Eddie Van Halen on why Van Halen album never got what it deserved: “It just wasn’t the right time”
The whole reason why some of the greatest artists get to where they are comes from being in the right place at the right time. Raw talent should be enough to shine through any trend, but there is a stroke of luck that comes into play for major bands, whether that’s Brian Epstein seeing The Beatles play at the Cavern or Elton John stumbling upon lyrics submitted by Bernie Taupin. While Van Halen was already on top of the world by the time they reached the 1980s, there were still moments where they proved to be too ahead of the curve.
When people got ahold of their first record, though, they had a hard time putting into words what they were hearing. Hard rock had existed well before they came along, but the muscle behind their riffs and Eddie playing guitar at breakneck speed with his tapping technique left most people dumbfounded as to what the hell they were even listening to.
And that’s only the beginning of their career. Even though it took them a while to hunker back down on Van Halen II, Women and Children First was the first time they made a major sonic statement. Van Halen was proof that the group could make songs for people to have fun with, but listening to tracks like ‘Loss of Control’ and ‘Fools’, they weren’t simply looking to be another good-time rock band. They wanted the same kind of success that Black Sabbath had gained, and that meant getting weird on the next record.
While most of Fair Warning is still the best Van Halen has to offer, it was clear that things were being kept at a distance. The rest of the band didn’t have their heart in it as much as Eddie did, and while he does have a field day on this record, it’s clear when he’s dominating on ‘Dirty Movies’ and when they are messing around with things in the studio like on ‘Sunday Afternoon in the Park’.
But even if it had the most adventurous solos Eddie ever played, not all of the songs are cut out to be singles. ‘Unchained’ may have laid the groundwork for everything, but looking at the other tracks, songs like ‘So This Is Love’ and ‘Sinner’s Swing’ are either too racy to be played on radio stations or a case of the band playing it a bit too safe.
Even though people sat out for that one record, Eddie was convinced that Fair Warning never got the shot it really deserved, saying in the late 1990s, “Fair Warning stiffed. Now, a lot of people tell me it’s one of their favourite records. If that record was released next year, it would be different. It just wasn’t the right time.” For anyone looking to dig into Eddie’s technique, though, this is practically a roadmap to what makes him tick.
Since he had free reign to do pretty much everything, hearing him get freaky on the album made way for some of the strangest moments of his career. ‘Mean Street’ already sets everything up with the strange tapping solo from hell, but even when listening to more mellow songs like ‘Hear About It Later’, his approach to harmony is unexpectedly beautiful, always playing around with where the key is before settling into the main riff.
While people tend to categorise Van Halen III as a bizarro world version of an Eddie Van Halen solo album, Fair Warning is a better example of that idea done right. Everyone else might not have been on board, but seeing the guitar genius run wild in the studio is like watching a kid in a candy store.
