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Post by Monsters of Rock on Jun 2, 2021 23:35:16 GMT 10
David Lee Roth: Diamond Dave
One can indeed judge a book by its cover. David Lee Roth is hands-on with every aspect of his product, be it a photo shoot, a recording session, or an interview. He must have known his Diamond Dave album was crap, so he made a terrible cover to match it. Check out the tan, that wig and them pants! (Also notice: furry walls!)
This album, following up another aborted Van Halen reunion and the surprisingly powerful album DLR Band, switches gears and shows Dave’s “multi-faceted side”. Sure, we all know Dave likes disco, jazz, blues, showtunes, and standards. It’s Dave doing what he did very successfully on Crazy From the Heat, and trying to do so again. To make an album of this stuff would be fine, but Diamond Dave lacks any sort of zap. At all. It’s just one “who cares” cover after another, a couple crappy originals, and a Van Halen tune.
Dave’s voice just doesn’t generate the heat it once did, and all of Diamond Dave suffers for it. The way Van Halen did A Different Kind of Truth used a lot of production on Dave. Here, Roth is a whimper, a wheeze, a breathless gasp at the greatness that once was. To listen to this album in one sitting is an exersize in stamina. I know because I’ve done it.
Positives: Instrumental moments on the Steve Miller cover “Shoo Bop”. The ace rhythm section of LoMenzo and Luzier are complimented by a guitarist named Brian Young who is shit-hot on this. Then Dave goes all dance-y on it…ugh. “She’s Looking Good” is old-school and well done.
The indigestible: The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen”. Nobody needs to cover the Doors; Dave makes them sound like Smash Mouth. Hendrix’ “If 6 Was 9” has too much of Dave’s boring talking voice, but not enough crooning. His cover of the otherwise excellent Beatles number “Tomorrow Never Knows” (which he actually had the audicity to rename “That Beatles Tune”!?) sucks all the life and innovation out of a great song, as he wheezes to the finish line. This is by far the worst song, even though he also covers “Let It All Hang Out”.
There is only one number here worth owning, which is his Las Vegas version of “Ice Cream Man”. He did this shortly after Your Filthy Little Mouth with Edgar Winter, Omar Hakim, Greg Phillinganes, and Nile Rodgers! According to Dave’s autobiography Crazy From the Heat, this was recorded in a live in a video shoot. The video was never released, but the audio finally was. It lives up to the hype if not the wait.
Decide what you are willing to pay for one or two songs, and buy accordingly.
1/5 stars
You Got The Blues, Not Me... (Chris Youlden) - cover of "I'm Tired" by Savoy Brown
Made Up My Mind (Savoy Brown)
Stay While the Night is Young (Youlden) - cover of Savoy Brown
Shoo Bop (Steve Miller) - cover of "Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma" by Steve Miller Band
She's Looking Good (Rodger Collins)
Soul Kitchen (John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison) - cover of The Doors
If 6 Was 9 (Jimi Hendrix) - cover of The Jimi Hendrix Experience
That Beatles Tune (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" by The Beatles
Medicine Man (David Lee Roth)
Let It All Hang Out (William David Cunningham)
Thug Pop (Roth, John Lowery)
Act One (Roth)
Ice Cream Man (John Brim)
Bad Habits (William Bruce Field, Thomas Shelton Price) - cover of Billy Field
Mike Ladano Review website
One can indeed judge a book by its cover. David Lee Roth is hands-on with every aspect of his product, be it a photo shoot, a recording session, or an interview. He must have known his Diamond Dave album was crap, so he made a terrible cover to match it. Check out the tan, that wig and them pants! (Also notice: furry walls!)
This album, following up another aborted Van Halen reunion and the surprisingly powerful album DLR Band, switches gears and shows Dave’s “multi-faceted side”. Sure, we all know Dave likes disco, jazz, blues, showtunes, and standards. It’s Dave doing what he did very successfully on Crazy From the Heat, and trying to do so again. To make an album of this stuff would be fine, but Diamond Dave lacks any sort of zap. At all. It’s just one “who cares” cover after another, a couple crappy originals, and a Van Halen tune.
Dave’s voice just doesn’t generate the heat it once did, and all of Diamond Dave suffers for it. The way Van Halen did A Different Kind of Truth used a lot of production on Dave. Here, Roth is a whimper, a wheeze, a breathless gasp at the greatness that once was. To listen to this album in one sitting is an exersize in stamina. I know because I’ve done it.
Positives: Instrumental moments on the Steve Miller cover “Shoo Bop”. The ace rhythm section of LoMenzo and Luzier are complimented by a guitarist named Brian Young who is shit-hot on this. Then Dave goes all dance-y on it…ugh. “She’s Looking Good” is old-school and well done.
The indigestible: The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen”. Nobody needs to cover the Doors; Dave makes them sound like Smash Mouth. Hendrix’ “If 6 Was 9” has too much of Dave’s boring talking voice, but not enough crooning. His cover of the otherwise excellent Beatles number “Tomorrow Never Knows” (which he actually had the audicity to rename “That Beatles Tune”!?) sucks all the life and innovation out of a great song, as he wheezes to the finish line. This is by far the worst song, even though he also covers “Let It All Hang Out”.
There is only one number here worth owning, which is his Las Vegas version of “Ice Cream Man”. He did this shortly after Your Filthy Little Mouth with Edgar Winter, Omar Hakim, Greg Phillinganes, and Nile Rodgers! According to Dave’s autobiography Crazy From the Heat, this was recorded in a live in a video shoot. The video was never released, but the audio finally was. It lives up to the hype if not the wait.
Decide what you are willing to pay for one or two songs, and buy accordingly.
1/5 stars
You Got The Blues, Not Me... (Chris Youlden) - cover of "I'm Tired" by Savoy Brown
Made Up My Mind (Savoy Brown)
Stay While the Night is Young (Youlden) - cover of Savoy Brown
Shoo Bop (Steve Miller) - cover of "Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma" by Steve Miller Band
She's Looking Good (Rodger Collins)
Soul Kitchen (John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison) - cover of The Doors
If 6 Was 9 (Jimi Hendrix) - cover of The Jimi Hendrix Experience
That Beatles Tune (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" by The Beatles
Medicine Man (David Lee Roth)
Let It All Hang Out (William David Cunningham)
Thug Pop (Roth, John Lowery)
Act One (Roth)
Ice Cream Man (John Brim)
Bad Habits (William Bruce Field, Thomas Shelton Price) - cover of Billy Field
Mike Ladano Review website
