Nearly 45 years ago Diamond Dave and the Van Halen gang teamed up once again with producer Ted Templeman to record their fourth album, Fair Warning. You can practically smell the cheap apartments/rooms/cars this record banged out of all those years ago. “Mean Street” is a tough as nails song about the down and out streets on the wrong side of town, Eddie Van Halen puts out staggering riffs over top. More melodic, “Hear About It Later” sees David Lee Roth put in a really good bridge verse and Alex Van Halen powers through the outro.
Not to be outdone, Michael Anthony’s bass is the highlight of fan favourite “Unchained” about a “Blue eyed murder in a size five dress”. The only single released in North America was the upbeat rocker “So This Is Love?” before the short album finishes with the menacing synth tones of “Sunday Afternoon In the Park” that fades into “One Foot Out The Door”. Without any massive singles, the solid Fair Warning still went top 5 in the US and eventually hit double platinum.
7.5/10
The Light Appears 