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'''''Fair Warning''''' is the fourth [[studio album]] by American rock band [[Van Halen]]. Released on April 29, 1981, it sold more than two million copies,<ref name="RIAA">{{cite web |url=http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH |title=Recording Industry Association of America |publisher=RIAA |date= |accessdate=February 24, 2012}}</ref> but was still the band's slowest-selling album of the [[David Lee Roth]] era. Despite the album's commercially disappointing sales, ''Fair Warning'' was met with mostly positive reviews from critics.<ref name="atAllmusic"/>
'''''Fair Warning''''' is the fourth [[studio album]] by American rock band [[Van Halen]]. Released on April 29, 1981, it sold more than two million copies,<ref name="RIAA">{{cite web|url=http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH |title=Recording Industry Association of America |publisher=RIAA |date= |accessdate=February 24, 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626050454/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH |archivedate=June 26, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref> but was still the band's slowest-selling album of the [[David Lee Roth]] era. Despite the album's commercially disappointing sales, ''Fair Warning'' was met with mostly positive reviews from critics.<ref name="atAllmusic"/>


The album was listed by ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' as one of the 75 Albums Every Man Should Own.<ref name="Esquire">{{cite web|url=http://www.esquire.com/the-side/music/best-albums-030909 |title=Best Music Albums Ever - Top Album List with Covers |publisher=Esquire |date= |accessdate=February 24, 2012}}</ref>
The album was listed by ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' as one of the 75 Albums Every Man Should Own.<ref name="Esquire">{{cite web|url=http://www.esquire.com/the-side/music/best-albums-030909 |title=Best Music Albums Ever - Top Album List with Covers |publisher=Esquire |date= |accessdate=February 24, 2012}}</ref>

Revision as of 05:43, 29 December 2016

Untitled

Fair Warning is the fourth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released on April 29, 1981, it sold more than two million copies,[3] but was still the band's slowest-selling album of the David Lee Roth era. Despite the album's commercially disappointing sales, Fair Warning was met with mostly positive reviews from critics.[4]

The album was listed by Esquire as one of the 75 Albums Every Man Should Own.[5]

Packaging

The cover artwork features a detail from The Maze, a painting by Canadian artist William Kurelek which depicts his tortured youth.[6][7]

The album's cover artwork is accompanied by an insert of a black-and-white picture of the band, as well as a view of a ghetto drywall with a wire running across it, cracked windows at the top and a Roth-era Van Halen logo with plaster cracked over the left wing. Also on the wall is a lyric from the album's opening song, "Mean Street".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Robert Christgau(B-)[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]

The Village Voice's Robert Christgau rated Fair Warning a B-, signifying "a competent or mildly interesting record that will usually feature at least three worthwhile cuts." He stated that it featured "not just Eddie's latest sound effects, but a few good jokes along with the mean ones and a rhythm section that can handle punk speed emotionally and technically." He also explained that "at times Eddie could even be said to play an expressive – lyrical? – role. Of course, what he's expressing is hard to say. Technocracy putting a patina on cynicism".[8]

A retrospective review by AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found the album fairly positive. In the review, he initially stated that "it's a dark, strange beast, partially because it lacks any song as purely fun as the hits from the first three records" and that "whatever the reason, Fair Warning winds up as a dark, dirty, nasty piece of work." He went on to say that "dull it is not and Fair Warning contains some of the fiercest, hardest music that Van Halen ever made. There's little question that Eddie Van Halen won whatever internal skirmishes they had, [...] even with the lack of a single dedicated instrumental showcase". He concluded that "nastiness is the defining characteristic of Fair Warning, which certainly doesn't make it bunches of fun, but it showcases the coiled power of Van Halen better than any other album, which makes it worth visiting on occasion."[4]

The Rolling Stone Album Guide, however, gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, stating that "the most significant musical development is the synthesizer introduced at the end of Fair Warning, which would be exploited to greater effect on later albums."[9]

Use in media

In the video game, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, four of the nine tracks of Fair Warning are available for play: "Mean Street", "Hear About It Later", "Unchained" and "So This Is Love?"

Track listing

All tracks are written by Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Mean Street"4:58
2."Dirty Movies"4:08
3."Sinner's Swing!"3:09
4."Hear About It Later"4:35
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Unchained"3:29
6."Push Comes to Shove"3:49
7."So This Is Love?"3:06
8."Sunday Afternoon in the Park" (instrumental)1:59
9."One Foot Out the Door"1:58

Note

  • On the original LP and cassette versions, side two begins with "Unchained".

Personnel

Production

  • Ted Templemanproducer
  • Donn Landee – engineer
  • Gene Meros – engineer
  • Chris Bellman – remastering
  • Gregg Geller – remastering
  • Jo Motta – project coordinator
  • Richard Seireeni – art direction
  • Pete Angelus – cover design
  • William Kurelek – cover artwork, from The Maze
  • Greg Gorman – photography, inlay photos
  • Neil Zlozower – photography

Chart positions

Album

Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1981 Billboard 200[10] 5

Singles

Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1981 "So This Is Love?" Mainstream Rock 15
1981 "Mean Street" Mainstream Rock[11] 12
1981 "Push Comes to Shove" Mainstream Rock 29
1981 "Unchained" Mainstream Rock 13

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[12] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[13] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ http://www.sunsetsound.com/?page_id=477
  2. ^ "Van Halen Biography". Rolling Stone.
  3. ^ "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Fair Warning - Van Halen at AllMusic. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  5. ^ "Best Music Albums Ever - Top Album List with Covers". Esquire. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  6. ^ "The Maze by WILLIAM KURELEK - Peter Nahum At The Leicester Galleries". Leicestergalleries.com. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  7. ^ British Journal of Psychiatry (2001)
  8. ^ a b Christgau, Robert. "CG: Van Halen". The Village Voice. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Van Halen: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  10. ^ "Van Halen - Chart history | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  11. ^ "Van Halen - Chart history | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  12. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Van Halen – Fair Warning". Music Canada.
  13. ^ "American album certifications – Van Halen – Fair Warning". Recording Industry Association of America.