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Fair Warning Review
07/13/2005 4:02 AM, AMG
Although Van Halen were enjoying an enormous amount of commercial success by 1981, not all was happy in the VH camp. While the public believed that the euphoric, party-hearty antics of their live show spilled into their personal lives, this proved not to be case. Eddie Van Halen was feeling frustrated due to the group's unwillingness to branch out musically as much as he desired, resulting in the group's darkest album, Fair Warning. Unlike Van Halen's other David Lee Roth-era albums, not a single party anthem was included -- in its place was an unmistakable feeling of strife and friction, both lyrically and musically. The album opener, "Mean Street," contains a furious guitar intro by Eddie before leading into one of VH's funkiest grooves. While the mood is eased from time to time throughout ("Dirty Movies," "Hear About It Later," "Push Comes to Shove"), the album is simply an unapologetic ass-kicker -- "Sinner's Swing!," "Unchained," "So This Is Love?," and "One Foot Out the Door" capture the band at its red-hot fiercest. Along with their self-titled debut and 1984, Fair Warning is an undisputed Van Halen masterpiece. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
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