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Revisting David Lee Roth's Eat Em And Smile 30 yrs later

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#1 ·
#7 ·
That album is so raw and spontaneous… it's a shame Skyscraper was such a disappointing follow-up. Love Vai as a player, not so much as a producer.

I love the quotes from DLR egging Sheehan and Vai to go even more extreme and over-the-top with their playing. He knew what he wanted and that the stakes were high.
 
#9 ·
I've been getting more into this one lately. For whatever reason, I wasn't as impressed when it came out; I wanted more Vai and less Dave.

Looking back, though, the only area where this album suffers is in not having Michael Anthony's backing vox to cover up Dave's vocal liabilities. I like the songs and the tightness (and conciseness) of Vai's playing here. It's kind of a shame that he's never really done another proper band project.
 
#11 ·
I think the magic of Eat 'em and Smile is the chemistry of that particular band, and that Ted Templeman was able to capture such a raw, live, spontaneous feel with minimal overdubs.

Skyscraper and Slip of the Tongue were both "full band" projects Vai worked on after Eat 'em, but neither has that magic to my ears. This is likely because when Vai puts on the producer's hat, he has a tendency to let his perfectionism tweak, punch, and overdub that spontaneity into oblivion.
 
#24 ·
Skyscraper and Slip of the Tongue were both "full band" projects Vai worked on after Eat 'em, but neither has that magic to my ears. This is likely because when Vai puts on the producer's hat, he has a tendency to let his perfectionism tweak, punch, and overdub that spontaneity into oblivion.
I think you're right, though it's worth noting that Slip of the Tongue was entirely written by other people. Vai was completely wrong for that style, and I think everyone involved admits that now. He was chosen to fill in for Vandenberg because he was a big name. Any number of bluesier players would have been a better fit, though no one could have saved some of the crappier numbers on that album (half of it is really good, though).
 
#15 ·
I didn't even care about the band stuff he did when I got into him and am really only taking the time these days to listen to it all, finally. It's awesome hearing a different side of him, much more stripped back after listening to his solo for the last 20 years.

I can see WHY he hasn't done other band projects. The guy just has way too much in his head to sit back and do one thing. Just reading that article about Eat Em And Smile and you read that he had a hard time leaving things well enough alone. I can relate, I love production stuff and have a hard time focusing on just one instrument in a band setting.
 
#17 ·
Reading this was amazing. It's crazy to think how much work went into this album with the visions of Roth.
Plus all the guys just being versatile in what they could do musically.

I remember how I was 15 and my sister was 13. We would watch those crazy Roth videos because we though they were hilarious. We still quote them. :lol:

My favorite quote from the article: "Roth also helped inspire Vai and Sheehan’s manic and sophisticated solo parts. As Sheehan explained in Guitar World, when he’d ask Roth, “Hey, Dave, is this bass part too busy?” Roth would shoot back, “No, do it twice as fast and Steve, you double it.” Likewise, Vai told Guitar Player that when he’d ask Roth if he was “overplaying,” Roth would reply, “No, keep going.”
 
#19 ·
Great album - kind of shocking at the time, too, because the general consensus was he'd flop without Eddie - and even better tour. Not only was the playing great, the stage show was insane, especially when they flew Dave out over the crowd on a surfboard during "California Girls".
 
#22 ·
Ahh. I wasn't sure... I was watching some documentary on Dave last night and it showed it.

It's crazy how he promoted "Skyscraper" too with a live billboard and him climbing off the side.
 
#23 ·
What was funny back then was some of the stuff the guitar mags were trying to create. I remember reading a Vai article from a late 80's/early 90's guitar mag that stated Vai used to play "Eruption" with his teeth during the DLR tour to show up EVH. This, of course, never happened.
 
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