DLR Band rocked like crazy! I just do not understand why anyone would trash that one. The production could have been better, but the tunes were great. Dave's Vegas stint must've been some bad weed. Dave trying to sing "Free Ride"with Edgar Winter was pretty rough. Diamond Dave not much better. I have "High Hopes" for Dave in the coming years!!! I really do believe that Dave will get his shot with the brothers before it's all said and done. Rock On!!!

[stringfelowhawk]

The only solo album I don't own anymore, because it got scratched beyond repair, is A Lil Ain't Enough but I loved that album. I Love DLR Band too. I can still listen to anyone of his solo albums and do frequently. I haven't heard Diamond Dave yet but the people I've talked to tell me "Thug Pop" is pretty cool, someone already mentioned that song above. I always thought "Sensible Shoes" was a really cool song. I have it and "Tell The Truth" on my desktop at work so I can listen to it. I'm convinced those two songs never got the airplay they deserved because of the musical climate at that time. I think he should re-release them independently without his name on either and see if it gets any rotation without a "name" attached. Gauge the reaction.... I wholeheartedly believe both would catch on because if you've been listening, music is taking a turn for the better again. The Darkness are bringing fun back. And, when you have someone as well respected, though eccentric and weird, as Prince slappin the current music scene in the face with his lyrics to "Musicology" and his scene stealing performance at the Hall last month, that cat blew, if you didn't see it, people are taking notice. Not a big Prince fan but that song has a cool funky groove to it.

[tl124]

I think Me Wise Magic still says it all. Dave should be the guy. It just ain't Van Halen without him.

[pardo]

Dave's battin around 500 for me. Love Eat Em and Smile, A Little Ain't Enough and Diamond Dave. Theres stuff I like from the others, but these are my favorite albums.

What I like most is Dave's unrelenting commitment to bein himself. He's had his share of detractors and he still just smiles at them. I love the guy for that!

[Golden AWe]

Originally posted by tl124
I think Me Wise Magic still says it all. Dave should be the guy. It just ain't Van Halen without him.

Yesss...you can say all the bad things about Daves voice being a little off on that one but it's still WAY better than ANYTHING Van Hagar did...

I love all Dave solo-cds like they were my own children. I too skip a few tracks on YFLM and Diamond Dave but I play them all constantly...
especially DLR Band and EEAS.

[Hollywood Jesus]

In all honesty, Dave has released some stuff that just makes me cringe. Vegas? Tritt? Rap? Whoopsie-daisy.

ALAE is way under-rated and Skyscraper is usually over-rated, IMO. ALAE was a victim of the times. If it were released in '88 instead of Skyscraper, we'd be talkin' 'bout love with the masses.

DLR Band is by far my favorite Dave solo. Reaize a lot of that was born out of the renewed conflict with EVH. It was Dave gettin' riled p and unleashing a little Dolemite.

Ultimately, I love that Dave does his own thing regardless of what Warner's or me feel about it.

[DLRismydad]

i personaly enyone all of Dlr 's solo matrerial with the exception of his new Diamond Dave Cd

[L.S.D.]

Originally posted by Golden AWe
Yesss...you can say all the bad things about Daves voice being a little off on that one but it's still WAY better than ANYTHING Van Hagar did...

I love all Dave solo-cds like they were my own children. I too skip a few tracks on YFLM and Diamond Dave but I play them all constantly...
especially DLR Band and EEAS.

That simply isnt true. And the music from that was around with Sammy fyi.

[cscmtp]

First and foremost, I'm a HUGE DLR solo and VH fan. As far as Dave's solo career. I've bought everything he's ever done. I've enjoyed them all. But, i definitely feel some albums are much stronger than others. My list:

1. EAS- Call me nuts, but this is one of the best 5 hard rock albums every made, and one of the most talented bands of all time. (I'm a HUGE Rush fan too, and I put the musicianship from the EAS lineup up there with Rush. Like Geddy's voice or not, he is one of the best bass players in the world, as is Neil on the drums. EAS was right there. SUPER SICK TALENTED musicians.)

2. Skyscraper - I liked this one a lot too, not as much as EAS, but nothing could compair to that album anyway. I was bummed when Sheehan left before the tour though. Saw them live and it wasn't the same without him.

3. DLR Band/Lil' Ain't Enough- I call this a tie. I like the lyrics of Lil'Aint Enough better, but like the musicianship of the DLR band better. And as already posted, Lil 'Aint Enough is a grossly underated and overlooked album. Had Vai played on this, it would have been a MONSTER.

4. Diamond Dave - yeah, its different, but damn if it didn't grow on me. I would have liked to have more rock songs like Thug Pop, but i was greatly Dave put something out.

5. YFLM - this is the one recording i have a hard time saying I love. Oh, i've listened to it HUNDREDS of times. It has a few catchy songs. But overall, just not Diamond Dave good IMO. I'll always have it in my collection though.

6. Crazy from the Heat - come on, its just 4 songs. Good, but you can't put an EP up against a full Diamond Dave album.

Now here is where I'll lose some people here. I actually liked VH with Hagar, for the first 2 albums at least. Were they as good or better than with Dave? HELL NO. Not even close. But i did enjoy the first 2 albums. But i think starting with F.U.C.K., Ed lost something. They have managed to put out a few nice ballads, but when is the last time they put out a GREAT rock song? Not since OU812 IMO.

I love Dave, and I do think that he needs to consider changing his act. Since '99, his tours/sets have pretty much been the same. I think he should go back to playing more of his own stuff (especially off the first 2 solo albums) and of course pray that somehow the EAS lineup gets back together. I know its not very likely, but i still hope one day that Dave can do one more album/tour with Van Halen. I mean, the Stones are MUCH older, and Mick and Keith HATED each other, but they worked it out. Maybe if the new VH album and tour flops, and both VH and Dave get low on money, they will come back together to maintain the affluent lifestyle they've had for so long. If you can't do it for the fans, do it for the money. That's what the Eagles, Kiss, and Fleetwood Mac Tours were all about. I'd pay $200 a seat to see VH with a sober Eddie and Dave up front.