[.ca] Crazy from the Heat (ISBN 0786863390)

THE BOOK IS WORTH THE EXPENSE:
David Lee Roth is probably the most talented frontman I have ever seen in concert. His music with Van Halen was absolutely classic, and they were better live than the Rolling Stones when Dave was their singer. This book is good, but describes some elements of the rock-n-roll profession (and Dave's personality) that I would have preferred to not know. I would have preferred a simple autobiography. If Dave had simply told "his story" I would have been satisfied. Instead, a good amount of it is dedicated to mud-slinging toward the Van Halen brothers. It is also geared toward "self defense" because Dave is Jewish and believes the world is out to get him. I almost wish he hadn't pursued that line of reasoning as far as he did. I'm sure not an anti-semite, but the stories Dave tells almost make anti-semites look like they have some grounds for what they say. For instance, Dave describes how he planned to upstage Aerosmith when Van Halen was opening for them. They were going to basically trample Aerosmith's show when the boys in Van Halen opened the concert. It wasn't a gesture of sabotage, but was designed to be pretty offensive toward Aerosmith. If they had been better MUSICALLY, then I would have no problem with it. But no, this was different, pretty offensive. It turns out Aerosmith found out about Dave's plan before the show. They didn't stop what he intended to do (although I'm sure they could have), but basically reminded the audience who the headliner was. No problem, right? Well, Dave was furious. The way he describes it in the book, it sounds like he was saying "How dare they \oAerosmith\c NOT let me rip them off?!" He even says he never spoke to any of the guys in Aerosmith after that show! HO-kay, Dave... His efforts at explaining his career reflect a similar line of reasoning. He describes how he monitored every element of merchandising involved in Van Halen. I'm talking EVERYTHING: T-shirts, posters, you name it. He says the "programs" on sale at the VH concerts were "works of art." Well, I can testify that they weren't. They were about as attractive as 2-week-old newspapers, and were way overpriced. The T-shirts were overpriced too, and of terrible quality. The fact that Dave was in charge of all of that makes him look pretty bad. He says he didn't do all this merchandising to make more money, but says that since he did it he DESERVED the money. Okay... How about making more music, Dave? How about shutting up and just singing the songs? In the book, how about talking about what inspired the great music Van Halen made? Instead Dave talks about how many women he simultaneously "got physical with." Later in the book Dave cries about one of his guitar players getting Lou Gherig's disease. It was clearly a charity note: Meaning, by saying the guitar player was a genius, and how sad he was about the poor guy getting ill, he tries to make himself look like a nice guy. Let's freeze the frame here: First, the guitar player wasn't very good to begin with (just listen to the LITTLE AIN'T ENOUGH album!); Second, Dave's explanation seems so fake that you will believe his only "sense of loss" was about the MONEY he might have lost. Dave's character starts to show itself, and in spite of his tremendous abilities as a frontman he is basically a slimy jerk. In a way that's all right, though; Mick Jagger is too...! Basically, if you're a fan of classic Van Halen then you might like the book. You don't have to LIKE Dave to like his abilities as a frontman! Classic Van Halen rocks, and has never been the same since he left!

What a waste of time:
This book was a complete waste of time, which it shouldn't have been. David Lee Roth was part of one of the biggest rock and roll bands on the planet. This book could have been filled with tour insights, discussions on how the Van Halen and Roth's life since leaving the band have played out, etc. Instead what the reader gets is scattering of Dave's thoughts on life, Van Halen, post Van Halen, and what it is like being Jewish. All of it is written in this scattered prose that clearly indicates Roth has done way too many drugs. There is no cohesive story line here, nothing to suggest that Roth put any thought into reading this book other than jotting down whatever jumped into his head. And the arrogance of the novel is outstanding. As Roth tells it, he and he alone is responsible for the success of Van Halen. It's almost as if the rest of the band just rode his coat-tails to success and they should all be groveling at his feet thanking him for it. I was also disappointed at the lack of room given to Steve Vai. Vai in his own right is a great guitarist and it would be have been interesting to see who he and Roth managed to get along for two alums. Do yourself a favour and skip this book. Life is too short to waste.

This is one of my standard "beach" books:
It might seem like an odd choice, but "Crazy From the Heat" retains a permanant spot in my beach bag for one very simple reason: Diamond Dave understands island time. The prose is VERY laid back: in fact, I strongly suspect someone gave Dave a list of topics, turned a tape recorder on, then simply transcribed the resulting stream-of-consciousness rambling that came forth. There's very little slagging his former band here: In fact, I found Dave to be generally complimentary about the Brothers VH (and we can forgive a little dig here and there). And guess what? Legendary ego aside, Dave is the first one to admit that he doesn't have the greatest singing voice in the world; in fact, he says he sounds like four flat tires. This book is part biography, part music industry commentary, part travelouge and part philosophical manifesto. The photos and captions are a hoot. There's some BS here and there -- I'm not sure I believe his rif about scrubbing stages late at night before a show (C'mon Dave... give us a break...) -- but all in all this is a fun, disarming, light-weight read. If you're From The Eighties, love music and travel, I'd say throw this one in your beach bag too.

The last of the great rock stars !!!:
A very funny and entertaining book ! The "DIAMOND ONE" (if you will),is a rock star true to form !!He rambles ,but its okay because he's Dave !!! The Van Halen war stories are the best !He should be a motivational speaker !!Great reading !

An Inspiring book that should be read by all:
David Lee Roth is a Man's Man's Man. He really speaks from the heart and is for the most part honest in this autobiography. Ironically, he almost comes out as the Anti-Simmons if you have read Gene Simmons yarns of half-truths. I never expected Roth to be as literate and witty as he is in this book, which was edited down from a manuscript that was thousands of pages. In this book, he tells us about his Jewish upbriging, his early adventures with Rock and Roll and other culture, his (mis)adventures with Van Halen, as well as a lot of other personal stuff. It almost reads like a beatnik "on the road" type book, with his flair for language, and his witty tales. I never knew that he was an experienced mountain climber, a poet, and also a once aspiring movie director. Basically David Lee Roth has a zest for LIFE and this makes the book one of the most inspiring I've ever read.