Sonrisa Salvaje (Original Recording Remastered) [Original recording remastered]

David Lee Roth | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 3, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Friday Music
• ASIN: B000NIIUQK
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,919 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Yankee Rose

2. Timido

3. Soy Facil

4. Noche De Ronda En La Ciudad

5. Loco Del Calor

6. La Calle Del Tabaco

7. Arma De Caza Mayor

8. En Busca De Pleito

9. Cuatno Frenesi

10. Asi Es La Vida

Editorial Reviews

After his first run with Van Halen in 1984, Roth embarked on a solid solo career which yielded him enough gold and platinum records that King Midas would be envious.

Eat `Em and Smile was a huge success for Roth in 1986, yielding a chart topping rock album, as well as ranking up several Top 40 singles with Goin' Crazy and Yankee Rose.

As this album rode the charts, David also released a very rare version of the album sung in Spanish aptly titled Sonrisa Salvaje. This was a quite a leap at the time, but this man can do no wrong. Armed with an incredible batch of tunes and his super power trio of Steve Vai (guitars), Billy Sheehan (bass) and Gregg Bissonette (drums), Sonrisa Salvaje went on to become one of this artists most collectable and enduring works, but the general public couldn't buy it for over two decades....that is until now.

Right in time to relish in the warm weather and your outdoor party festivities for the spring and summer, Sonrisa Salvaje is back once again in its full glory. Rescued from the vaults, this massive metal masterpiece has been tastfully remastered by Joe Reagoso, original artwork included, as well as including the ten incredible performances that most of his fans know by heart, but this time with an added Spanish twist.

Familiar staples like Yankee Rose and Loco Del Calor ( Goin' Crazy) just jump out at you this time around. Steve Vai and the band just shine on every track, and David's vocals are second to none. Check out the rhythm track on Noche De Ronda En La Ciudad ( Ladies Night In Buffalo) as well as the driving beat on La Calle Del Tabaco ( Tobacco Road) This is some truly amazing work.

The Friday Music is offering this hard-to-find album to the David Lee Roth army of fans, and you should note that this is just the first installment of several other Warner Brothers era Roth work now being remastered and made available again after years of being out of print. This is great news....Rock on!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sonrise Salvaje on CD after a long wait..., April 4, 2007

By 

Stadium Studios "Stadium Studios" (West-Central Wisconsin, United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sonrisa Salvaje (Original Recording Remastered) (Audio CD)

What an outstanding album. I have been a Diamond Dave fan for as long as I have been listening to hard rock. When I was younger (and there was no internet) this album was just a rumor between my fellow Diamond Dave fans. Twenty years later, this jewel of the Southern Hemisphere has finally hit compact disc thanks to Friday Music. It is Dave singing the entire "Eat `Em and Smile" album in Spanish and he sings it like he means it man. Everyone, fan or not, should listen to this album at least once. It is ever bit as perfect as the original album.

If you don't know or were just not sure what this album is: It is the same studio recording as "Eat `Em and Smile" with Dave's vocal rerecorded in Spanish. It sounds exactly the same as the original English version except... well... in Spanish. It also came out in 1986 but only on vinyl and only in South America.

The sound on this remaster is fair at best. The vocal track is very forward of the music and sounds very bright. The music track sounds very soft. The two-track just does not sound well mixed. The vinyl version sounds way better than this "remastered" CD... but, it is on CD, so that is something.

The CD art looks like a hack bootleg or something. The cover art is dark and dull, like it was done with a crappy scanner. It is missing all of the vibrant color of the original famous album art. The back art is a zoomed-in blowup of the original album art to make it fit the more rectangle shape of a jewel case. It is also dark and dull and lacks the true color and scope of the original album art. The spine is also really lame. They did include both sides of the original record sleeve on the inside, which is very cool and highly commendable. Under the CD, behind the clear tray is a facsimile of the original recording sheets for the Spanish version, which is also very cool and highly commendable.

Buy this album now. You will be glad you did. If you are a Diamond Dave fan and don't own this, you are missing out big time and should be ashamed of yourself. If you are not exactly a fan, it is just a great rock album and this Spanish version is a real piece of rock and roll history man.

Also be sure to check out the Friday Music DAVID LEE ROTH REMASTERS of "A Little Ain't Enough" and "Your Filthy Little Mouth" if you don't already own them. Also, get all of the original six Van Halen albums now on WARNER REMASTERS (HDCD). They are worth every penny.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally!!!!!, July 19, 2007

By 

Trent B. Mcdaniel (Montgomery, AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sonrisa Salvaje (Original Recording Remastered) (Audio CD)

I bought this on cassette and album when it came out in 1986. I scored big points with my high school spanish teacher when i made him a copy. I was always sad that it was never released on cd so i was reduced to bootlegs until now. This is the Eatem And Smile album entirely in Spanish. The translation of english into spanish doesn't always make a smooth transition into the fit of the music and sometimes DLR sings the lyrics doubletime to make it happen. However, it is a gem to have considering the lack of any other product like it in the hard rock/ heavy metal realm. This album was supposed to have done quite well in South America and had minor success in the United States. Why Roth didn't do the same with his follow up Skyscraper is unknown. You can call this a concept album or a one shot project that peaked Daves interest at the time. I call it a great collectors item and the crown jewel to the David Lee Roth catelog.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not DLR's best, but plenty good enough, December 13, 2011

By 

Edwin C. Krampitz Jr. "ekrampitzjr" (Hopewell, Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sonrisa Salvaje (Original Recording Remastered) (Audio CD)

After Eat 'Em and Smile appeared came this Spanish version, Sonrisa Salvaje. Back then the big rock station in Tidewater Virginia played tracks off it. I also remember a music store display rack full of LP and cassette copies. (Not being released in CD then seems odd, as that format was well established by 1986-1987, and everyone knew vinyl LPs were on the way out.) Then just as I was ready to get a copy to go with the English version, Sonrisa disappeared--discontinued by the record company, it turns out, due to poor sales and bad reviews in some media.

After 20 years out of print, obscure and seemingly forgotten, Sonrisa was finally released on CD remastered in 2007. Listening to it now is like rediscovering a long-lost friend with warts and flaws but still endearing.

From the time, and still evident on this album, is the awkwardness in fitting Spanish lyrics that are often longer or with more syllables to songs originally recorded in English. The refrain to the translated "Tobacco Road" is a particularly odd-sounding example. Also, parts of some songs have an improvised feel, though according to online accounts developing the translated lyrics actually took a lot of time and effort.

But the important part is that Roth and the boys tried. No one else in the hard rock/metal field has done so in the same way since.

Dave's trademark (for the time) yips and shrieks survive on this version, no translation needed. And contrary to what another reviewer here has written, Steve Vai and the other band members did indeed play dedicated instrumentals for Sonrisa. Roth did NOT simply rerecord Spanish vocals over the original instrumentals. In fact, a discerning ear can tell subtle differences in the playing between the English and Spanish versions of a given song.

This might be an artifact of the remastering process, but Roth's voice sounds distinctly hoarser and a bit louder in relation to the instruments, compared with my memories of the tracks from radio play. This is not an issue in enjoying the album in my opinion, but it merits mention.

Otherwise, what we have here is an interesting version of Eat 'Em and Smile that every Roth and early Van Halen fan should collect. Like the English version, Sonrisa Salvaje is a fun album to listen to, and while it isn't Dave's absolute best, it still gets a solid 4 stars.