DLR Band

DLR Band

Track Listings

1. Slam Dunk!

2. Blacklight

3. Counter-Blast

4. Lose the Dress (Keep the Shoes)

5. Little Texas

6. King of the Hill

7. Going Places...

8. Wa Wa Zat!!

9. Relentless

10. Indeedido

11. Right Tool for the Job

12. Tight

13. Weekend With the Babysitter

14. Black Sand

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Diamond David Lee Roth is back in all his self-congratulatory glory. "My game is better than ever / Winners, they come and go / Legends, they're forever," he boasts on "Slam Dunk!" while his backup musicians play a galloping, surging rhythm that sounds much like early Van Halen. This will come as good news to the legions of old-VH fans mourning the group's hastily aborted reunion effort of the mid '90s. Roth's voice still oozes with sleaze, and his charisma is palpable, even if he can't scream with the authority of days past. But bear in mind that the DLR Band features one original Van Halen member. Guitarist John Lowery is a studio whiz, capable of approximating Eddie Van Halen's harmonic squeals and lightning-fast leads, but neither he nor Roth can write like Eddie. And while tunes such as "Slam Dunk!," "Counter-Blast," and "Little Texas" sound punchy, they lack that knockout blow Van Halen once delivered so effectively. Elsewhere, the DLR Band sound like prime-era Led Zeppelin, with Roth as frontman. This is certainly a fun listen. Just don't expect the second coming of Van Halen. --Jon Wiederhorn

Tracks:

Slam Dunk!
Blacklight
Counter-Blast
Lose That Dress (Keep The Shoes)
Little Texas
King Of The Hill
Going Places
Wa Wa Zat !!
Relentless
Indeedido
Right Tool For The Job
Tight
Weekend With The Babysitter
Black Sand

Amazon.com

Diamond David Lee Roth is back in all his self-congratulatory glory. "My game is better than ever / Winners, they come and go / Legends, they're forever," he boasts on "Slam Dunk!" while his backup musicians play a galloping, surging rhythm that sounds much like early Van Halen. This will come as good news to the legions of old-VH fans mourning the group's hastily aborted reunion effort of the mid '90s. Roth's voice still oozes with sleaze, and his charisma is palpable, even if he can't scream with the authority of days past. But bear in mind that the DLR Band features one original Van Halen member. Guitarist John Lowery is a studio whiz, capable of approximating Eddie Van Halen's harmonic squeals and lightning-fast leads, but neither he nor Roth can write like Eddie. And while tunes such as "Slam Dunk!," "Counter-Blast," and "Little Texas" sound punchy, they lack that knockout blow Van Halen once delivered so effectively. Elsewhere, the DLR Band sound like prime-era Led Zeppelin, with Roth as frontman. This is certainly a fun listen. Just don't expect the second coming of Van Halen. --Jon Wiederhorn

Customer Reviews:

Best DLR Album !.......2007-04-11

In the vein of old "Van Halen".Kick A-s all the way! Id take this dlr band record over "Eat Em' And Smile" and "Skyscraper" any day of the week.Less keyboards and synths,more guitar driven,raw and punchy.Many critics ripped this when it came out,but they were a bunch of know nothing idiots! This sucker cranks and Dave did one hell of a job on it.Vai acts as though he's too good to associate with Roth nowadays...screw him! Also,i believe this disc surpasses anything post-5150 from VH.By the way the Bettie Page/American Flag cover art is absolutely beautiful ! Salute.----------------

Surprising in its goodness........2006-09-12

I remember back in 1998 seeing this DLR Band CD in the racks at various places and not really giving it much thought.

I'm a huge Van Halen fan from back in the day, but in the 90's I had temporarily stopped listening to metal/hard rock of any sort and was in a huge progressive rock/jazz phase.

Over the last few years though, I've really gotten back into metal/hard rock again and have gone back to re-visit CD's that I missed during the interim.

One of those has been the DLR Band CD.

I had been familiar with Dave's solo stuff from 85 to 88 but had kind of lost touch with what he had been doing since then.

After listening to this new CD, I'm wishing that I hadn't missed some of his 90's solo output after all as this CD is really rock solid.

Do I think that Dave was trying to win any new fans? Not really. After the whole Van Halen pseudo-reunion debacle in 1996/1997, he decided to give his hardcore fans music that answers kind of a "what-if" it had worked out with Van Halen pass the 2 new Dave tracks that wound up on their 1997 Best of CD.

This CD rocks from start to finish and while Dave's voice might not be quite as strong as it was during his hey day with VH, he can still wail. There's none of his more vegas type huck/jive stuff on this CD as well. He apparently was greatly re-engergized by the whole VH sort of reunion crud and poured that anger/frustration into his music like any good artist should do. His backing band on this CD is amazing as well.

The weakest part of the CD is some of the lyrics are a bit atrocious at times, and while Dave has never been known for deep or insightful lyrics, some of them on this release get downright embarassing.

There's also a little bit of filler going on as well that keeps my rating down a star as well.

But overall, I was impressed with this CD. It's easily the best thing that Dave has done since 1986's Eat 'em & Smile.

Well worth picking up!

Best Since Eat Em' And Smile.......2006-08-12

Ill keep it short.. Just got this cd and didnt expect much but man was i surprised !!!!!!! This is Daves Best since Eat Em (imo) Great rockin cd Van halen Style !!!!!! Also check out A Little Aint Enough its great aswell !!!!!!I give it 5 out of 5 stars!!!!!!

Sounds Like Classic VH........2005-07-11

I love Van Halen (I like Van Hagar too, but VH is way better) and I also like Dave's solo career. I wasn't a big fan of A Little Ain't Enough, but the rest of them were pretty good and this album is one of his better ones in recent years. The strange thing is, there's a number of guitarists on the album, but one is particular is John Lowery. After this album John Lowery became John5 and joined Marilyn Manson. Kind of weird. But, on here Lowery shows that he's a great guitarist, better than the stuff he did in Manson (I love Manson though I might add). Here's the songs.
1. Slam Dunk-5/5-(Like Yankee Rose and Knucklebones is a good album opener. Brings to mind older VH stuff like "Unchained")
2. Blacklight-4/5-(I can't tell what half of the stuff he's saying is, but the song is surprisingly catchy)
3. Counter-Blast-4/5-(Appears to be about chat rooms...I guess.
But whatever. Good song)
4. Lose the Dress (Keep the Shoes)-4/5-I wonder if Dave actually says this to woman. Funny song.
5. Little Texas-5/5-(Great song. Chorus is f**king awesome)
6. King of the Hill-5/5-(Music is very cool. Eddie Van Halen-caliber guitar playing by Mike Hartman)
7. Going Places...-3/5-(Not the best song. Nothing really stands out)
8. Wa Wa Zat!-4/5-(The music on this one is good and Dave's voice sounds really cool)
9. Relentless-4/5-(Opening guitar is great. Dave screaming RELENTLESS! is very cool)
10. Indeedido-4/5-(For a song with a title like that, it's pretty damn good)
11. Right Tool for the Job-3/5-("I can't dance and I can't sing.
I ain't that smart, but I can life really heavy things". Bad lyrics. Song is allright)
12. Tight-5/5-(Reminscing on old VH times perhaps? Either way, terrific catchy song one of the best on the album)
13. Weekend with the Babysitter-5/5-(Great lyrics. Chrous is the best part of the song)
14. Black Sand-2/5-(Worst song on the album. Really slow. Terry Kilgore's guitar sound is good though)
B+ (Approaches A-)

Back to the basic's Dave style !.......2005-07-05

If you liked Eat 'em and Smile and Skyscraper,you'll like this disc ! Good rockin songs and a great back up band !