David Lee Roth leaving VAN HALEN was probably the fiercest, let alone the most hilarious, musical divorce of the 1980s, spawning a couple of timeless classics in its wake. While VAN HALEN‘s Sammy–Hagar-era debut “5150” (1986) proved to be nothing short of a killer selection, albeit somewhat different compared to the band’s earlier efforts, it was David Lee Roth‘s first full-length as a solo artist that not only left an indelible stamp on the history of hard rock but also made quite a ruckus in the VH camp. Some fans even went as far as to claim his solo debut managed to out-Van-Halen everything VAN HALEN had released up to that point. Ouch! Well, to give credit where it’s due, Roth sure had a killer band comprised of the best possible hired guns of the era – Steve Vai on guitars, Billy Sheehan on bass, and Gregg Bissonette on drums. Vai had played in Frank Zappa‘s band, Sheehan had already earned a reputation as a monster bassist in TALAS, and Bissonette had played with the jazz legend Maynard Ferguson! With a lineup of this caliber, he was destined to release something earth-shattering – which he did, too. Since Roth‘s departure from VAN HALEN did not happen on good terms exactly, the title of his solo debut is quite an obvious stab at his former band; released on July 7th, 1986, via Warner Bros, the title went “Eat ‘Em and Smile.” Yeah, now the title of the sophomore Hagar-era VH affair, “OU812” (1988), starts to make a lot more sense, doesn’t it? Oh, you ate one too? This stuff was straight from The Bold and the Beautiful.
The lead single, “Yankee Rose,” kicks things into high gear right off the bat. It was released as a single on June 18th, 1986, and it went straight to #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. If you saw the music video first, as a 12-year-old rascal like me, what with all of its not-so-subtle innuendos and questionable visual cues, you wouldn’t have guessed the song was a somewhat patriotic homage to America and the Statue of Liberty, in particular. The lyrics nod to “The Star-Spangled Banner” and events in the history of the US. Still, in retrospect, it seems an awful lot as though Roth attempted to turn the Statue of Liberty into a sex symbol of sorts. Then again, as a kid, I was too mesmerized by Vai‘s guitar pyrotechnics to give a shit about anything else, and his iconic wah-wah theatrics during the “conversation” between his guitar and Roth steal the show even now. The song set the tone for the whole album – it’s all about the interplay between Roth‘s over-the-top, cocky showman antics and Vai‘s stellar guitarism. Each virtuoso in the band has plenty of room to let rip across the album, but it’s Vai‘s otherworldly guitar chops that stand out like a sore thumb. We, the heavy-metal kids, were already enamoured by Eddie Van Halen‘s fretboard gymnastics by 1986, and then, along came this Zappa alumnus with guitar skills that were simply out of this world.
That said, the album is not entirely about pure hard-rock party anthems. Sure, “Goin’ Crazy!” definitely is one of those – and a pretty fucking banging one at that! – but the selection explores other aesthetic realms as well. “I’m Easy,” for instance, is a lounge-music piece that, along with “That’s Life,” sounds like a leftover from Roth‘s previous solo EP “Crazy From the Heat” (1985). Obviously, Roth pulls it off like nothing to it. Then, “Ladies Nite in Buffalo” is another song that should have come with the disclaimer, “…and now, for something completely different!” While not exactly lounge music, the song is another smooth, slow-tempo rocker.
“Shyboy” is another high-octane riffer, and a cover rendition, actually. The original song was released by TALAS, Sheehan‘s former band, in 1982 on the “Sink Your Teeth into That” album. I still haven’t heard the original, but I highly doubt it could be a match for this highly energetic cover version. I have not checked out MR. BIG‘s cover from 1992, either, even though Sheehan plays the bass on that one, too. In my books, this 1986 rendition is the definitive version of the song, largely thanks to Vai‘s stellar guitarism. Period.
With the album’s color spectrum ranging from flamboyant hard rock to lounge music, it stands to reason to throw in a blues number as well. “Tobacco Road” is another cover. The original was a John D. Loudermilk song, but it did not become a minor hit in the 1960s until covered by THE NASHVILLE TEENS, although in the rock circles, the cover rendition by Eric Burdon & The Animals is probably better known. Except that, for us GenX metal kids, Diamond Dave did it much better. His version is the one that goes to eleven.
And speaking of full-tilt hard-rock boogies, “Elephant Gun” is the track that resonates with the thickest aura of a VAN HALEN outtake. Roth‘s swagger is perhaps even more over-the-top than on those old VH classics. The song title captures the vibe of the whole album down to a tee – it’s a bit silly, cartoonish, and over-the-top. I reckon Roth‘s fanbase expected nothing less, as he had laid down his mission statement with his 1985 EP already: anything is possible. With a band of class-A virtuosos, he proved that beyond a shadow of doubt with his first solo full-length.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Yankee Rose
- Shyboy
- I’m Easy
- Ladies’ Nite in Buffalo
- Goin’ Crazy!
- Tobacco Road
- Elephant Gun
- Big Trouble
- Bump and Grind
- That’s Life
Lineup
David Lee Roth – vocals
Steve Vai – guitars
Billy Sheehan – bass, backing vocals
Gregg Bissonette – drums, backing vocals
Label
Warner Bros.
