Thirty six years ago this month, David Lee Roth’s single “Just Like Paradise” from 1988’s Skyscraper album was soaring up the charts, peaking at #6 on Billboard in March of 1988. While the song was a huge commercial success, the album would fall short of Roth’s expectations. But what if it had?
In a new article for Ultimate-Guitar, rock journalist Greg Prato explores the Skyscraper album from a “what if” perspective supported by some very interesting quotes from the man who would exit DLR’s band shortly after recording the album – Billy Sheehan.
Below is an excerpt from Prato’s article:
Within the realm of mainstream rock in the mid to late ’80s, most artists who had already-established and successful careers continued to stick to the style that got them there in the first place. In other words, no noticeable or bold “genre jump” was in store. But one of the few artists brave enough to do a “stylistic about face” was David Lee Roth on his sophomore solo full-length, “Skyscraper.”
With a stellar supporting cast of guitarist Steve Vai, bassist Billy Sheehan, drummer Gregg Bissonette, Roth pulled off the darned near impossible with his solo full-length debut, “Eat ‘Em and Smile”, by meeting the challenge of his former band with a LP perhaps best described as sounding like “Van Halen on steroids.”
And while “Eat ‘Em and Smile” was a platinum-certified hit thanks to such singles as “Yankee Rose” and “Goin’ Crazy,” Roth decided to embrace a more electronic pop and dance sound on its follow-up. Case in point, such songs as the title track, “Stand Up,” and the hit single “Just Like Paradise,” which all leaned more on keyboardist Brett Tuggle.
And in the 2017 book, “Shredders!: The Oral History Of Speed Guitar (And More)”, Sheehan told his side of the story concerning “Skyscraper”.
“Well, ‘Skyscraper’ was a whole different world. I give Dave great credit for trying to mix rock music and dance music, and it was very insightful for him to see the future that dance music was going to be. However, if you’re a rock guy, the dance music people hate you. And if you’re a dance music guy, the rock people hate you. So, traversing that Berlin Wall… actually, it would make the Berlin Wall seem like a picket fence! It’s tough negotiating to bring peace to that war zone.”
“But Dave gave it a shot and I give him great credit for it. Because if it would have worked, we would all still be bowing down to the genius that ‘Skyscraper’ could have been… if it would have worked.“