VAN HALEN | VAN HALEN II | Women and Children First | FAIR WARNING | DIVER DOWN | 1984

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VAN HALEN / FAIR WARNING

VAN HALEN FAIR WARNING ALBUM REVIEW  

Edward Van Halen Yet Again Sets The Music World On Fire

 

Fair Warning was a unique album in that it is mostly new music that was written at the time; not pre-arranged songs from before 1978 as most of the first three Van Halen albums in fact were.  Edward was claiming it was a dark point in his life and that the darkness came out in the music.  No worry.  Valerie Bertinelli was about to enter his life.  This Van Halen Album Review of Fair Warning determines this album to be one of the top three albums in the history of the band.

 

MEAN STREET 
"DIRTY MOVIES"
SINNER'S SWING!
HEAR ABOUT IT LATER
UNCHAINED
PUSH COMES TO SHOVE
SO THIS IS LOVE?
SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN THE PARK
ONE FOOT OUT THE DOOR
 
 

"Mean Street" started out as a demo and live staple in the bard days, called "Voodoo Queen".  It was the same arrangement with different lyrics.  The intro was created anew for Fair Warning.

"Dirty Movies" was a song Edward used slide on.  "Could This Be Magic" of Women and Children First was the first.  It's a song about a girl gone bad in the truest sense of the word, who was formerly a good girl, prom queen, unimaginable to the transformation.  She makes her living on the red light silver screen.

"Sinner's Swing" is one heck of a rocker that exemplifies Fair Warning; in its truest sense; dark, unknown, ambiguous and timeless.  Not much is known about the background and origin of this song. 

"Hear About It Later" was first recorded on a keyboard, but re-recorded on guitar.  Everyone's favorite video of this song is the one from Oakland in June of 1981.  The solo stands out as one of the best Edward Van Halen has ever done.  This song is hard enough to satisfy the purists and, I feel, harmonious enough it should be one of the most popular olf Van Halen songs.  Definitely this is one of the top Van Halen songs ever.

"Unchained" is Edward's personal favorite to play live.  A fan favorite and a guitarists favorite, "Unchained" is the one song fans believe was released on Fair Warning but it in fact was not.  No song was released off Fair Warning because Warner Brothers executives felt it was all too hard for commercial, mainstream radio.  The voice that says "c'mon Dave, gimme a break!" is thought to be that of Eddie Van Halen but it is actually Ted Templeman.  He thought Dave's head was getting too big and said that.  Then it was left in later as a perfect transitional aid within the song. 

"Push Comes To Shove" is a song that, according to Edward Van Halen was David Lee Roth's influence.  Dave wanted to do a reggae-like song.  I always thought of it as "funky", with a Stones-ish kind of feel to it. 

"So This Is Love" had a solo Edward made from four different solos that were separately recorded as different ideas, pieced them all together and taught himself to play it in one take for the recording. 

"Sunday Afternoon in the Park" is a piece of music that leads into "One Foot Out The Door", the album closer.

"Sunday Afternoon In The Park" got its sound from an odd circumstance.  There was a combination of Alex Van Halen's drumming and Eddie Van Halen using a broken, small keyboard; an Electro-Harmonix Micro-Synthesizer that in unison created a sound the keyboard alone could not make. 

Fair Warning from an album review perspective gets a 10 out of 10.

 

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