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VAN HALEN:FAIR WARNING ALBUM REVIEW
1. Mean Street…Love the guitar intro to this. It also has one of my favorite riffs (guitar and bass) ever! Anthony’s bass work is outstanding. I don’t usually care for spoken lyrics, but they really work here. Great song to lead off the album…10/10
2. Dirty Movies…Love the little drum tap to start this song off. The guitar sounds rather unorthodox at the beginning, but the lead that follows sounds very good. Great song about that hometown girl that ends up in adult movies. Another spoken part that Roth pulls off better than anyone…9/10
3. Sinner’s Swing…The first fast paced song on the album. One of the few songs that used the “F” word way back then. Smokin lead by Eddie. Pretty good song…8/10
4. Hear About It Later…Nice, easy intro to this one. Love Roth’s scream as the full song kicks in. “Tell me honey will your lovin’ pay my bills”. Love that lyric. Another trademark scream by Roth starts verse two. I really like the breakdown with just the drums and bass before the lead solo kicks in. This is a really good unknown song…9/10
5. Unchained…Okay, this would join Mean Street’s riff as one of the best VH riffs of all time. More great screaming by Roth. I really love the backing vocals on this as well. One other thing I like a lot is the timing change in the pre-chorus. It seems like it would be very hard to play, but sounds fantastic. Probably Roth’s best spoken part since Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love…10/10
6. Push Comes To Shove…Great groove on this song with more of Roth’s talking to start us off. In my opinion, this may be one of his best vocals ever. I love it when he says “it seems like forty days and forty nights since someone used my first name, including you”. Excellent song…10/10
7. So This Is Love?...Damn, is Michael Anthony all over this album or what? He gets this song off to a great start. One thing I’ve always wondered, however, is why does the volume of the bass drop after the first pass? Is this on purpose? This one has a little background hand clapping going on. Another very good song…9/10
8. Sunday Afternoon In The Park…Can you say synthesizer? I guess this is a synthesizer solo. Nothing remarkable…7/10
9. One Foot Out The Door…Maybe the last song was an extended intro for this song that they decided to split into two songs, because it just rolls right into this one. This song rocks pretty well, but it’s too short…8/10
This album was released in 1981. Hard to believe, but that’s closing in on 30 years. This is very typical Van Halen stuff. Roth’s patented screams, Eddie’s smokin’ guitar work, and Alex’s typical pounding of the drums. I’ve always thought that you can tell a Van Halen song by the style of any of those three guys. The big difference on this album, to me, is Michael Anthony’s bass playing. He’s all over this thing like a cheap suit (words borrowed from my mentor, Gene Simmons). Not that you don’t notice his playing on previous albums, I just really noticed it on this one. I love this album. It can easily be interchanged with either of the first two to make up my 3 favorite VH albums. I remember listening to this over and over on vinyl when it came out. I still wish these guys would have never broken up.
Hidden Gems (Songs that you need to hear if you haven’t already):
Dirty Movies
Hear About It Later
Push Comes To Shove ( This was released as a single, but I’ve never heard it on the radio)
Songs for my compilation:
Mean Street
Dirty Movies
Hear About It Later
Unchained
Push Comes To Shove
So This Is Love?
2. Dirty Movies…Love the little drum tap to start this song off. The guitar sounds rather unorthodox at the beginning, but the lead that follows sounds very good. Great song about that hometown girl that ends up in adult movies. Another spoken part that Roth pulls off better than anyone…9/10
3. Sinner’s Swing…The first fast paced song on the album. One of the few songs that used the “F” word way back then. Smokin lead by Eddie. Pretty good song…8/10
4. Hear About It Later…Nice, easy intro to this one. Love Roth’s scream as the full song kicks in. “Tell me honey will your lovin’ pay my bills”. Love that lyric. Another trademark scream by Roth starts verse two. I really like the breakdown with just the drums and bass before the lead solo kicks in. This is a really good unknown song…9/10
5. Unchained…Okay, this would join Mean Street’s riff as one of the best VH riffs of all time. More great screaming by Roth. I really love the backing vocals on this as well. One other thing I like a lot is the timing change in the pre-chorus. It seems like it would be very hard to play, but sounds fantastic. Probably Roth’s best spoken part since Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love…10/10
6. Push Comes To Shove…Great groove on this song with more of Roth’s talking to start us off. In my opinion, this may be one of his best vocals ever. I love it when he says “it seems like forty days and forty nights since someone used my first name, including you”. Excellent song…10/10
7. So This Is Love?...Damn, is Michael Anthony all over this album or what? He gets this song off to a great start. One thing I’ve always wondered, however, is why does the volume of the bass drop after the first pass? Is this on purpose? This one has a little background hand clapping going on. Another very good song…9/10
8. Sunday Afternoon In The Park…Can you say synthesizer? I guess this is a synthesizer solo. Nothing remarkable…7/10
9. One Foot Out The Door…Maybe the last song was an extended intro for this song that they decided to split into two songs, because it just rolls right into this one. This song rocks pretty well, but it’s too short…8/10
This album was released in 1981. Hard to believe, but that’s closing in on 30 years. This is very typical Van Halen stuff. Roth’s patented screams, Eddie’s smokin’ guitar work, and Alex’s typical pounding of the drums. I’ve always thought that you can tell a Van Halen song by the style of any of those three guys. The big difference on this album, to me, is Michael Anthony’s bass playing. He’s all over this thing like a cheap suit (words borrowed from my mentor, Gene Simmons). Not that you don’t notice his playing on previous albums, I just really noticed it on this one. I love this album. It can easily be interchanged with either of the first two to make up my 3 favorite VH albums. I remember listening to this over and over on vinyl when it came out. I still wish these guys would have never broken up.
Hidden Gems (Songs that you need to hear if you haven’t already):
Dirty Movies
Hear About It Later
Push Comes To Shove ( This was released as a single, but I’ve never heard it on the radio)
Songs for my compilation:
Mean Street
Dirty Movies
Hear About It Later
Unchained
Push Comes To Shove
So This Is Love?
Tags: album review, alex van halen, david lee roth, eddie van halen, fair warning, michael anthony, van halen
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Scott on -
Damn, nothing to fuss about.... Great review. I would add one thing in addition. I hear a clear difference in production quality on Fair Warning from their previous releases. There is deeper bass and crisper drums that really make the band sound great. Everyone is being showcased here, and I'm not sure we hear this same synergy again in any another VH release...
Your Hidden Gems are spot on ... though I might add So This is Love?...
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Permalink Reply by RJhog on -
I agree that So This Is Love? is a gem, I only didn't add it because I've heard it on the radio before. I may need to change my thinking as far as singles go because not every single does well on radio and therefore still may not be known. So, good call.
I also agree with you on the production. Sometimes bands have so much guitar going on that it's hard to pick up on the bass, but definitely not the case here.
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Permalink Reply by Wombat on -
I've said it before but Unchained is one of my top 3 VH songs - you've just got to love that riff.
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Permalink Reply by Wayne LaFoy on -
A ballsy, blistering hard rock VH masterpiece that defines this legendary group as much as their important & influential debut album. It's not about the hits, it's all about the music & Van Halen were in a class, all by themselves. Fair Warning is an artistic statement, proving that they weren't just a party band, as most critics saw them, at the time. Dirty Movies is an underrated classic, my favorite track, that gets overshadowed by Mean Street & Unchained sadly.
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