Van Halen
Fair Warning (Warner Bros. 3540)

It's remarkable that Van Halen nearly broke up during the recording of this dark, angry album, when it's some of their most unified playing ever. 1981's Fair Warning is a testament to everything that's right about hard rock. While it didn't sell as well as some of their other releases, it melts them by comparison.

Although you'd never notice it from his playing, Billy Corgan cites this album as a major influence, and one of his all-time favorites. I'm nobody significant in the musical community, but I feel the same way. From the opening solo piece at the beginning of "Mean Street," Edward's homemade guitar tells you exactly how its owner feels.

The raw, dirty, "back to their roots" feeling continues into "Dirty Movies," where David Lee Roth paints a picture that he's seen more times than Gene Simmons has actually lived it. "Sinner's Swing" continues the attack, with a killer riff, and a particularly inspired Roth. "Hear About It Later," while snubbed by classic rock stations, has both the fire and the melody that made VH famous.

And then there's "Unchained," easily the best song in the Van Halen catalog, which picks you up and doesn't let go for 3 minutes and 27 seconds of pure enjoyment. "Push Comes to Shove" proves that, once again, VH cannot make a full album. It falls completely flat. "So This Is Love" picks up the slack in grand fashion … another great riff, great melody, and great solo.

Then as Van Halen hurry to release an album, they tack on the shoddy "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" and "One Foot Out the Door," both of shoddy quality. CLUNK!

Oh well...they tried … and for the most part succeeded. Just turn it off after track 7, like everybody else does. One thing we certainly know about Van Halen: when they're on, they're superheroes. When they're off, they're more like musical janitors.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Casey Blick