Fair Warning is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. Released in 1981, it sold more than two million copies,[1] but was still the band's slowest-selling album of the David Lee Roth era. Despite the album's commercially disappointing sales, Fair Warning was met with mostly positive reviews from critics.[2]
The cover artwork features a detail from "The Maze", a painting by the Canadian artist William Kurelek which depicts his tortured youth.[3][4] The album was listed by Esquire as one of the 75 Albums Every Man Should Own.[5]
[edit] Background and production
Fair Warning was one of the first albums to reflect the rift in the Van Halen power structure; David Lee Roth wished to emphasize the pop influence that emerged on the previous two albums (which brought the band increased attention and a wider appeal), while guitarist Eddie Van Halen preferred to explore darker, longer and generally more complex song-structures that emphasized his innovative guitar work. Eddie clearly prevailed, as the album in fact featured longer, darker, more aggressive guitar-oriented material. Fair Warning contained no radio hits (although "So This Is Love?" charted briefly) and included one instrumental, the synth-heavy "Sunday Afternoon in the Park".
The album's cover artwork is accompanied by an insert of a black-and-white picture of the band, as well as a view of a ghetto drywall. This drywall has a wire running across it, cracked windows at the top and a Roth-era Van Halen logo with plaster cracked over the left wing. Also on the wall is a lyric from the album's opening song, "Mean Street".
[edit] Reception
The Village Voice's Robert Christgau rated Fair Warning a B-, signifying "a competent or mildly interesting record that will usually feature at least three worthwhile cuts." He stated that it featured "not just Eddie's latest sound effects, but a few good jokes along with the mean ones and a rhythm section that can handle punk speed emotionally and technically." He also explained that "at times Eddie could even be said to play an expressive – lyrical? – role. Of course, what he's expressing is hard to say. Technocracy putting a patina on cynicism".[7]
A retrospective review by Allmusic's Steven Thomas Erlewine found the album fairly positive. In the review, he initially stated that "it's a dark, strange beast, partially because it lacks any song as purely fun as the hits from the first three records" and that "whatever the reason, Fair Warning winds up as a dark, dirty, nasty piece of work". However, he contradicted that "dull it is not and Fair Warning contains some of the fiercest, hardest music that Van Halen ever made. There's little question that Eddie Van Halen won whatever internal skirmishes they had, [...] even with the lack of a single dedicated instrumental showcase". He concluded that "nastiness is the defining characteristic of Fair Warning, which certainly doesn't make it bunches of fun, but it showcases the coiled power of Van Halen better than any other album, which makes it worth visiting on occasion."[6]
[edit] Track listing
All songs by Eddie Van Halen, Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen.
- "Mean Street" – 5:00
- "Dirty Movies" – 4:08
- "Sinner's Swing!" – 3:09
- "Hear About It Later" – 4:35
- "Unchained" – 3:29
- "Push Comes To Shove" – 3:49
- "So This Is Love?" – 3:06
- "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" (Instrumental) – 1:59
- "One Foot Out the Door" – 1:58
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Production
- Producer: Ted Templeman
- Engineers: Donn Landee, Gene Meros
- Remastering: Chris Bellman, Gregg Geller
- Project coordinator: Jo Motta
- Art direction: Richard Seireeni
- Design: Pete Angelus
- Cover design: Pete Angelus
- Cover artwork: From The Maze by William Kurelek
- Photography: Greg Gorman, Neil Zlozower
- Inlay photography: Greg Gorman
[edit] Certifications
[edit] Charts
Billboard (North America)
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1981 |
Pop Albums |
5 |
[edit] Singles
Billboard (North America)
[6]
