Van Halen, one of the more noticeable bands in the world of hard and classic rock. Having released such hits like “Hot For Teacher”, “Panama” and “Aint Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” with David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar had to make an album with some good songs to do so. The album, entitled
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge or when abbreviated, spells F*CK, is a great album name, not to mention the topics they sing about in the songs. Some of the song titles refer to that as well, with some having some innuendos like
In ‘N’ Out, Man On A Mission and
The Dream Is Over. While VH may be recognized because of Eddie Van Halen’s superb guitar playing, there is one member of the band who is overlooked, and that is the bassist, Michael Anthony. The bass lines weave in and out of the guitar line, take skill, and most of all, it is audible.
Van Halen (for this CD):
Sammy Hagar: Vocals
Eddie Van Halen: Guitar/Synthesizer
Alex Van Halen: Drums
Michael Anthony: Bass
Poundcake opens us off with what I think is Eddie imitating a screwdriver noise on the guitar. It sets the tone for the whole song, and shows throughout the whole song how technical that Eddie can be on the guitar. The solo he offers is great, like many of his solos are. Michael Anthony keeps the bass line original, and fast paced, as poundcake may be one of the best songs on the album. The great guitar work is noted in other songs, like
Pleasure Dome, which is a riff fest. The drums are the main part of the song, as it helps the guitar so Eddie can do his job. Sammy sings about his usual topics, involving sex, drugs, and stuff he wants. It gets old after a while in this song, but Eddie’s solo is what keeps this song alive around the 4 minute mark. It winds in and out of all the other instruments almost perfectly, and it shows why he is one of the best guitarists in the world today.
Dial 1-900
Spanked, is also one of the songs where Eddie uses some great effects and solos to save a predictably boring song. Guessing by the title and lyrics, you know what this song is about. The lyrics are lame and boring, talk around the central theme of the album way too much, and get old really fast. Lucky for Van Halen that they have a great guitarist to make up for the (IMO)traditionally lame lyrics. There is one song that has some good singing with good lyrics. That is
Runaround. In the chorus, they have a backup chorus (possibly band members) singing “Runaround Round Round” while Sammy does his decent singing about his topics on the CD. It is an improvement from Spanked (on this CD) but not even close to the likes of anything with David Lee Roth and his songs with VH.
My Favorite song, and also one of the best on the CD, is
Right Now. It features a beautifully played piano intro that is carried throughout the entire song. This is more of a harpoon than a hook, it will get stuck in you, for a long, long time. It is the best song, lyrically on the album, as Sammy does some good singing, and the topic is about achieving your goals, and not waiting to do so. It is different from the other songs on the CD, because this one has a good point to it and it differs musically from the rest of the album, which sets it above the rest. Eddie adds another beautiful, mindblowing solo that adds to the overall greatness of this song. At 5:21, I think it is kind of short. It is a brilliant song, to stand out from the rest of the album.
316, the only acoustic song on here, is done well. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and is another different style of music from the rest of the CD.
Overall, I like this album. It is nowhere along the lines of the Self Titled album, but is arguably Sammy Hagar’s best CD with Van Halen. Eddie does a great job on the guitar and synthesizers, while Michael Anthony does a superb job at making the rhythm section enjoyable while you are listening to Van Halen. The only thing that bothered me, was that 75% of the songs talked about the same thing, while the other 25% had great messages. Eddie still did his job to make it entertaining, and that is what saves this album for being very boring.
Recommended Songs:
Poundcake
Runaround
Pleasure Dome
Right Now
