In my book
Van Halen I and II will always be the ultimate David Lee Roth albums. "Women and Children First" was a great album with David Lee Roth as the center of the party. On
Van Halen's fourth album Eddie
Van Halen is reminding everyone why he is the greatest guitar player since Hendrix. "Fair Warning" is the last real Hard Rock album from
Van Halen's David Lee Roth era.
While Eddie
Van Halen's guitar playing is top-notch, the songs on this record don't quite match their predecessors. Like all
Van Halen records the quality of the material is high, but around half the songs is lacking the usual
Van Halen quality stamp. Eddie's playing is making the weaker songs better, but some of the material is lacking consistent songwriting.
Album highlights are
Mean Street. The intro is showing off Eddie
Van Halen's repertoire with some monster licks incorporating his famous tapping technique.
Dirty Movies definitely has David Lee Roth all over it. The mid-tempo song is so typical Dave with its sexual lyrics.
Unchained has a very strong melody line and an amazing rhythm guitar. This song is clearly underlining Eddie's so called "Brown" sound. The song is among the strongest and is still featured in David Lee Roth's setlist.
Overall "Fair Warning" is a quite strong record. The album is a manifestation of Eddie
Van Halen's unique style of playing. Basically if you own a guitar you need to have this album in your collection.
The album is from 1981, but today it still sounds excellent. Long-time producer Ted Templeman handles the production. If you want to purchase the cd - make sure that it is the re-mastered version.
Written by
Michael Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Show all reviews by MichaelRatingsMichael: 7.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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