David Lee Roth

Society has yet to evolve a comfort zone for aging sex symbols who don’t know when to quit. Enter David Lee Roth, who still casts himself alternately as a babe magnet and as rock’s Benny Hill. (The latter, though no longer funny, is more convincing.) Opening this cover-heavy set with the sly groove “You Got the Blues, Not Me,” he seems on the defensive. Once, Roth didn’t give a damn what anyone thought—which is why a slow-burning take on Hendrix’s “If 6 Was 9” works better. But his spiritually minded “Tomorrow Never Knows” (listed as “That Beatles Tune”) seems as apropos as a young Star Search contestant singing about lost love. But Diamond Dave ain’t a total wash; check out the upbeat, updated jump blues “Made Up My Mind” or the Zep-like hard rocker “Thug Pop.”