Billy Sheehan Interview: Talks DLR

[ELVIS]

Just crank a song like "Shoot It" --- that is Diamond Lee Roth swagger hitting back in a big way!

That's stretching a bit...

[ELVIS]

You don't think SkyCrapper was overproduced???

No, it has a lot of elements, but it doesn't have a big slick production...

[FORD]

I like the songs from ALAE better, but agree with you on the production end. That record does have a dated sound. Bob Rock. That can't be his real name.

Believe it or not, it is.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Rock

What I did NOT know, until I read that Wiki, was that his first producer credits were for punk rock bands in Vancouver.

Young Canadians and the Subhumans, produced by the same guy who did ALAE and Metallica's "Black Album".... who knew??

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Believe it or not, it is.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Rock

What I did NOT know, until I read that Wiki, was that his first producer credits were for punk rock bands in Vancouver.

Young Canadians and the Subhumans, produced by the same guy who did ALAE and Metallica's "Black Album".... who knew??

wiki

[sonrisa salvaje]

Production values aside (although I like the sound of ALAE) --- just seems like "Diamond Dave" returned on ALAE whereas he was kinda AWOL on Skycrapper.

Just crank a song like "Shoot It" --- that is Diamond Lee Roth swagger hitting back in a big way!

I listen to "Knucklebones" and Dave sounds like he's deliberately trying to sound like a cartoon character.

I didn't actually care for the song Shoot It. I always skip that one. The lyrics are too "Hot Dog and a Shake" for me. Beyond that song and Last Call which sounds like a Walk This Way rip off, i really like that record. Not as much as EEAS of course.

[TJMKID]

That's stretching a bit...

All comes down to timing.

"A Lil Ain't Enough" is one of my fav Dave solo tunes to this day --- but it bombed on the charts because it came out when rock music was about being pissed off and depressed and not showering for a week --- not doing split jumps off a Jeep and ogling girls with big tits.

"Mean Street" could hit the radio this week and most kids 15-21 would hate it because you can't dance to it like a Nicki Minaj song.

[sonrisa salvaje]

I agree with all of that, but ALAE is worse, in my opinion...

I just hate that radio rock formula sound...

I do agree with your formula take. ALAE did have an overall sound that seemed almost safe at times. It wasn't as raw feeling as Eatem and was more radio friendly hard rock.

[DLR Bridge]

Believe it or not, it is.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Rock

What I did NOT know, until I read that Wiki, was that his first producer credits were for punk rock bands in Vancouver.

Young Canadians and the Subhumans, produced by the same guy who did ALAE and Metallica's "Black Album".... who knew??

I'll do you one nuttier. One of the architects of Elliott Smith's "California Frown" sound (depressing tunes done with Beach Boy slickness) was named Tom Rothrock. Go figure!

[TJMKID]

I didn't actually care for the song Shoot It. I always skip that one. The lyrics are too "Hot Dog and a Shake" for me. Beyond that song and Last Call which sounds like a Walk This Way rip off, i really like that record. Not as much as EEAS of course.

At the very least, I was glad that the Diamond Dave swagger returned on ALAE. Went missing on Skycrapper for the most part.

Dave was the poster boy for "happy rock" and so he got blasted in the media for the excess cleavage and smiling he did in the "A Lil Aint Enough" video and he got burned at the stake. I wonder how many well-adjusted middle class kids in the suburbs put a revolver in their mouths and came close to pulling the trigger just because Cobain made it cool to be like that.

[sonrisa salvaje]

At the very least, I was glad that the Diamond Dave swagger returned on ALAE. Went missing on Skycrapper for the most part.

Dave was the poster boy for "happy rock" and so he got blasted in the media for the excess cleavage and smiling he did in the "A Lil Aint Enough" video and he got burned at the stake. I wonder how many well-adjusted middle class kids in the suburbs put a revolver in their mouths and came close to pulling the trigger just because Cobain made it cool to be like that.

I agree with you that ALAE was released at a bad time. Those 80's glory days couldn't go on forever though i wish they did. However, i think a lot of people may not have given the record a chance because they didn't like what they heard on Skyscraper. There are a lot of fair weather type fans out there that give up on an artist as soon as they hear something they don't like. I could be wrong but i don't think that ALAE sold 500k less units than Skyscraper just because of grunge coming in. I think a large group didn't like Skyscraper and never gave ALAE a chance. I would say that had ALAE come before Skyscraper both may have gone platinum. It was a sure thing that the album after Eatem was going to go platinum just off of momentum.

[DLR Bridge]

I agree with you that ALAE was released at a bad time. Those 80's glory days couldn't go on forever though i wish they did.

Nah. Change was due. Lots of weak bands riding the coat tails of bands that were already riding coat tails. Watered down hair bands had to die when they did.

[Zing!]

Dave became a parody of himself on ALAE, so in that regard I do think the lyrics on Skyscraper are better (not counting Hot Dog & A Shake). The lyrics on ALAE are a bit too tongue in cheek - Dave crammed in every double entendre, colloquialism, catch phrase, and one liner he could think of on that record. It got to be a bit much. I still think that album would have benefitted from cutting a few tracks. I could do without Black Velvet (TTT), 40 Below, and Lady Luck (and I'm not too partial of Hammerhead Shark).

[jhale667]

Nah. Change was due. Lots of weak bands riding the coat tails of bands that were already riding coat tails. Watered down hair bands had to die when they did.

Totally agree... and I've mentioned here before, being in L.A. in '90, the first thing you got asked on auditions was "Will you get some tattoos?" or "Can you get hair extensions?" "What are your feelings on choreography?" or they'd start talking about how the FIRST thing you had to do was pay their seamstress $1K to have a custom pleather outfit made - y'know, because "WARRANT has those cool matching outfits.." all of this before they ever got around to talking music... it was disgusting. That shit HAD to die.

[TJMKID]

I agree with you that ALAE was released at a bad time. Those 80's glory days couldn't go on forever though i wish they did. However, i think a lot of people may not have given the record a chance because they didn't like what they heard on Skyscraper.

I agree. Dave had the deck stacked against him in 1991 when ALAE came out. There was still a hard rock scene going on in 1991 but it was basically limited to GNR and Metallica. There was just too much kooky hair band garbage floating around for people to take seriously anymore and Dave got lumped in with it --- such as Warrant's "Cherry Pie" and Firehouse "Don't Treat Me Bad". The nails were being pounded into the coffin lid at a frenetic pace.

Speaking of bad timing --- I just listened to this DLR interview from 1994 --- definitely not in a good mood:

[binnie]

ALAE (especially the song itself) isn't even listenable if you put it on directly following Skyscraper...

On production alone Skyscraper stands the test of time over that overproduced, slick sounding power rock mix...

Don't know what you're hearing there, Elvis. To my eyes, 'Skyscraper' is the oddest sounding Dave record - it sound flimsy and wooden, and robs a lot of the Dave charisma from the sound.

ALAE is a lot of fun. But by that time Dave was following trends rather than setting them, and the whole thing was clearly an attempt to get into the Sunset Strip crowd's pockets. I can enjoy it, but it is what it is.