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(Audio CD)
by Van Halen | | | | | SKU:
ST0093624774020 | | In Stock | | Availability:
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Media Type: CD
Artist: VAN HALEN
Title: FAIR WARNING
Street Release Date: 09/19/2000
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Audio CD Release Date: | September 19, 2000 | | Studio: | Warner Bros / Wea | | Number Of Discs: | 1 | | Format: | Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 164 reviews |
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| | Track Listing | | 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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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 164 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
109 of 121 found the following review helpful:
 Van Halen's masterpiece May 13, 2005
By Daniel Maltzman
In 1981 all was not well in the world of the mighty VH. Tensions between guitarist Eddie Van Halen and singer David Lee Roth had been mounting, and it got to the point where Eddie had wanted to quit the group. He recorded music, possibly for a solo album, Roth heard it, and promptly wrote some lyrics--the result...FAIR WARNING. A rather, dark, cynical album, and one of the finest, if not finest, recording Van Halen ever made. The tensions within the band helped to fuel the fire, the intensity, and the passion of the recording process.
With the exception of Van Halen 3, (with vocalist Gary Cherone) "Fair Warning" was the least commercially successful Van Halen album. Although it is generally regarded among fans (especially VH purists) to be one of the bands' best albums.
Although still a "party" album, complete with sing-along choruses, "Fair Warning" is by far the band's darkest album. The overall vibe of the album, as well as Eddie Van Halen's riffs and solos, while undeniably catchy with great hooks, also have a cloudy somberness to them. David Lee Roth's lyrics, for the most part, are also somewhat more cynical than most of his work, before or since.
"Fair Warning" shows Van Halen at their zenith. Truth be told--the first six Van Halen albums are all masterpieces and essential to any great rock collection, but "Fair Warning" is the crown jewel of VH's output. Even more so than the classic debut album. "Fair Warning" simply shows each member of the band, and the band overall as a unit, at their finest. "Fair Warning" demonstrates Eddie Van Halen's best riffs, solos, and overall playing. It's flashy, yet not self-indulgent, intense, yet also has a lot of soul, something that a lot of technical wizards lack. It was on "Fair Warning" that Eddie found the "brown sound."
"Fair Warning" is also singer David Lee Roth's finest hour. His lyrics and delivery are at their most witty, ironic and colorful height--like in the classic "one break, commmming uppp!"--from "Unchained" (which was on the spur-of-the-moment, and not pre-planned). On "Fair Warning," David Lee Roth is immortalized as the world's coolest frontman, ever.
"Fair Warning" also shows Van Halen's rhythm section at their best. Bassist Michael Anthony has never been hailed as the world's greatest living bassist. He is primly there to serve, along with drummer Alex Van Halen as the musical backbone of the band, to let Eddie do his thing. On "Fair Warning," although his lines are pretty straightforward, they are also right upfront. You can hear the bass throughout the entire disc, it really stands out and enhances the sound and vibe of the album overall. On songs like "Push Comes to Shove" and "So This is Love," you can get into the bass as much as any other aspect of the sound.
"Mean Street" opens with the sound of a guitar--quite at first, and then getting louder and louder--of Eddie noodling on the fretboard. And then the main riff kicks in, a mean, killer riff, one of 80s rocks' finest. At this point you are thrust into the all-consuming greatness that is classic Van Halen. This mid-tempo rocker simply shows classic Van Halen at their best--young, invigorated, ready to kill. "Fair Warning" then moves into the dark, highly underrated "Dirty Movies." This song starts out melodic, yet somewhat morose and creepy. The underwhellming drums at the beginning add the perfect effect. After a few seconds the main riff kicks in, and this loud and heavy, yet midtempo, melodic rocker begins. This ode to the porn industry shows the band at it's most cynical--from the perspective of its rowdy audience. The radio staple "Sinners Swing" is a bit more upbeat, but only slightly so. The midtempo "Hear About it Later," a song about unfaithfulness, is bitter, yet confident. The rhythm section towards the end of the song--with Michael Anthony's pounding bass over Alex Van Halen's light percussion is magnificently stunning. "Unchained" is undeniably the albums' highlight and one of Van Halen's, and rocks' greatest songs. From the classic opening chords, the fast paced riff, to it's conclusion, this song is a masterpiece, and simply shows VH at their peak. The album comes back to earth with the funky, disco-like "Push Comes to Shove." "So This is Love?" is one of Van Halen's best songs. It's incredibly catchy, with a great bass intro, and great riff and hook. If you listen to "So this is Love," it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face, that's how magical it is. "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" is a foggy, somewhat offbeat instrumental. It adds a nice touch to the album overall. This instrumental leads into the short-but-sweet closing "One Foot Out the Door" which shows Diamond Dave at his meanest, with lyrics like "Now I'm gonna lose it 'cause that son-of-a-bitch"...A perfect conclusion to the perfect record.
Before Van Halen wrote songs like "Why Can't this be Love," before the lead-singer soap opera, there was a time when Van Halen was rightfully called the Mighty Van Halen, and "Fair Warning" proves it. The best word to describe Van Halen at this stage in their career is, quite simply, cool. "Fair Warning" is simply one of the best, coolest rock albums you will ever hear in your life.
The 2000 remaster sounds especially clear and sharp. You can make out subtle things that were easy to miss on the original CD pressing. Now "Fair Warning" can be enjoyed in all its greatness.
20 of 21 found the following review helpful:
 Dark Nov 21, 2004
By S. R.
Van Halen's party-hardy with her [...] around her ankles theme took a sharp turn toward the dark side with the release of Fair Warning in '81. Partly because the band was beginning to age a bit, but mostly due to the fact that David Lee Roth's lyrics were being shaped by recent holiday trips to Haiti (of all Places). The realization came to Roth after finnally seeing that Haiti was not really a place of merriment for rich rock stars looking to party all over the world. Thus we see the change to darker, more frank lyrics (Mean Streets, Unchained). There is a bit of the ol' Diamond Dave represented here (Sinner's Swing, One foot out the Door) but the dark edges never quiet leave the entire collections of tunes. Ed Van Halen's then latest collection of authentic riffs give the album the toughness needed for the darker side, his sense of humor in his style being put aside for a more gritty, and dense playing. Fair Warning should have been a cross-roads for the band to progress into a more mature adult-oriented rock and roll band, but time shows it as the beginning of the end of the "Classic" Van Halen lineup, which preceeded the melancholy Sammy Hagar era. Fair Warning stands on its own merits as a classic Van Halen offering, it stands toe to toe with any other effort from the band. It seems that the direction the band took for Fair Warning could have moved them into the direction of such "serious" bands such as The Who or Led Zeppelin as their careers progressed, and would have allowed them to leave the "party band" image that Ed Van Halen is so intent of shedding nowadays. But it's all ancient history today.
17 of 18 found the following review helpful:
A very heavy album Jul 17, 2003
By Martin Lemos
In my opinion, FAIR WARNING was the heaviest album VAN HALEN had made up to that point. While the first albums have some killer songs with great melodies, on this album I think the band decided to throw all that to the wind and just get down and play some hard,heavy music. While other reviewers are right in stating that songs from this album are hardly played on classic rock stations, if you base you opinion on that fact, then you will be missing out on some great music. The album starts off with the heavy rocking MEAN STREET, which is a very good way to kick off any album. DIRTY MOVIES is next and it continues on the path that MEAN STREET started us on. SINNERS SWING while not as dark has a good guitar groove to it and some good rhythem to it. HEAR ABOUT IT LATER goes back to the heaviness of the first couple of songs and it just rocks you socks off. Of course the next song is the classic UNCHAINED, which is about the only song you will hear on rock radio these days. It starts off with a killer guitar intro along with a great drum backbeat throughout. I think on this song the band clicked on all cylinders. Hands down the definitive track off this album. I think you get the point by now, this album just rocks and for some unknown reason it gets overlooked. I highly recommend that you go out and get this album. You will not be disappointed.
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Second only to Van Halen 1 Jun 20, 2000
By Eric J. Smoczynski
I had to write a review just to correct the number of stars that my colleagues gave this record. It deserves five for a few reasons: Eddie's "brown sound" was shaped, sculped, and perfected on this record- a perfect electric-guitar,rock-n'-roll tone. The first VH records were brilliant, but the amount of reverb- especially on VH 1- didn't reveal Eddie's genius for sound until Fair Warning. His solos are perfect, as on "Push Comes to Shove". The solo on "Sinner's Swing" is another highlight; it sounds almost like he's having a musical seizure. I expect my CD player to spit the disc on to the floor during that solo. A little darker than the rest of DLR-era Van Halen, this album is fantastic. The songs are great, and the composition of Eddie's solos shows him at his peak. Buy this record. Right Now!
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Nothing really does stay the same...a brilliant, dark masterpiece Jun 28, 2007
By William Dorfer
Van Halen is the type of band that can satisfy somebody with high expectations. The interesting thing about them is that while they certainly have a sound of their own, it seems like experimenting is a high priority for them. Between the hair-metal of "1984", the half-moody, half-good time "Van Halen 2" and the unstoppable monster of their debut album, "Van Halen", (all of which had their share of popular tunes), it's easy to see how something less commercial or experimental would tend to go unnoticed.
Unfortunately, that's the case with "Fair Warning". A brilliant album, yes, but the truth of thematter is that it wasn't remembered for high-on-the-chart singles such as "Jump" or "Panama". However, what it lacks for in commercial success it more than makes up for in clever songwriting and an overall dark tone. On a positive note, it's probably one of their overall greatest albums.
"Fair Warning" is the type of album where each song can flow pretty well into the following, even if the styles are a bit different. In addition, "Fair Warning" overall paints an easy-to-see picture. You can almost imagine a movie being made in the scenery that's painted by the rebelliousness of "Unchained" or the third-world neighborhood of "Mean Street". It's a land of murky tales and strange situations that's just so interesting and quite dark that you are brought in without hardly knowing. The imagery on the album covers, front and back, hint at what such a place might be like; twisted days where people go wild, uncertain events pop up out of nowhere, and all is portrayed by the soundtrack, a hard-rocking, moody masterpiece that is "Fair Warning".
All right, so more to the point, the music on this album is quite unique and interesting. Even in all the murky emotions, the sing-a-long choruses and anthemic displays of power show you that while this album may prove to be a change of pace, Van Halen is basically the same. Eddie Van Halen displays more exciting stunts on his guitar, while David Lee Roth erupts like a volcano with his comments and amusingly entertaining performances. Michael Anthony's basswork is quite present on this album, too, and Alex Van Halen's "what kind of drums is that man playing on?" drumming is top-notch, too. Overall, this album is yet another display of Van Halen's both incredible talent and catchy songwriting.
"Mean Street": The first, thirty seconds are Eddie Van Halen's progressive dual-handed tapping, a technique so unusual that when my guitar teacher showed me a long, long time ago, I was drawn in and bought this album. The main riff is so awesome it makes you wanna turn the power all the way up. The closing solo is very impressive as well, and basically, everybody is at the top of their game here. An instant classic.
" 'Dirty Movies' ": Wow, in just four minutes, Van Halen plays one of the most unpredictable songs I've ever heard, in a GOOD way. There are a lot of changes in this song, and random things occuring, such as David Lee Roth's spoken word, "Hey, you remember when that girl was prooom queen? Oh, wow.", and "Take it off! Take it all off!!!", and the cheering, this is a great song full of surprises.
"Sinner's Swing!": A fast-paced rocker that contains a very explicit lyric, especially for a VH song, but this is an awesome three-minute hard-rock blast.
"Hear About It Later": OK, a little time-travel here. Remember VH's debut? A song on there, "Feel Your Love Tonight"? I CANNOT TELL YOU how much this track sounds like a murky, love-gone-bad version of that song. Even so, it's still original with an anthemic sing-a-long chorus and some interesting, opening guitar work.
"Unchained": Alongside "Mean Street", this is probably my favorite song on the album. It opens with a huge, loud, crunchy guitar riff, the fast, fade-in drums, and DLR's, "ALL RIGHT!", shout. Great soloing and another funny DLR performance inside.("One break, commmming uppp!".)
"Push Comes To Shove": A very unusual VH song focused around a funky bassline and more basic drumwork. This song makes me thing about walking along the suburban streets of New York City, bundled up in the autumn, thinking about everything that's going on in your life. With such lyrics as, "Seems like forty days and forty nights since somebody's called me by my first name/ Including you", this is an introspective song that's an absolute delight, served up Van Halen style.
"So This Is Love?": The complete opposite of "Push Comes To Shove", this song has the swing and groove of an early Black Sabbath tune (one of Tony Iommi's guitar heroes was jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt). Along with an original VH sound and for some reason, a Red Hot Chili Peppers vibe, this is yet another great rocker.
"Sunday Afternoon In The Park": A slow, sludgy, two-minute instrumental with some of the wildest guitar playing I can recall hearing from Eddie. The riff starts and stops with some slow but cool drum fills of his brother Alex, and then, fading in is a hot, nasty guitar riff that leads into the closer...
"One Foot Out The Door": The killer riff continues here with Alex Van Halen's trademark, fade-in drumming, and DLR and Michael Anthony both kick in. The song and album close with yet another blazing guitar solo, and thus ends it all.
There you go, the dark, underrated masterpiece that is "Fair Warning". Although not the most commercially successful release, it's among Van Halen's very best. So if you want an album with massive talent but still packs the anthemic immortality that Van Halen displays so well, "Fair Warning" can almost undoubtedly get that taken care of. If you like this and want to explore more VH, I'd strongly recommend checking out, at least, "Van Halen (1)" and "1984", which both show these guys at the top of their game. Have a good time with this one, and until next time, peace!
See all 164 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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