Fair Warning
Warner Bros / Wea - Warner Bros / Wea
Van Halen
Release date: 2000-09-19
Audio CD
Album Rock, Arena Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Pop, Pop-Metal, Pop/Rock, Pop/Rock Music, Rock, Rock/Pop
1. Mean Street
2. 'Dirty Movies'
3. Sinner's Swing!
4. Hear About It Later
5. Unchained
6. Push Comes To Shove
7. So This Is Love?
8. Sunday Afternoon In The Park
9. One Foot Out The Door
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Fair Warning
Date undefinedFair Warning was Van Halen's fourth studio album. It peaked at #5 on the album charts & it had four singles that charted! This is simply amazing because Fair Warning is probably the LEAST commercial album they released with Diamond Dave on vocals. Though there were four charting singles from the album it's not quite as obvious to the why. It should be noted that all four singles didn't crack the Pop Singles Chart (Billboard's main chart) but only entered Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. "Mean Street" peaked at #12, "Push Comes to Shove" went to #29, "So This Is Love? went to #15,& "Unchained" peaked at #13. Fair Warning is Van Halen's hardest rocking album & also, without a doubt their most dark & unrelenting album. There's very little party atmosphere present. Women & Children First contained a small seed of this darkness & by the time of Fair Warning it had fully blossomed. Even the album cover was a harbinger of what was inside: hard, relentless % unmerciful.
"Mean Street" is the first salvo of the album. Eddie Van Halen starts off with a sizzling guitar lick that lets you know immediately that there won't be any prisoners taken on this trip. "Mean Street" is a hard rocking song with dark & foreboding lyrics that inspired the title of the album. Diamond Dave isn't trying to be cute with his vocals, he's in the battle too, singing in a style that's menacing. "Dirty Movies" is mellower in tone & less menacing than the previous song but there's still something unusual about it; it's still unrelenting. "Remember when that girl was prom queen?" "Sinner's Swing!" revels in its naughtiness & wallows in the things better left unmentioned. "Hear About It Later" opens with Eddie playing a mellow electric guitar before the band breaks into the body of the song. "Hear About It Later" is the one song on Fair Warning that sounds like it could have come from either of the first two albums. But at about 2;40 of the song there's a change in the sound that harkens back to the main themes of Fair Warning before the band breaks back into the song. "Unchained" was the song that was played the most in the city that I lived in at the time. "Unchained" isn't the darkest song on the album, there's even some of Diamond Dave's humor in the song. With "Push Comes to Shove" the tone of the album really moves into the dark side. "So This Is Love", though not menacing in itself, is covering territory lyrically that's to one side of center. Nothing wrong with it but it does contain a dark presence not normally found in Van Halen songs. "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" is anything but what the title implies. Eddie presents us with his first keyboard instrumental that won't let you nap pleasantly. This is a perfect lead-in to the next song, "One Foot Out the Door". This is another song that fits the terror that lies underneath the surface of the album.
Fair Warning is a very good album. Unlike the previous albums there's not an outstanding song nor any Van Halen classics presented here but... there isn't a bad one either. Many have overlooked this Van Halen near classic but those were ones that might not have been die hard Van Halenites either. As with the other Van Halen albums that have been remastered it's nothing short of excellent. This might have been a great direction for the band to have continued but they didn't. With their next album they would cross back over into their pop side, get us back on the dance floor & have us parting on the patio again.
Fair Warning
Date undefinedI'm assuming as it's not stated by Amazon anywhere on this page to date that this is the Japanese mlps version and if so, this review refers to that version.
This album is the fourth by this seminal rock band and shows a band maturing when compared with their first three albums as the topic and subject matter of their songs become more mature, complex and even dark here. Although all the tracks have been tuned down to E flat tuning for the guitar (so if you've been trying to play along with the cd and have been finding it hard to do so this is the reason) this is done to accommodate David Lee Roth's singing range.
For fans of the David Lee Roth version of Van Halen, this represents the zenith of that version's work and is my personal favourite as it represents the band at its early prime. Although "Diver Down" and especially "1984" after this would be a greater commercial success, ironically artistically and overall album quality wise, the work done on the first 4 albums far surpass their later efforts.
The remastering though is the 2001 version and so if you already have the old cd of this version, I'm struggling to find any extra value that will justify the hefty price tag on this baby when you are essentially paying for cardboard that isn't one of the better mlps designs that I've seen out there. The cardboard is thin and flimsy and looks as if it will come apart once the glue gets old. For examples of good mlps designs, check out The Band and Hall & Oates releases which are simply works of art on good quality thicker and stronger cardboard.
This is essential listening although this mlps version does not represent good value for money and if you already have a 2001 remastered version in the jewel case, you are better off sticking to it as this is no real upgrade to me.
Fair Warning
Date undefined"Fair Warning" is kind of the black sheep album in the Van Halen catalogue. Other than "Unchained" the album did not receive a lot of airplay (at least compared to the band's other Roth era discs) and is probably the least commercial of their late 70's early 80's works. The band took some chances on this one which for me is a good thing. This is also probably the least party / fun oriented album of the Roth years. There was tension within the band by this point and it shows. There are no acoustic guitars to be found here either as the majority of the album is hard and heavy. The first use of keyboards by Eddie can be found here on "Sunday Afternoon In The Park". These would become more and more a part of the Van Halen sound on later albums. The album really starts out strong with "Mean Streets", "Dirty Movies", "Sinners Swing", "Unchained" and "Hear About It Later" all solid tunes. The second half of the album is not quite as good, but still decent. I would probably rate this one as my 3rd favorite of the Roth years. Although it did not spawn a lot of hits and was a commercial disappointment this one is well worth owning for fans of the band.
