Fair Warning Songs Ranked
Fair Warning is the fourth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released on April 29, 1981, it sold more than two million copies, but was still the band’s slowest-selling album of the David Lee Roth era. Despite the album’s commercially disappointing sales, Fair Warning was met with mostly positive reviews from critics. The album was listed by Esquire as one of the 75 Albums Every Man Should Own. A retrospective review by AllMusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine found the album fairly positive. In the review, he initially stated that “it’s a dark, strange beast, partially because it lacks any song as purely fun as the hits from the first three records” and that “whatever the reason, Fair Warning winds up as a dark, dirty, nasty piece of work.” He went on to say that “dull it is not and Fair Warning contains some of the fiercest, hardest music that Van Halen ever made. There’s little question that Eddie Van Halen won whatever internal skirmishes they had, […] even with the lack of a single dedicated instrumental showcase”. He concluded that “nastiness is the defining characteristic of Fair Warning, which certainly doesn’t make it bunches of fun, but it showcases the coiled power of Van Halen better than any other album, which makes it worth visiting on occasion.” Here are all of Fair Warning songs ranked.
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9. Sunday Afternoon In the Park
“This has a very different sound to it…the only reason this is so low on the list is that the song was slightly boring to me. It’s a 2 minute instrumental that unlike much I’ve heard before, it just doesn’t really do that much. Still quite interesting to listen to though.”
8. Push Comes to Shove
“This song is quite unique and is different than Van Halen’s usual style for a song, but I honestly like it pretty well. I would recommend to listen to this song.”
7. One Foot Out the Door
“This song somewhat reminds me of the previous song on the album, Sunday Afternoon in the Park, for some reason, but I find this one to be more interesting. Very unique sound as well.”
See more: Van Halen Albums Ranked
6. Dirty Movies
“I like this song enough, though I mainly like the chorus of the song. The verse style is kind of strange, but decent enough. This is probably my least favorite song from this album, though it is still a decent listen. As I said, I do like all the songs from Fair Warning.”
5. So This is Love?
“The complete opposite of “Push Comes To Shove”, this song has the swing and groove of an early Black Sabbath tune (one of Tony Iommi’s guitar heroes was jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt). Along with an original VH sound and for some reason, a Red Hot Chili Peppers vibe, this is yet another great rocker.”
See more: Van Halen Songs Ranked
4. Hear About It Later
“OK, a little time-travel here. Remember VH’s debut? A song on there, “Feel Your Love Tonight”? I CANNOT TELL YOU how much this track sounds like a murky, love-gone-bad version of that song. Even so, it’s still original with an anthemic sing-a-long chorus and some interesting, opening guitar work.”
3. Sinner’s Swing
“I find this to be a very catchy song, especially the chorus section. The song has a very nice sound to it overall, and I usually listen to it several times in a row because it’s quite interesting to listen to.”
2. Mean Street
“The first, thirty seconds are Eddie Van Halen’s progressive dual-handed tapping, a technique so unusual that when my guitar teacher showed me a long, long time ago, I was drawn in and bought this album. The main riff is so awesome it makes you wanna turn the power all the way up. The closing solo is very impressive as well, and basically, everybody is at the top of their game here. An instant classic.”
1. Unchained
“Unchained” is THE definative VH song to me. From that shattering and distorted lead guitar riff to the bombastic finish, it remains VH at the peak of their powers.”
