Customer Reviews

Skyscraper

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fans are split on David Lee Roth's second studio album "Skyscraper." Released in the spring of 1988, the album was a top-ten hit, platinum smash, and yielded the hit "Just like Paradise." Unfortunately for Dave, however, "Skyscraper" saw Dave lose a lot of fans. It was his last hit album before his commercial decline. Bassist Billy Sheehan even admits to hating this album. Far from being universally panned, however, some fans have stuck by "Skyscraper."

After leaving Van Halen, Roth's task was to create a new band, to create a new Van Halen. Competing with Van Halen, Roth employed Steve Vai (guitar), Billy Sheehan (bass), and Gregg Bissonette (drums). This lineup, known as the "Eat `Em and Smile Band" released the classic "Eat `Em and Smile" in the summer of 1986. For "Skyscraper," Roth added keyboardist Brett Tuggle.

Veteran Van Halen producer Ted Templeman was behind the helm for "Eat `Em and Smile." For his second album, Roth opted to produce the album himself with Steve Vai.

In some ways "Skyscraper" and "Eat `Em and Smile" are as different as night and day. "Eat `Em and Smile" was in some ways like a seventh Van Halen album. Roth basically took the best musicians he could find to replace Eddie, Alex and Michael, and rather successfully, emulated Van Halen's sound. "Eat `Em and Smile" is raw, organic and sounds live. "Skyscraper," by contrast, is far more polished, glossy and filled with overdubs. The addition of a keyboard player also took the band in a more commercial, pop direction. Some fans rejected the new sound and revolted. Billy Sheehan notes that he likes the raw demos of "Skyscraper" far more than the finished product.

It is interesting to note that while Van Halen found multi-platinum success and praise with their keyboard filled, overtly commercial "5150" (1986), Roth failed to do the same with "Skyscraper." Far from being a fan favorite, "Skyscraper" is noted as being the album in which Roth "jumped the shark."

All of this is a shame, because "Skyscraper" is a really good album. It is very glossy, but that's not really a bad thing. "Skyscraper" isn't a go-for-the-jugular hard-rock album in the vein of "Van Halen," (1978) and "Fair Warning" (1981). Rather, it's a sunny, California pop album. It's also surprisingly diverse and creative, something that a lot of fans and critics overlook. While "Skyscraper" isn't Roth's magnum opus, it's probably the most creative album he's done. Most importantly, the album works because the songs are well written, with good hooks and strong melodies.

The mid-tempo, off-beat "Knucklebones" gets the album off to a good start. With its ultra-glossy trimmings, the tone is set for the album. "Just like Paradise," was the album's huge smash. It's easy to see why this was picked as a single, as its hook is undeniable. It's easily as memorable as anything Van Halen was doing at the time with Sammy Hagar. "The Bottom Line" is a hard-rocker, in the vein of "Eat `Em and Smile" and classic Van Halen. The album takes a complete left turn for the album's avant-garde title track "Skyscraper." Although many fans and critics don't get it and label it "bizarre," this is one of Dave's most creative, ambitious, and intriguing songs. It's an odyssey, a sci-fi epic with psychedelic trimmings. You don't just listen to this song, you are thrust into it. The acoustic, melancholy "Damn Good" pays tribute to old friendships long gone. Did Dave have Van Halen in mind? Dave fans regard this as one of his best songs. It's rather surprising that it was left off his 1997 best of album. And what would a David Lee Roth album be without sexual innuendo? "Hot Dog and a Shake" picks up the pace and features some really cool solos. "Stand Up" is an arena-rock style anthem about standing up for yourself. The added keyboards and gloss work well for this song. "Hina" is one of Dave's most underrated songs. It's spacey and epic, with a lot of effects bombarding the senses, much like the title track. But whereas the title track is a sci-fi epic, "Hina" seems to be more like a space-age love song. Who is "Hina"? She remains a mystery. The album comes back to the ground with the infectious "Perfect Timing," a song that could have been a contender as a single. The closing "Two Fools a Minute" is pure Vegas, albeit with more a hard-rock edge. Although not the album's strongest cut, it's an interesting listen and a good way to close the album.

It's a shame that more people didn't recognize all the qualities and ideas that "Skyscraper" has to offer. It's a great hybrid of sunny-pop, hard-rock, and avant-garde experimentation.

If you're looking for straight-up, no-holds-bar rock n' roll, you may be disappointed with "Skyscraper." If you want something rocking, and a little off-center, try giving "Skyscraper" a try.

I bought this disc the day it was released, and since then I've probably become the first person in history to wear out a CD. My dear old battered copy is scuffed, faded, skips all over the place in cheap CD players, its lyric book is faded from all the times I flipped through it, the works. Simply put, this wonderful little bundle is mindlessly cheerful, life's-so-groovy-to-me optimism, done with that cartoonish sense of humour we've all grown to love so much... and it STILL manages to successfully slam the works of other so-called artists of the eighties like Bon Jovi with a ferociously fierce talent and creativity few had during that decade. No wonder Eddie Van Halen loathed it so much when it was released... because it and all of Dave's other albums, as Eddie HIMSELF admitted, show who was the REAL heart and creative genius behind Van Halen! Every song is a winner from start to finish, there are gorgeous melodies everywhere that jaded headbangers will probably never understand or appreciate, and Steve Vai's playing is stupendous. Roth reminds me so much of Led Zeppelin... back during the seventies, Led Zep (another fave rave of mine) were slammed ruthlessly by critics with each and every release, all whining about how "pretentious" and "unlistenable" the album was and how the last one was better, even though the same critics had slammed IT too! Same with Dave... each album he has done solo-wise is a masterpiece, and each one has been critically slammed, only to be praised when the next one came out in the precise same way. The only thing that kept Diamond Dave from being fully appreciated for being the multitalented musical genius that he was and is was the press's and the public's bias against him after Eddie did everything he could to ruin him (and now we all know WHO the real jerk was after 1996, now, don't we?). The "Led Zeppelin 3" of its time, SKYSCRAPER was a massive experiment for Dave as he challenged his audience with NEW strong points they never knew he had, one that was pulled off beautifully, and will hopefully one day get the critical applause and favour it so richly deserves. More, Dave! MORE!

1988 Fondly remembered for The Diamond's best release of his less than lack-luster solo career. Steve Vai starts the disc out with a chicken pickin guitar opening that is least expected but he remains intune to where Roth is headed and explains why Vai was easily meant to support Roth instead of you know who. Vai and Roth sink deep into Pop territory for Just like Paradise while flexing their metal muscle on Knucklebones.Vai's fifth grade composition Damn Good comes off with some Damn good results and the title track ---- contrary to other reviewers finds Vai's backward masking and recording quite adventurous for its time and if listened to with the proper surround sound equiptment will leave the listener in Awe.Perfect Timing is an excellent song that stands well on its own and should have been a single.Its competition OU812 flounders in comparrision to this Pop Metal Masterpiece.

This is Dave's most complete solo album to date. On this CD Dave strikes a perfect cord between being good old Dave having fun and musical master! I think having Steve Vai on guitar and co producing it helped big time! I have always believed "Damn Good" was one of Dave's most underated songs of all time! I also think "Just Like Paradise" rocks! Even "Stand Up" has a little Dave humor to it.

I remember when this album came out, I was in heaven to hear Vai play and the album is a must have for any guitar loving fan.

Not as good as Eat Em and Smile(imo).. With that being said this is a great cd and the last with Steve Vai !!!!! If you like Roth era Van Halen or Eat Em and Smile pick this up i think youll love it !!!!! Knucklebones,Damn Good,Skyscraper,Perfect Timing are my favs... But not a bad track here !!!!! 4 stars all the way !!!!!

As the David Lee Roth versus Van Halen war began to lose steam, since both Roth and VH dominated not only the charts but the concert circuits of '86 & '87 with both Eat 'Em And Smile and 5150, what were we to do? Skyscraper hit the scene as VH's OU812 made it's appearance. Was DLR lightening up? Was that a slow, pushy little "I wanna forgive you" song in "Damn Good"??? What was happening? Well....one thing, Roth was shedding some of the dead weight from his Van Halen days. Slimming down. Don Landee was gone and DLR & Steve Vai were going to produce the follow up to the surprisingly sucessful Eat 'Em & Smile. Hooray? Hmmmm. The same lineup as its predecessor: Vai, Sheehan & Bissonette. The touring band will find Sheehan out and Gregg's brother Matt on bass.

"Knucklebones" is a solid rocker with hooks and a lot of potential. Great start to the album and it fills one with hope that the rest of the album clicks together like this. "Just Like Paradise" more popish and keyboard oriented. The video was an MTV staple for a few weeks but not as long as past Picasso Bros. videos. Was that a combover DLR was doing with his hair? Dave starts to show his age with a new haircut and a receding hairline? Hmmmm. "Bottom Line" A rocker, straight up. But the problem with Skyscraper is apparent on this tune. If you own any Steve Vai albums, you will hear what I'm talking about it. There is a distinct Steve Vai sound (See Flex-able for instance) and a distinct David Lee Roth sound and the two don't mix very well. Where "Bottom Line" should make us freak out with rocking madness, we get a strange twinge from the doubled up guitar mix (Vai is a freak for a haromonizer). Sheehan's little bass solo makes us smile, however. "Skyscraper" is experimental David Lee Roth ala Steve Vai, where Eat 'Em And Smile sounds like a DLR album, Skyscraper sounds like a Steve Vai album with DLR singing on it as a guest artist. This is straight out of Vai's Flex-able and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but DLR fans are stubborn and unmoving and that is probably the key reason why Skyscraper was no where nearly as successful as Eat 'Em And Smile. Still a cool tune and strangely enough, one of my personal favorites. "Damn Good" This is David Lee Roth, using his band of hired guns, to sing a tune that is trying to reconcile with the brothers Van Halen. Perhaps his bandmates are trying to cut down the bad vibe coming from the whole DLR vs. VH war. Sounds like something the pacifist Vai would think up. This is decent. Nothing exceptional. Vai on accoustic is a little too much. "Hot Dog And A Shake" another barn burner that just straight out rocks and shows off Vai & Sheehan, feels like it was left off Eat 'Em And Smile. Great shot in the arm. "Stand Up" weird. The slap-bass intro puts me off course. The little Vai lick is kewel. This is very Vai (I like most of Vai's solo work so it's not that bad to me) and yet it's very pop. A little confusing but still a pretty cool tune. Experimental. "Hina" if any song with DLR and Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan can be called filler, "Hina" might be it. But if this is filler, its the cream of the crop of filler. This song reminds me very much like "Little Guitars" from VH's Diver Down album. I don't know. It just never struck a popular chord with me. I can take it or leave it. "Perfect Timing" another straight-up rocker, but there's something missing. This is David Lee Roth going though the motions. Vai rips. Still there's something that I can't put my finger on, but it's not perfection. Weird. "Two Fools A Minute" another show-off Vai & Sheehan song. Great. Strange, but great.


The problem with Skyscraper is that maybe Dave's not so pissed off with the brothers Van Halen anymore and the edge is gone. Another problem may be that Vai's influences are starting to take away some of DLR's acquired magic. He's taking chances and toying around with his usual straight-forward approach. Also, the strange absence of cover-tunes is apparent. Where DLR used to pop on a couple of obscure but rocking covers, Skyscraper is completely original. Don't f*ck with the formula if it works, that's the superstitious way to look at it, but Skyscraper is not the perfection that was Eat 'Em And Smile. Why? Because Dave is letting Vai make him weird? Maybe. Who can say for sure. But we do realize that this isn't going to work for much longer.

Dig it!

DLR's best album. No question about it. Don't be staring at your monitor, fool. If you are a musician, this is required listening.

Critics always have something to say. David might not be the kind of guy everybody likes. He might seem reckless and crazy, but the fact is that this is one of the best rock albums of it's time, in composition and performance. Even if some people are too prejudiced to admit it.

David Lee Roth is Van Halen (sorry Eddie). David Lee Roth is not a musician as much as he is an entertainer, but put him together with great songwriting, musicians, and production and the results are stupendous. Eddie Van Halen is one of the greatest songwriters in the history of rock and roll, and generally speaking I have more respect for songwriters than entertainers. But this isn't about respect, it is about what entertains me, and nothing entertains me more than Dave with great songwriting.

This is a big step up from Eat 'Em and Smile. Every song is amazing with the exception of Bottom Line and Damn Good. It sounds like a movie soundtrack in a lot of ways.

Best bets are Knucklebones, Just Like Paradise, Skyscraper, and Perfect Timing.

Bottom line is, this is the only rock CD that I have listened to over 1000 times and still look forward to listening to again and again.