Rocktober Album #13: Van Halen – Fair Warning (1981)

Fair Warning is an interesting album.  It was Van Halen's worst-selling album of the David Lee Roth era, and it would be the band's overall worst-selling album had they not hired Gary Cherone and made Van Halen III in 1998.  But Fair Warning has become a fan favorite – like you know a hardcore Van Halen fan when they say this is their favorite album (even though they're probably just saying it so that they come across as a hardcore Van Halen fan). 

Eddie Van Halen drove the mood for the album.  He wanted to go darker and more complex, and you can see that in many of the songs.  It is definitely darker than their first three albums (and their future albums, for that matter), and maybe that's why it didn't appeal to as wide of a base as their first three albums, which are full of upbeat party rock.  This album also saw the introduction of the synthesizer, as Eddie wanted to experiment with some weird sounds.  Of course, the group would be lambasted by diehards several years later for prominently using a synthesizer on the 1984 album.

While the album got as high as #5 on the Billboard charts, no songs from the album cracked the Top 100 on the Billboard singles charts (although four songs made the Mainstream Rock charts).

Predictably, only a few songs are on Playlist.com.  For those that aren't that I think you should hear, I included links.

1.  "Mean Street"

The intro to "Mean Street" is ridiculous.  It's Eddie Van Halen showing off his finger-tapping technique and baffling a million guitarists in the process.  Then the song kicks in, and it's a dark, ballsy strutter.

2.  "Dirty Movies"

"Dirty Movies" is a really good, gritty, midtempo song.  It starts with kind of a funk groove with Eddie swirling his guitars inconspicuously in the background, until the song kicks in with Dave doing his patented "oh yeah."  Also, it seems to be about skin flicks, so that's cool.

3.  "Sinner's Swing!"

This is my favorite song on the album.  It's exactly what I look for in a Van Halen song – uptempo, fun-loving, kind of dirty, a good riff, wicked solos, some screeching by David Lee Roth, great backing vocals, hooks, a catchy chorus, and powerful drumming.

4.  "Hear About It Later"

This one starts off with a dark, slow guitar-only intro, before picking up.  It's a solid song.  That's about all I have to say about it.

5.  "Unchained"

"Unchained" is a great song, and it's probably the most recognizable song on the album, or at least the one that gets the most airplay.  It has a great opening riff, a good beat, and sinister cackling from Dave.  I love it when Dave is talking what I assume is normal nonsense about getting "some leg," and then the producer Ted Templeman pipes in and says "Come on Dave, give me a break."  Then Dave says, "Hey hey hey hey, one break, comin' up."  Then, they break back into the chorus.

6.  "Push Come To Shove"

This song is odd.  It's almost got a disco reggae beat to it, if that makes any sense.  This just doesn't sounds like a Van Halen song, other than Eddie using it as a vehicle for some nice solos.

7.  "So This Is Love?"

Thankfully, they followed "Push Come To Shove" with "So This is Love?," which sounds like classic Van Halen.  It's one of those songs that you hear and ask, "Why wasn't this on the radio all the time?"  Shit if I know, man.  It is the only song off of the album that even entered the Billboard singles charts, topping out at #110.

8.  "Sunday Afternoon in The Park"

This is an instrumental with spacey synthesizers.  It sounds more like a piece from a Harold Faltermeyer movie score than Van Halen.

9.  "One Foot Out The Door"

The album ends on a high note, with a blistering song.  There is no intro.  The song starts with Dave singing a mile a minute.  There aren't any noticeable guitars until almost a minute into the song, when Eddie goes off on a solo for the rest of the song.