Van Halen: Fair Warning (1981): Song by Song

VAN HALEN: FAIR WARNING 1981 (Warner Bros.)

Van Halen’s fourth album, Fair Warning, is seen as one of the darker albums in the band’s career focusing on less good time material and looking at the seedier side of the human existence. In fact, the idea has been floated out there that the album is a loose concept album about life on the streets and man’s darker side of nature. For myself, I think that’s kind of making the album into something it really isn’t, but I can see how the associations have been made.

The album was recorded in about 12 days and features far more overdubs than any Van Halen before it. Most of the music was written in the early mornings with just Edward and engineer, Donn Landee, after the rest of the band had gone home. Tensions were running high with producer, Ted Templeman and singer, David Lee Roth, with Eddie and he preferred not to be around either of them. In fact, at one point, Eddie decided he wanted to quit the band, but was talked out of it by his brother.

Never the less, there was a dark attitude with the guitarist and much of that reflects on the music of album. As mentioned, tensions over overdubs and production choices for the album often had Edward and Templeman getting into screaming matches as the producer felt that the overdubs and added textures weren’t things that could be produced live and, thus, unnecessary. The butting of heads between the producer and Edward was one of his chief motivations to go and build his own studio (which became 5150) to be able to get his own ideas recorded without outside interference or influence.

Most of Fair Warning was actually created in the studio (with few exceptions) instead of using older songs from the club days. Due to Eddie’s mindset at the time, there was definitely much less of the loose, party time atmosphere in the music and a noticeably somber vibe to the music. In addition to Eddie’s attitude, Roth had also had just come back from Haiti witnessing the poverty there and it changed his approach somewhat as well to his lyric writing.

We’ll get more into the stories of Fair Warning as we go through the tracks, but I thought I’d give a brief overview of the mindset and climate that helped create what is seen as one Van Halen’s best and beloved albums, but certainly one of its heaviest and darkest.



MEAN STREET 1981 (E. Van Halen, A. Van Halen, Anthony, Roth) (5:01)

The origins of “Mean Street” come from an old demo named “Voodoo Queen” which appears on the Warner Brothers Demos produced by Gene Simmons in 1977. With the changing of the title of the song, the lyrics were completely re-written as well.

The introduction to the song has Eddie doing kind of a slap funk tapping technique that is instantly recognizable. There is video from his appearance at the Smithsonian where he demonstrates what he’s doing at the beginning. Essentially what he’s doing is tapping on the 12th fret of the low E and on the 12th fret of the high E and muffling both with his left hand down by the nut.

After the guitar pyrotechnics, Eddie announces the beginning of the song with some crunching, sustained chords and the rest of the band enters. Roth is in fine form delivery his vocal with his typical swagger and attitude (parts of his lyrics for the song appear on the sleeve of the original vinyl version on a wall in graffiti).

For this song, the background vocals are back in full glory for the choruses. The main riff of “Mean Street” is rife with Eddie’s little nuances on the guitar (throwing in little flourishes here and there) but the rhythm being incredibly tight and precise. The little descending runs are also a nice touch during the verses.

At 2:07 Eddie is isolated using heavy effects as Dave sings “dance, baby” and it rolls back into the main riff and then chorus.

Probably the standout of the song, besides Eddie’s masterful, bruising riffs is at 3:21 where things are brought down as Roth goes into one of his raps (where the title of the album originates) while doing masterful volume swells, and the band enters again as Eddie plays a extremely funky moody riff in the left channel while adding some higher guitar riffs in the right channel.

“Mean Street” definitely grooves hard and is one of the highlights of the album, but it was not released as a single. For myself, “Mean Street” is without question one of my favorite Van Halen songs of all-time. I just love everything Eddie’s doing in terms of his approach to the song: the guitar rhythms, the moody volume swells, and the short, but tasteful solo. There’s just a real kind of menacing vibe to the whole song and it set the mood for much of the rest of the album. Powerful.

 

Eddie's interview at the Smithsonian. At 28:11 he shows how he played the introduction to "Mean Street".

 

Lip Synched version of the song for Italian TV.

 

The original version of "Mean Street" then called "Voodoo Queen" which is one the Warner Bros. demos.

 

I've always thought this album to be a little overrated. I'm in on this because it will give me a chance to re-review my initial thoughts.

Mean Street: Love it. Solid song. Good groove. 9/10

 

I don't know if "overrated" is the right term, but it definitely has some mythos attached to it by the fans and, correctly or incorrectly, is seen as a heavier album than any of the other Van Halen records. For myself, I don't really hear that so much. I think songs like "Dirty Movies" and "Sinner's Swing" fit right into the party, loose atmosphere of almost any VH record and there's certainly some nice, melodic tunes on the album as there are on other past efforts.

I wonder if it's the cover which is called "The Maze" created by artist William Kurelek which depicts acts of violence and weirdness? Maybe it's the stories behind the recording of the album itself. I know when I bought it I didn't find it that different than any other Van Halen album with the exception of the last two songs which certainly threw me for a loop. Anyway, we'll look at it further in the next days and can draw more conclusions then.

Incidentally, saw this tour. They were good, but as usual had a terrible opening act called G-Force (which was short for The Granati Brothers).

 

This is awesome!

 

It's also worth paying a bit of attention to the fairly severe cover art - it was adapted from a very Hieronymus Bosch-like painting called The Maze by one William Kurelek, who painted it while doing time at a psychiatric hospital as a way of confronting the effects of his traumatic childhood. Further details are available at the VH News Desk: http://www.vhnd.com/2011/05/02/the-story-behind-van-halens-fair-warning-album-cover-art/

 

Mean Street

Cool freakin' intro and that leads into one of the classic VH riffs. They're doing a sick groove on this song. Mean Street is heavy and relentless..even in the chilled middle section there's this constant uneasy feeling. Eddie's playing seems to be pushed up a notch; he's got an anger here that's really addictive. I really like Mike's fill at the end of the first chorus. He's got great tone throughout the song. Mean Street is a fantastic song and one of the best ones VH ever wrote.

 

And he makes it seem so easy, whereas when I've tried to play it, it just sounds like some schlub slapping his guitar. One of the all-time album opening moments and probably the best one in the VH catalog, it just grabs your attention and pulls you into the album.

I think one of the things that gives the album a "conceptual" feel is that "Mean Street" is such a great opening song as well, both musically and lyrically - it's like DLR is laying down the context of the rest of the album, with the rest of the songs getting further into the various goings-on and personalities to be found on these mean streets.

 

Goshdarnit, Jason! You spent my money liberally this summer on KISS records and now you're spending it again to rebuild my VH collection!

Haven't owned FW since '84-ish so this is a good excuse to buy it. Quite liked it back then but it's kinda faded in memory. Will be fun to revisit. Btw, my wife does know your name. When I walk in from shopping with a record store bag in hand and pull out a hard rock record, she cocks a hip and raises an eyebrow and says, "Jason?" You've replaced my childhood friend Richie as a bad influence...

 

I’m infamous! Tell your wife I’ll send her a bottle of wine for all the consternation I’ve caused her. Too funny.

 

It is just one of the greatest records of all time, period. I suppose it's only natural that after this one, they made what is Edward's least favorite record!

 

She is very musical/musician and as a native Finn, very aware of hard rock/metal (the scene here is world famous) but she has no idea that was a big early influence on me... always thought of me as a blues, Brit R&B, country, bluegrass guy... You've unleashed the inner demon after a three decade slumber... she doesn't quite know what to do about it!

 

Sinner's Swing might be the one track that has a loose vibe, true. But Dirty Movies is not about anything pleasant whatsoever.

In some old interview, it was mentioned that a lot of Edward's stuff which ended up on the record was done while the rest of the band wasn't around. He'd stay behind and do stuff on his own with Donn Landee. Then they'd come in the next day and say, "Wow, when did you do that?" That choice worked like a charm.

 

"Mean Street" is simply FAB.

 

Fair motha****in Warning, the quintessential Van Halen album, people! First I must say how I Discovered This excellent record!!!!
I was a wee lad when I had the first album and 1984, and then I came to this record. It was... fairly dark compared to the former two, and I was a pansy as a boy, to the point that I gave every lame ass excuse for Van Hagar, kept trying to justify it. But I became a man soon enough, and accepted how much Van Hagar truly sucked, and I realized the scientifically proven superiority of real Van Halen, and this album struck me in its badassery and awesomeness, and it was then that I took on a bear and kicked its ass and had it for dinner and it tasted like chicken!
Anyway this album. It was a grower for sure, but as time went on, I grew to love it more and more. And now onto Mean Street!
Mean Street:
We begin the record with a cooker, Eddie tapping away with a ferocity, mean and dirty and letting you know this ain't no Girl Scout s***, and at :33, he launches into a riff with Mike and Al pounding behind him, and then Dave comes in at :50, launching into a tirade about the rough and tough life and surroundings, Mean Street is not a place you want to be, and I love the solo at 2:24, ripping away, and oh, the little riff that leads into that is so goddamn cool, as is Dave's dance baby at 2:06, and I love how Mike just pounds every couple seconds to set the groove, and what Al does on the hi hat and cymbal is so cool. When it slows down at 3:19, it is so cool, so epic, and the way it builds up in intensity, and then lord, strike that poor boy down! I ****ing love this track, such a killer opener. THATS SCIENCE!

 

Yep, I mentioned that in the introducttion of the album - Eddie and Landee recording in the early mornings.

 

I can see Sinner's Swing, but I don't agree with Dirty Movies, and I'll go into that tomorrow when we review Dirty Movies

 

So you have to wonder how many hours a day Edward was in the studio, if it was like that for most of the record.

 

Probably. But really those two have always been at odds with each other. It just came to a peak here

 

I wish there were pictures of them in the studio making the album, just a little something!

 

A real good track 1, on real cool album.

 

One thing I have to mention is that however I ended up first hearing this record, it was with the songs in the order that you see on the back of the cover. To this day, I cannot listen to it any other way. So I literally can't play the vinyl, 'cause it just ruins it for me. Eventually, I made a CD with the order I wanted, and just play it like that.

If there was a special edition vinyl someday, I would pay plenty extra for that track order - I mean, how did it end up on the cover like that to begin with?

 

The recording lasted 12 days. It'd imagine it did. Roth and Eddie never totally got along in the band from the beginning. Clashing egos and different personalities. Eddie didn't really want him in the band to begin with but Dave had a PA and connections that the Van Halen brothers did not. It was an uneasy alliance between the two until it wasn't.