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Fair Warning
Studio album by Van Halen
Released	April 29, 1981
Recorded	1981
Genre	heavy metal, hard rock
Length	30:58
Label	Warner Bros. Records
Producer	Ted Templeman
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B-) link
Van Halen chronology
Women and Children First (1980) Fair Warning (1981) Diver Down (1982)

Fair Warning is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal/hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1981. Fair Warning went double platinum,^[1], which means it was a substantial hit, but still the band's slowest-selling album of the David Lee Roth era.

The front cover art features a detail from "The Maze", a painting by the Canadian artist William Kurelek which depicts his tortured youth.^[2]

Background and production

This was one of the first albums to reflect the rift in the Van Halen power structure. David Lee Roth wished to continue doing the poppy songs featured on the last two albums, while Eddie Van Halen wished to explore darker and deeper songs with longer length (in this respect Roth won out, as it is the shortest album Van Halen have released so far), greater depth, more complex songwriting, and generally a more Metal feel. The album produced relatively little popness outside of 'So This Is Love' and has only one instrumental (unless the intros to Mean Street and Hear about it Later count), compared to the two (one hidden) on the last one and the Three on the next.

The recording was short, sparse, and had a medium range between pop sound and metal sound. As is evidenced by the improv section and 'C'mon Dave, Gimme a break' during Unchained, at least one or more of these songs were performed live in the studio.

The artwork of 'The Maze'was painted by Toronto artist William Kurelek is accompanied by an insert with a black and white picture of the band, and a view of a ghetto drywall. This drywall has a wire running across it, cracked windows at the top, a Roth-era Van Halen logo on it with plaster cracked over the left wing. Also graffited on the wall is a short poem with a very Bob Dylan style to it (the writer does not know who composed the poem, so edits here will be appreciated) - 'And someone said Fair Warning/Lord will strike that poor boy down,/turned from hunted into hunter/went to hunt somebody down...'

Track listing

All songs by Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth, Edward Van Halen and Alex Van Halen

1. "Mean Street" – 5:00
2. ""Dirty Movies"" – 4:08
3. "Sinner's Swing!" – 3:09
4. "Hear About It Later" – 4:35
5. "Unchained" – 3:29
6. "Push Comes to Shove" – 3:49
7. "So This Is Love?" – 3:06
8. "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" – 1:59
9. "One Foot out the Door" – 1:58

Personnel

• David Lee Roth - vocals
• Eddie Van Halen - guitar, backing vocals
• Michael Anthony - bass, backing vocals
• Alex Van Halen - drums

Production

• Producer: Ted Templeman
• Engineers: Donn Landee, Gene Meros
• Remastering: Chris Bellman, Gregg Geller
• Project coordinator: Jo Motta
• Art direction: Richard Seireeni
• Design: Pete Angelus
• Cover design: Pete Angelus
• Cover artwork: From The Maze by William Kurelek
• Photography: Greg Gorman, Neil Zlozower
• Inlay photography: Greg Gorman

Charts

Album

Billboard (North America)

Singles

Billboard (North America)

Notes