Skyscraper (album) explained

Skyscraper
Type:studio
Artist:David Lee Roth
Cover:Skyscraper_album_cover.jpg
Released:January 25, 1988[1]
Recorded:Spring – Autumn 1987
Genre:
Length:41:23
Label:Warner Bros.
Producer:David Lee Roth, Steve Vai
Prev Title:Eat 'Em and Smile
Prev Year:1986
Next Title:A Little Ain't Enough
Next Year:1991

Skyscraper is the second full-length studio album by David Lee Roth, released during his solo career after his departure from Van Halen. It was released on January 25, 1988, on Warner Bros. Records, shortly after the commercially and critically successful Eat 'Em and Smile Tour of 1986–1987.

Development

In a 2022 interview with Eonmusic, Vai said that the song "Damn Good" was developed from a piece called "Scandinavian Air Solo", originally slated to appear on his Passion and Warfare album.[4]

Track listing

All songs were written by David Lee Roth and Steve Vai unless otherwise noted.

  1. "Knucklebones" (Gregg Bissonette, Matt Bissonette, Roth) – 3:18
  2. "Just Like Paradise" (Roth, Brett Tuggle) – 4:03
  3. "The Bottom Line" – 3:38
  4. "Skyscraper" – 3:40
  5. "Damn Good" – 5:49
  6. "Hot Dog and a Shake" – 3:19
  7. "Stand Up" (Roth, Tuggle) – 4:39
  8. "Hina" – 4:41
  9. "Perfect Timing" (Roth, Tuggle) – 3:41
  10. "Two Fools a Minute" – 4:29

Covers of "California Girls" and "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody", from Roth's 1985 Crazy from the Heat EP, are on some CD re-releases in Europe.

Reception

Skyscraper was received with divided public and critical opinion. Although Roth's 1988 Skyscraper Tour was successful, many fans and critics were disappointed by Van Halen's post-Roth, keyboard-heavy sound and expressed similar dissatisfaction with Skyscraper.

Skyscraper hit No. 6 on the Billboard Top 200 U.S. album chart during February 1988,[5] toward selling two million copies in the United States. "Just Like Paradise" is one of Roth's most popular singles, reaching No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.[6] The acoustic ballad "Damn Good" reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Rock chart.

Cash Box called "Stand Up" an "engaging, catchy rock song, with a funky danceable groove"[7] and "Damn Good" a "satisfying and artistic effort".[8]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart performance for Skyscraper
Chart (1988–1990)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[9] 14
European Albums (IFPI)[10] 31
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 1
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[12] 7

Certifications

Personnel

The band

Guest musicians

Production

Notes and References

  1. Web site: BPI.
  2. Web site: David Lee Roth : Skyscraper .
  3. Web site: Top 50 Glam Metal Albums . . February 24, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171126083532/http://www.metal-rules.com/polls/index.php?id=8 . November 26, 2017 . dead.
  4. Web site: Steve Vai eonmusic Interview January 2022 .
  5. Web site: David Lee Roth Chart History: Billboard 200 . Billboard.com . . May 17, 2018 .
  6. Web site: David Lee Roth Chart History: Hot 100 . Billboard.com . . May 17, 2018 .
  7. Single Releases. Cash Box. April 16, 1988. December 21, 2022. 8.
  8. Single Releases. Cash Box. July 30, 1988. December 22, 2022. 15.
  9. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 259.
  10. Web site: European Hot 100 Albums. Music & Media. February 13, 1988. 20. January 9, 2022.
  11. Book: Pennanen, Timo. Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. 1st. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. Helsinki. 2006. fi. 978-951-1-21053-5.
  12. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-077-9. ja.

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