From: leo@ph.tn.tudelft.nl (Leo Breebaart)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews,rec.music.misc
Subject: Kronto Review: Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 92 12:53:17 GMT
Reply-To: leo@ph.tn.tudelft.nl
Followup-To: rec.music.misc
Organization: Delft University of Technology


Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)
Warner Bros 7599-26594-2
52:08 min, 11 tracks
Produced by: Andy Johns, Ted Templeman and Van Halen

Maybe it is because I am not an American, but even though I have 
always liked rock music a lot, I never really got 'into' Van Halen. 
Sure, I know the odd handful of singles, and yes, I consider 'Jump' 
to be one of the best songs of the 80's, but for the rest - mwah 
mwah mwah. In particular, Eddie's world famous guitar playing has 
never done anything for me. I recognize that he is great, and I 
enjoy his playing in a clinical way, but it never struck a real 
chord inside me, in the way that other, perhaps lesser, rock 
guitarists like Neil Schon and Gary Moore managed to do with their 
playing.

Still, I kept a half-open eye on the Van Halen boys, and I actually 
became a big David Lee Roth fan when he left. On the other hand, I 
consider both OU812 and the album that came before it to be horribly 
bad. In particular OU812 struck me as all production and no 
substance. Lots of noise, no good music at all.

All this explains why I expected less than nothing from "For 
Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (one of the worst, because unfunny punny, 
album titles ever), and in fact, I almost immediately regretted 
getting hold of a copy -- surely this was going to be a complete 
waste of time?

Quite surprisingly, it was not. I have not really followed how well 
or bad the album did in the American charts (in Europe it sank 
without a trace), but if there's any justice it should have done 
better than the previous two albums, simply because "F.U.C.K." is 
the best thing they have done in eight years.

The production is still similar to the OU812 one (a subtle album 
this ain't), but this time there is *much* better songwriting 
underlying the production, and as I already said in another review: 
that can make all the difference.

There are a number of standard party rock rah-rah-rah singalong 
songs on this album, but even they are often above average ('In 'n 
Out', 'Man On A Mission'). But the real meat of the album lies in 
the songs that are just a bit different than the rest. There is the 
deliciously laidback 'Spanked' (shades of 'Little Dreamer' in rhythm 
and chorus), the charmingly tinkling piano in 'Right Now', the 
fairly inaccessible single 'Poundcake', and the piece de resistance: 
the drawn-out 'Pleasure Dome', a *very* Iron Maiden like song, that 
I think will be more commonly known as the "Miles 'n Miles"-song, 
since that is what Sammy keeps singing.

Which brings me to my main point of criticism about this album: can 
somebody please tell the Van Halen brothers that they ought to lose 
Sammy Hagar -- and quick, too. Either that, or give him some lessons 
in restraint. The man has no sense of building up a song, of taking 
it slow, of not yelling and screaming and pushing at the ceiling of 
his meager vocal talents all the time. In almost every song, Hagar 
tries to maintain a vocal climax from line one, and the effect is 
physically tiring for the listener. I am aware that this over-the-
top attitude is fairly typical for Van Halen's entire musical style: 
the songs themselves are musically also in fifth gear with turbo 
overdrive from the first few seconds on, but while that can work if 
the song is good, Hagar's squealing does not fail to annoy me every 
time. Other than that he still is a passable David Lee Roth clone, I 
suppose -- David can't sing either, but he has a lot more style, wit 
and vocal talents than Sammy. Oh well, perhaps it's just me.

Concluding, I can say that I really enjoyed this album, totally 
against all my expectations. Recommended for every Van Halen fan, 
and I'd go so far as to advice even non-fans to check this one out. 
You really can't get much better in the genre than this.

-- 
Leo Breebaart  (leo @ ph.tn.tudelft.nl)
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