Your Filthy Little Mouth

Your Filthy Little Mouth is the fourth full-length studio LP by David Lee Roth, the lead singer of the American rock band Van Halen. Released in 1994 by Warner Brothers-Reprise and produced by Nile Rodgers (producer of albums by David Bowie, Madonna, et cetera), Your Filthy Little Mouth explores relatively disparate genres of popular music, but contextualizes them via rock and blues. The album reflects Roth's growing fascinations with literature and philosophy, as well as his experiences living in New York City's Lower East Side during the early 1990s. The album's artwork, based conceptually on tattoo art and graffiti art, is executed by Roth.

"She's My Machine" became a rock radio hit in the spring of 1994, reaching #12 on Billboard's Rock Charts. The B-Side to "She's My Machine," an atmospheric blues number titled "Mississippi Power," is available on the Japanese edition of Your Filthy Little Mouth.

Background
Released near Roth's critical and commercial nadir, Your Filthy Little Mouth did not conform to the expectations of rock music during 1994 (i.e. grunge rock), nor to the public's perception of Roth. The album features stripped-down arrangements that can be categorized as diversely as jazz fusion, dance, country, reggae, R&B, big band, rock, and blues. However, the commercial specialization of TV and radio formats during the early 1990s left such diverse albums with few options for airplay.

Reception
At the time of its release in 1994, Your Filthy Little Mouth received mixed reviews from music critics, and with particularly negative responses coming from heavy metal critics. While Roth's newly intricate lyrics were well-received, the wide range of genre exercises on Your Filthy Little Mouth earned Roth commensurate praise and derision. Deborah Frost of Entertainment Weekly graded the album a "B+", noting that "thanks to Nile Rodgers' skillful production, the result is Roth's most listenable, insightful, and hysterical effort in years." Randy Krbechek of MetroNews notes that "the album improves as it progresses; the horn-driven "A Little Luck" and "Cheatin' Heart Cafe", a duet with Travis Tritt, are substantial improvements, as is "Sunburn," with its snaky guitar intro."

Like Roth's earlier solo LP, Skyscraper (1988), Your Filthy Little Mouth met with a tepid response from listeners and critics who expected Roth to reproduce the hard rock sound of classic Van Halen; others criticized him for not distancing himself enough from the sound of classic-era Van Halen. In 2007, the album was remastered and re-released on the Friday music label.

Track listing

 * 1) "She's My Machine" (Monty Byrom, David Neuhauser, David Lee Roth) – 3:53
 * 2) "Everybody's Got the Monkey" (Frank Simes, Joey Hunting, Roth) ©Hunting Music– 3:01
 * 3) "Big Train" (Terry Kilgore, Roth, Joey Hunting, Preston Sturges) – ©Hunting Music 4:14
 * 4) "Experience" (Kilgore, Roth) – 5:54
 * 5) "A Little Luck" (Eddie Anderson, Steve Hunter, Roth) – 4:40
 * 6) "Cheatin' Heart Cafe" (Kilgore, Roth) – 4:06
 * 7) "Hey, You Never Know" (Kilgore, Roth) – 2:46
 * 8) "No Big 'Ting" (Kilgore, Roth) – 4:51
 * 9) "You're Breathin' It" (Richard Hilton, Kilgore, Roth) – 3:46
 * 10) "Your Filthy Little Mouth" (Kilgore, Roth) – 3:02
 * 11) "Land's Edge" (Kilgore, Roth) – 3:12
 * 12) "Night Life" (Walt Breeland, Paul Buskirk, Willie Nelson) – 3:35
 * 13) "Sunburn" (Kilgore, Roth) – 4:42
 * 14) "You're Breathin' It" [Urban NYC Mix] (Kilgore, Roth) – 4:13

Personnel

 * David Lee Roth - lead vocals
 * Travis Tritt - co-lead vocals on "Cheatin' Heart Cafe"
 * Terry Kilgore - guitar
 * John Regan - bass
 * Tony Beard - drums
 * Larry Aberman - drums
 * Ray Brinker - drums
 * Steve Hunter - guitar on "A Little Luck"
 * Richard Hilton - keyboard
 * Technical
 * Gary Tole - recording and mixing engineer
 * Mike Thompson - assistant engineer
 * Eddie Anderson - personal manager

Charts
Album - Billboard (North America) Singles - Billboard (North America)