DLR Band - does the production spoil it, or Daves voice or....

[Master Joe]

...is it the songs?

A lot of people criticise the production on the album, is that coz wawazat (aka DLR) produced it? I mean its basically vocals guitars and drums - the production is minimal, it doesn't 'sound' like a big budget album, but I think that totally suits the songs - rough and ready, practice, practice, practice, and in the studio record the best rehearsal - like what VH used do.

DLR's voice? - yes I will admit that is it a little shot - but it is not so bad that it ruins the songs. The man has lived 100 lifetimes, he's had an incredible life, and he smokes like a chimney, and drinks Jack Daniels, its going to have an effect. Maybe he should stick to the range that suits him, don't strain himself - and when he goes for it, it does show how damaged his voice is - but like I said, it doesn't ruin the album for me.

The songs?, well I think the songs are awesome - great rock n roll tunes, guitars all over the shop, my ultimate album. It really is one of my fave all-time cd's.

[RothnRoll]

Don't ask me Joe, I think its one of his best.

[NE169]

Part of it's gotta be the voice - he tries to overextend himself in spots (Relentless), not a bad album, but to me lacked a big fat sound!

[ScottRoberts]

I think it's the best solo Dave album after EEAS and Skyscraper. If anything is lacking, though, it's gotta be Dave's vocal range.

[MikeL]

The vocals seem buried under the guitars to me. I think that was done intentionally, to keep Dave's vocal limitations from being the centerpoint of the album. The reason I say this is if you listen to something within Dave's range at the time such as Black Sand, the vocals are right up there where they should be. When Dave's gotta sing fast or high, they subside into the mix.

[dirtymovies]

I love it too. I was quite shocked at how good and fresh it was.

[Brett]

Definitely not the production that's for sure. Dave's voice is pretty ragged for the most part. He has moments when he's not trying that high octave crapola where he sounds like old Dave. But it's a fun record, some good tunes, not a big enough sound.

[Rikk]

I like the album. It definitely sounds kinda indie...there are a few third-rate cuts, but then there are also masterpieces like LITTLE TEXAS. I do think he should have limited it to 10 songs or so, just so it was consistently brilliant. That's one thing I loved about the original albums...they were pretty short, thus, were short enough to be totally consistent listens.

[Down In Flames]

I'm with Rikk and Mike on the album. In spots, Dave's voice seems to get swallowed up by the instruments and I think that's by design, which is a smart move. A smarter move would be to not sing so high in the first place, but Dave's gonna do what he likes. And that's cool.

Slam Dunk - Great lyrics but the music isn't so hot to me. The little breakdown where Dave talks low, he should do more of that. He's got a great low voice.

Blacklight - The music's all right. But Dave tries to do too much vocally. It's almost like he's doing an impression of Robert Plant. <-- Back when Plant could hit the high notes. The chorus and back up vocals just don't mesh with everything else. One of the lesser songs on the album, although Dave is smoking on that little harmonica bit.

Counter-Blast - Has a bit of a punk edge to it. I dig it. The high stuff Dave tries to hit on this one, he does for the most part.

Lose The Dress (Keep The Shoes) - Pimpin' lyrics. They're just another example of how someone, say, Sam could live a billion years and never write such lyrics. The music, on the other hand, doesn't measure up.

Little Texas - Rocks. It could be a 1984 leftover, it's that solid, IMO. More great lyrics, catchy riff, chorus, and melody. This song is cool on all fronts.

King Of The Hill - It took me a while to catch the lyrics on this one. I don't like the music on this one. Catchy chorus and melody, though.

Going Places - Nice change of pace. Typical DLR-style curveball. Mellow without being weak. Sam could learn a thing or 17 from a song like this.

Wa Wa Zat is another great song. Great guitar work, heavy riff. I remember someone once saying the music was a bit generic. I don't think that, though. The guitar solo could have been a bit more thought out, but that's really the only drawback and it's a minor one.

Relentless - Great opening. But then Dave starts singing. Dave should have toned down the vocals because they take away from the lyrics. The chorus, especially near the end of the song, is painful to listen to. Neat solo. Great drumming. The songs got a cool energy to it.

Indeedido - Filler, IMO. Dave's lyrics deserve better vocals on this one. The music sounds tired on this one, which is surprising following Relentless.

Right Tool For The Job - WTF is this? This is the worst track on the album, IMO. Dave sounds good, but his lyrics are pretty light. I don't know, maybe that's what he was going for. The music stinks on this one.

Tight - Cool gravel-voice by Dave again and, in parts, funny lyrics. Can't get into this song, though. The music is uninspired. Just shows me that the first half of the album is easily the better of the two.

Weekend With The Babysitter - You gotta love this. Pimp Dave, middle-aged, crooning about nailing a babysitter. [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img] . "Suddenly occurs to me, Maybe I need therapy, Cause I'm also hot for teacher..." This one clicks. Rock on, lil' Elvis.

Black Sand - I'm guessing that Dave wanted to close the album on a winner (which he does), but being Dave, also wanted to showcase his range by creating a juxtaposition; having this follow the likes of WWTB. Just when you've finished laughing at Dave waxing poetic about the babysitter, he bitchslaps you with a song to think about. Great moody intro, melodic riff, and vibe. The lyrics and music work hand in hand. Dave nails the vocals. (Might sound funny, but when I first heard this song, my first thought was "Brian Wilson on downers." [img]smile.gif[/img] Which is not to say it's a depressing song because it's not.) This song redeems the second half of the album.

Hopefully, with whatever Dave's supposedly cooking up right now, a couple of tracks will be in the vein of Little Texas, Wa Wa Zat, and Black Sand.

[ July 23, 2002, 03:40 PM: Message edited by: Down In Flames ]

[Brett]

I agree with most of your take DIF. Just mentioning some things that come to mind.

"Slam Dunk" bugs me because the music is such a blatant ripoff of "Hot For Teacher" and "The Full Bug," it's such a sell-out tune. No creativity at all musicially, I like Dave's lyrics, but he strains too much for my taste.

"Blacklight" has no flow to it at all like DIF said. Chorus doesn't work with the verses, and I don't know what the hell Dave is doing on those verses, but his voice sounds likes poopoo ca-ca. [img]smile.gif[/img] Good harmonica solo.

"King Of The Hill" sucks, plain and simple. The mix is probably the worst pile of crap I've ever heard, I've mixed my band's demos better. I know that the late Mike Hartman used this song on his solo album without the lyrics because you can hear him soloing over the whole song. It doesn't work, Dave's vocals don't work at all. Bad tune all around. But it is the only song on the album where Dave actually gets out his signature scream, and it actually sounds good.

Now I disagree totally on "Indeedido," I dig that song a lot. I like the riff, to me it feels very VHish. Dave's lyrics are OK, his vocals are way too strained, but I really like the guitar playing. In fact I had the DJ play this song at my wedding if you can believe that, people wanted to know who it was, they liked it.

"Black Sand" IMO is one of the best songs Dave has done in years. Just a very cool vibe and his lyrics and vocals are perfect for it. Easily the most creative tune on the album.

[Master Joe]

Although I love the album, I could live without Indeedido and Right Tool...they are the only fillers IMO, but King of the Hill is one of the highlights for me - excellent guitar work - and the only song ever to have naa, naa, naa's sounding actually cool.

[therealdeal]

This is Dave's best solo album, period.

Taken as a whole, Side 1 (the first 6 songs) is one of the best listens of the 1990s. "Little Texas" is my favorite Roth solo tune. "Black Light" is a very cool departure from the norm for a Roth record. "King Of The Hill" does more with a 90s grunge sound than most 90s bands would have ever hoped to conceive, let alone create. "Slam Dunk" & "Counter-Blast" are signature Halen-esque ideas done well.

Side 2 is largely filler; "Black Sand" is the lone killer tune - definitely cut from the "Coconut Grove"-"Damn Good" cloth. Everything else on Side 2 is admittedly mediocre, but it doesn't take as much muster away from the album as a whole because all the sh*t is tacked onto the back of the album, unlike almost all of Dave's other releases, wherein the boring tracks are sprinkled throughout front-to-back

But that's moot when you consider that Side 1 plus "Black Sand" is equivalent time-wise to at least half of the Dave-era VH releases. I am as animated in my enjoyment of these 7 songs as the cream of the album as I am with any of the DEVHRs. I can't say that about any of Dave's other releases - on all the others I have to constantly skip around the disks to catch the tunes I like. 'Eat Em & Smile' would be the only other release that's comfortably listenable front to back, but that record's best songs aren't as strong as 'DLRB'.

As for production: what's not to like? The sound is full and plenty bright where it needs to be, and acceptably less so where the song warrants ("King Of The Hill"). I hear everything fine, and I'm confident that the production here will stand the test of time far better than the production of, say, 'Skyscraper'.

When I think of how this record is generally perceived, it reminds me a lot of the 'Coverdale/Page' album. I honestly think that both fans & critics don't give these albums the hefty kudos that they deserve. Just because the popular culture and entertainment media call you a has-been, doesn't make it so. Santana should be proof of that.

Plus these are fun tunes to play (in a band)! That never hurts [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

If you don't have this record, go get it! [img]graemlins/bounce.gif[/img] Side 1 is Dave's best album side, and it's as good as either side of 'Women & Children First' or 'Diver Down'.

The Real Deal

[Master Joe]

THATS WHAT I'M TALKIN ABOUT!!!!!

Thanks RealDeal - I enjoyed reading that.

Yeah, the second half is a little weaker, mainly coz of Indeedido and Right tool... I would add Weekend w/the babysitter to your 7 song list as well.

[Rikk]

Great post, Real Deal.

I really like the album. I've never thought any of Dave's solo stuff is as good as the DLR-era Van Halen (which is unbeatable stuff...neither Van Halen nor Roth were ever able to match those six albums). But certain cuts on each solo album stand out. SHYBOY, YANKEE ROSE, GOIN' CRAZY and LADIES NIGHT IN BUFFALO are great...DAMN GOOD and JUST LIKE PARADISE are great...A LI'L AIN'T ENOUGH and SHOWTIME are amazing...I even like BIG TRAIN, and SHE'S MY MACHINE is okay. But DLR BAND is pretty consistent. LITTLE TEXAS is a Roth solo song that I'd put on par with early Van Halen (also my favorite Roth solo song), KING OF THE HILL, BLACK LIGHT, SLAM DUNK, BLACK SAND. These are all under-appreciated classics.

The COVERDALE/PAGE album was also amazing. It was actually better than the PAGE/PLANT album WALKING INTO CLARKSDALE. Why COVERDALE/PAGE didn't do well is beyond me. It had some of Page's best work (PRIDE AND JOY still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it). I really don't care what the public accepts or likes. If I like it or keep going back to it, it's a classic. Hey, if I actually liked VH3, I would be defending it to my grave. But I can't defend it because...it's really bad (with a few small exceptions). It's a shame that Dave's album didn't get full-blown promotion, but he couldn't get that in 1998, nor did he really expect to. But if you put DLR BAND up against VH3, it's pretty clear to me which one is the winner. (And I'm sorry, but both albums are still better than MARCHING TO MARS...that was the first and only Hagar solo album I purchased, and I re-sold it pretty quickly...MONTROSE is great though.)

[ July 29, 2002, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: Rikk ]

[theodore templeman]

DLR Band is an awesome recording. It sounds to me like Dave want to produce a downright mean, surly, badass, in your face CD and that's exactly what he did. His performance is high energy no-holds-barred with great lyrics. The songs are all good. And the guitar playing is innovative and cutting edge. In fact if DLR Band had been released in the '80s John Lowery would be a fucking guitar god on the level of Vai and Sykes.