Lighten the mood, When did DLR Jump the Shark?

[jabps]

He was always a vaudeville style entertainer, but I think he had a level of self awareness. I think it became cringy when he lost that self awareness and believed in his own act.

Good points. And he was very much toned down on those opening shows for Kiss.

 

[SpiderWars]

Right about when he drank that "bottle of anything" and ate the glazed donut.

 

[hammered]

Lighten the mood goof on DLR LOL . I`m a bit biased cause I`m a DLR VH era fanboy but he's never jumped the shark in my eyes. He's always just did what he wanted and never gave a rats ass what any one said or thought about him. Sorry for the boring somewhat positive response

 

[romanianreaper]

He was always a vaudeville style entertainer, but I think he had a level of self awareness. I think it became cringy when he lost that self awareness and believed in his own act.

Yeah, he became too self aware of what he became and started saying lines like "Yeah man, it is like when you go to Burger King and you got to have it your way. We give you the shake the fries and the hello at the door.", etc. STFU Dave and just do splits off the drum riser you bastard.

Anyone who grew up in the 80s saw when Dave became a bit of a Jackass. I remember being 13 and seeing him on MTV doing the solo stuff, "I want my MTV", etc. and you could see the band was becoming more of him by himself and then the other three.

I liked almost everything VH did, even some of the songs with Gary Cherone. At least he kept them out there moving forward. Wasn't a great album but there were some cool songs on there.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Well I love Nuno and Extreme but Gary started off on the other side of the shark so he's never had a chance. I laughed at the comment about Dave just shutting up and doing the splits off the drum riser because they are bang on..he's always been a talker but with age it just became too much. He really is the " oh that guy?" Who shows up at parties and won't shut up...

 

[Kordoba]

I thought he jumped the shark with Crazy From the Heat but then redeemed himself with Eat 'em and Smile. I lost interest in DLR after that until he was on the new tracks on the greatest hits album in the mid 90s. I also like what he did on Different Kind of Truth and found the vids from his Vegas shows entertaining.

I'm probably more influenced by DLR than EVH. Not as a vocalist or musician, but just because I'm an annoying douche. Or so I've been told.

 

[RaceU4her]

this is the best version of DLR if you ask me i usually try to mimic that strut he does at 1:05 as im walking to the bathroom to take my morning power dump. Ruby Starr was great too

 

[UltraGary]

The big foam cowboy had and the popsicle shaped guitar (Diver Down era?) were a sad departure from the Jim Dandy on steroids swagger of the first 2 albums. Crazy from the Heat solo album was pretty limp - saved only by Billy Sheehan’s alway cool bass playing. I have respect for Eat ‘em and Skyscraper. When collaborating with serious musicians, I think Dave knows how to rise tp the occasion. But left to his own devices, well, you get the video to California Girls.

^^exactly this for me^^

 

[NorCal_Val]

Now let me say this, his Eat Em and Smile tour was monstrous. And IMO destroyed what Van Halen was doing live at that point. Dave's band was straight smoking and to this day, one of the best shows I've ever seen. Easily in my top five. Vai and Sheehan were on fire.

2. Losing Sheehan and releasing Skyscraper. Just too far IMO, not enough Vai or Sheehan, too polished and the following tour was really a step down. That's really where Dave lost his momentum.

This.
"EAS" and the tour were total barn burners!!
And I agree that the show for that tour was ridiculously good.
"Skyscraper" was a total wash. And I'm a huge Vai fan. The show I saw on that tour was
positively pedestrian compared to the "EAS" show.

 

[memberzonly]

When he lost Jason Becker.

 

[legend71]

EAS was a killer record. I think he let Vai have too much control on Skyscraper and he should have stayed in a more hard rock context. He was a great front man and funny guy but after a while that wore thin. I think Sammy brought out another side to EVH and opened him up more melodically than DLR could. It really is an amazing testament to EVH's ability to change singers like that have have 4 number one records. I think they matured a little bit wanted to chase some different sounds and songs. Hard to think of DLR singing songs like "Right Now" or "Feeling" or some of the darker tunes. I think DLR's star burned a little brighter but was shorter whereas Sammy's star shown longer but not as bright if you will......And EVH's star shown brighter than all

 

[Rock Bodom]

Skyscraper I think is an underrated album overall. It was definitely uneven, not the straight forward rock that Eat 'Em and Smile was, but the good stuff was really good, like Two Fools a Minute, Hina, and Damn Good. The song Skyscraper was pretty creative too. And those were some of the songs Vai was behind the writing on.

But then you had more of the pop direction Roth was headed in, and I remember Steve talking about when David presented him "Just Like Paradise" and Vai was like, "what the heck do I do with this?"

I caught the Skyscraper tour for a few shows, it was uneven too. Vai still brought it for sure, but I really missed Billy being there.

Overall though, Roth was a product of his times, and like so many artists from that era, it was game over in the 90's. Plus the double whammy he wasn't a young lion anymore. Plus by the VH reunion era his voice really was shot. I still think Geoff Tate out creeps him on the weirdness factor at this point though.

 

[JackTripper]

I remember seeing a DLR interview where he basically admitted to having ADD as a kid. He joked that while impulsiveness and hyperactivity got him into a lot trouble as a kid, as an adult he harnessed those behaviors into a professional career. So I don't think it was ever a case of him jumping the shark, but rather regression toward the mean.

 

[Chris O]

Never really liked DLR's solo stuff. Truth be told, while I certainly appreciate what Vai and Sheehan bring to the table, I've never been a fan of their projects either, so double-whammy. I liked DLR era VH, and I liked Sammy era VH. Never got the Cherone thing, but listened to it again the other day, and it isn't terrible...but to me, it isn't VH either. Sammy's post VH stuff was better than DLR's as well, IMO.

Listened to the Live in Tokyo album today. Ooof... Dave doesn't even seem to care if what he does sounds like the "real deal"...sad really. Ed's playing was on, but I just couldn't take DLR's "re-imagination" of those songs.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Probably when he tried out for American Idol.
https://youtu.be/N3rxoBbEbq8