Today's Retro Spin is not driven by the music itself. Rather the album cover, which makes me bust out laughing every time I look at it.
The "photo" of David Lee Roth on his 1988 released Skyscraper is laughably bad! Photo editing in the 80's for the win! Look how giant his head is compared to the body! The skin tones don't even match, with the brightness of his face compared to the arms. My favorite, and the icing on the cake, is that painted on cap. Beautiful! I'm still giggling just typing this!
Okay, okay. Focus. Breath. I have to listen to the actual music.
I'm pretty sure none of you need a history on the singer. You know, how he was the front man for Van Halen for their 1978 to 1984 albums. He then quit the group over musical differences with Eddie Van Halen, and was replaced by Sammy Hagar. However, he would return to the group for a final album in 2012.
But, in between there is a sweet spot where Roth went solo, and made as equally a successful career of it. His first release was the 1985 EP, Crazy From The Heat, which in combination with the music video, showcased the very comedic side of the singer with his hit cover of, Just A Gigolo.
Roth's first studio release, Eat 'Em And Smile, has an interesting history unto itself, wherein it was recorded both in English, and then in Spanish, Sonrisa Salvaje. This latter release was at the recommendation of bassist Billy Sheehan, who read that half the population of Mexico was between the age of eighteen and twenty-seven, a prime buying age range for albums.
This was followed up in 1988 with Skyscraper, which would be the singer's final entry into the 80's. Although critically and financially successful, inner turmoil would lead to guitarist Steve Vai and Sheehan exiting as Roth's band. Sheehan would go on to work with Greg Howe in 1988, but find greater success with the group, Mr. Big. Vai continued his solo work, releasing Passion And Warfare, an amazing album, if I do say so myself. However, he also continued to contribute to various other projects.
As I played through Skyscraper, I definitely felt an energy that Van Halen used to have, post 1984, and this was a good thing. The sound was big, the guitars thrashing, and Roth was on point with his vocals. I found myself liking everything I was hearing, and began taking the mindset that this may very well be a perfect album from front to back.
The stand out track on the record is definitely, Just Like Paradise, the tune I bought the album to get. However, there are also a ton of other tracks that resonated with me. Were they as memorable as Paradise? No. But, this didn't stop me from pulling track after track for my shuffle list.
Goofy covers aside, Skyscraper was pretty darn good. If it weren't his last 80's album, I may have been intrigued enough to see what he released after it. Fortunately, I can still go backwards and grab a copy of Eat 'Em And Smile, which I may very well do.
Roth released three more albums between 1994 and 2003, but these never saw the sales or success that his work from the 80's garnered.
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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
January 22, 1983
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