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Two for the Price of One!
1986 was a very good year for Van Halen fans after the unthinkable loss of Diamond Dave to a solo career. Van Halen's 5150 was a great success but we also got a nice suprise with Eat 'Em Smile. Dave had seemed happy to ham it up on covers on his EP "Hot in the Shade" but on his first full album he not only found a worth successor to Eddie but actually began the next generation of shred. This album is in many ways the beginning of the post Eddie and Randy era.
Of course, all of this ballyhoo revolves around the big stage debut of one Steve Vai. From the wah cat calls and chat with Dave on the intro of "Yankee Rose," Vai not only shows his immense skill but his willingness to do full out bright lights showmanship. Triple neck guitars, fluorescent clothes, you'd think the guy was trying to hide the fact that he actually had more tricks up his sleeve than Eddie. What he was hiding was that he was the consummate guitar nerd. But with experience with the likes of Frank Zappa and replacing Yngwie Malmsteen in Alcatrazz, he was also no fresh meat.
"Yankee Rose" was a great rocker with an over-the-top video. With "Shyboy" Vai and top bass shredder Billy Sheehan put on a fireworks display that essentially had never been done before. While the music wasn't exactly catchy, it was extreme in a way no one had heard before. It was the exclamation point for Dave to say he'd moved on.
The rest of the album mixes some rockers with the bluesy rockers Dave had been doing all along like "Tobacco Road," "That's Life," and "I'm Easy." Nothing quite matches the first two tracks but it's all high fun. Vai and Sheehan get plenty of fills and solo spots to fill. The album is truly as colorful as the cover art.
Alas, Dave will never match this album. While the subsequent Skyscraper and tour hold on to the momentum generating with this album, the peak is here.