David Lee Roth

A really fun live act though he is not a particularly strong live singer. His range is limited but he can put on a performance and his work with Van Halen was great. His solo work is very spotty.

Pity "Crazy From The Heat" isn't eligible to be including on the site, it was, maybe his greatest fifteen minutes as a solo artist. Still, a great entertainer and the best lead singer of Van Halen ever!

For the two Roth/Vai albums listed here, 100/100. They're both spirited and diverse, and I count only one bad song among them, ("Stand Up," a single from "Skyscraper.")

Roth's band: Steve Vai; Billy Sheehan; and Gregg Bissonette - had incredible potential... Some of it realized.

Of Roth's three post-Vai albums: the first with Jason Becker/Bob Rock (the blooze-y "A Little Ain't Enough";) one with Nile Rodgers (the eclectic "Your Filthy Little Mouth";) and one with John 5 (the down-and-diry "DLR Band") - "DLR Band" with John 5 is my personal favorite.

Along with Elvis Presley and Mick Jagger, Van Halen's first frontman David Lee Roth is maybe rock and roll's greatest showman.

Adventurous like a pirate, exuberant, intelligent, and playful, Van Halen's 7 "classic" albums all have the spirit of "Diamond" Dave. His skill with lyrics and as an album artist, you can hear develop way beyond rock if you listen to his solo albums.

Most of Roth's solo work is underrated. I'm too young to know why, but I've heard that Van Halen really tried to make him look like a bad guy, and a fool, for a long time. It's too bad because all of that childish stuff made people miss out on music that's not only a lot better than you think, but among the most creative rock I've heard.

Of Roth's 5 solo LPs (and 1 EP featuring off-beat '60s pop and vaudeville covers,) "Eat 'em and Smile" is essential. It features a young, hungry, all-star band: Steve Vai on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass, and Gregg Bissonette on drums. Great songwriting, great instrumental work, laugh out-loud funny.

I love the punk, comedy, and R&B-influences that made Roth's Van Halen albums so great. "DLR Band," with guitarist John 5. Marilyn Manson - I loved him when I was 12 - heard John 5 play on this album, and then hired him without even auditioning him. Ray Luzier, who many people consider the best drummer in rock right now play drums.

I also LOVE "Skyscraper." It was recorded with the same all-star band as "Eat 'em and Smile" but produced by Steve Vai, so it has a totally different sound - pretty trippy, kind of like you're on psychedelics.

"A Little Ain't Enough" with the genius playing of Jason Becker, who got ALS at age 20 while recording this and had to quit the band, does a dueling blues guitar album with Alice Cooper/Lou Reed guitarist Steve Hunter. It sounds like a Stones album.

"Your Filthy Little Mouth" produced by Nile Rodgers, who also produces Bowie - so, yeah, it's weird. Half of the album has the best songs Roth ever wrote (Sunburn!!) but there are so many different styles that it doesn't hold together as an album. Still worth a listen though.

Very under-rated artist.

From a standpoint of sheer musical talent, the band that David Lee Roth assembled for his two late ‘80s, post-Van Halen solo albums – the multi-platinum “Eat ‘em And Smile” (1986, US #4,) and “Skyscraper” (1988, US #6) – was unprecedented in its genre-hopping virtuosity.

The musical equivalent of an all-star team, Roth recruited rising virtuosos in various sub-genres: avante-garde fusion, i.e. Steve Vai – former guitarist with Frank Zappa and Johnny Rotten’s Public Image Ltd; heavy metal: Billy Sheehan – a player reputedly as revolutionary on his instrument as Eddie Van Halen was on guitar; and big band jazz: Gregg Bissonette, (former drummer of Maynard Ferguson’s big band; later with Ringo Starr, Elton John, etc.)

Roth’s idiosyncratic foursome made two albums – completely different from each other, but both compelling – and in the process, made stars of Vai, Sheehan, and Bissonette.

“Eat ‘em And Smile” (1986, US #4) is an album that many musicians revere – as much for its irreverence as its musical virtuosity. It contains the hits "Yankee Rose" and "Goin' Crazy," numerous displays of gonzo instrumentalism; funk, jazz, and Roth's "Falstaff of Rock" persona, which first emerged during 1982-1985 with Van Halen.

Musically, "Skyscraper" (1988, #6) is a precursor to Steve Vai's solo work, featuring experimental rock in addition to multi-tracked pop, e.g. hits "Just Like Paradise," (#6 US) and "Damn Good" (#1 US Mainstream Rock.) While "Eat 'em And Smile" is rock bombast personified, "Skyscraper" exemplifies a strange meeting-ground between Zappa's guitar fusion and The Beach Boys.

After releasing the Aerosmith-esque "A Little Ain't Enough" (1991, #18) - with guitar prodigy Jason Becker and former Lou Reed & Alice Cooper guitarist Steve Hunter - interest in David Lee Roth's solo career waned during the 1990s. David Bowie's former producer Nile Rodgers joined Roth on 1994's uber-eclectic "Your Filthy Little Mouth."

In 1996, a brief (highly publicized) reunion with Van Halen produced two tracks for the hit "Best Of Volume One." His 1997 best-selling autobiography ("Crazy From The Heat") and comeback album with guitarist John 5 (of Marilyn Manson) entitled "DLR Band" revived interest in his career.

Roth returned to Van Halen in 2007.

His solo albums are each unique in their sound - however, ultimately, Roth's talent for conveying emotional attitudes (his particular skill, along with crafting R&B style melodies) suffer without an exceptional songwriting partner, e.g. sans Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, John 5, or Jason Becker.

Roth is a great showman. This is probably his second best solo release (I prefer A Little Ain't Enough)