David Lee Roth

Yes, it's rock & roll's own King of Burlesque in his first solo stint, taking a crack at four old
tunes and having a grand old time. His EP Crazy from the Heat won't have people begging
DLR to drop out of Van Halen, but it is an appealing showcase for his raffish charm and wit.
A case in point is Roth's "Just a Gigolo"/"I Ain't Got Nobody" vocal, an Anthony
Newley-does-Satchmo howler, which is beautifully set off against the track's pu... More >

Since I'm a person of broader culture than the average Van Halen fan, it didn't smash my preconceptions to hear him cover the Beach Boys and the Spoonful and Dan Hartman and "Just a Gigolo"--just irritated me, reconfirming my instinctive belief that he chose metal over Vegas because Vegas wouldn't have him. Way back when, that is--it's clearly where he'll end up if his movie career should fall through. And as it turns out, his movie career has softened me up--the panoply of grotesquely stereotyped caricatures who populate his videos grosses me out a little, but its capacity to shock is tonic in this bland musical moment. This is an adequate soundtrack. (Grade: B)