Product description

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

.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