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David lee roth skyscraper personnel11/30/2023 ![]() ![]() “Maybe the class clown is just outclassed on record by his band,” Rolling Stone sneeredof Roth’s performance on the record. Overshadowed by its predecessor it might be, but listened to without prejudice today, Skyscraper is an absolute blast. A diplomatic Vai says today: “It was really fulfilling to be in Dave Roth’s band all those years. Inevitably, it all went tits-up, with Vai and Sheehan moving on. It was rock’s greatest vaudevillian sparring with the rake-thin cat that played the Devil’s guitarist in the ’86 film Crossroads. When this writer caught DLR and Vai on the ’88 Skyscraper tour it seemed like they were having more fun than any one band had a right to. What I’m used to doing is working on stuff and getting it down, and I was able to do that more on Skyscraper… and I was able to do a lot more production things like doubling guitars, harmonies, and making sure if I was on a doubled rhythm part that it was really tight because I had the time to do that.” “An artist is always looking to raise their own bar. “Well it wasn’t a conscious effort,” he responds. It’s like he’s trying to outplay his achievements on Eat ’Em & Smile. From the delay-fuelled intro of Just Like Paradise to the seasick delivery of the solo on Stand Up, the kid who made his bones with Frank Zappa, post-Malmsteen Alcatrazz and the very special Album with PiL played his nuts off. Of course, the album features some outstanding playing from Vai. All I ever really needed to know, I learned from David Lee Roth.In Praise of David Lee Roth – by Greg Puciato.It’s got the guitar delay thing that goes left and right, and the way I play off of the delay is unique.” But I think Hina is probably my favourite. “I like the chord changes and the energy. “That’s a really cool song,” he says of the latter. While the album included the hit single Just Like Paradise, it’s songs like Hina, the Stairway-esque acoustic classic Damn Good and the title track that Vai is most proud of. I expect that from other people when they’re working with me. I’m very good at assuming a role and knowing where my boundaries are. “You have to remember it was his band,” Vai continues. If it’s a good idea, he’s happy to go with it. I mean, you don’t argue with Dave, but if you have a perspective or an opinion, he’s interested in hearing it. He doesn’t feel he needs to come to the table with everything, so he surrounds himself with good people. But as a partner in the creative process, he listens and doesn’t assume to know everything. People have this image of Roth as being this rock star with a crazy kind of personality, and he is that. Working in the tight confines of a recording studio with someone packing an ego the size of David Lee Roth’s might sound hellish, but that’s not how Vai recalls the experience. That’s the artist’s creative prerogative.” But by the same token, you get a guy like Dave Roth, and he’s done so much in one way and, he wanted to try something different. It’s not as visceral as Eat ’Em & Smile I’m fully aware of the difference in those records. So the record has a different sound, a different feel. My production skills, and Dave’s, and the approach that he wanted to take, were just very different from Ted. “It was an intense process mixing the record. ![]() “We liked the way it was coming out,” says the guitarist. ![]()
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