Album · 45 years old this year
Fair Warning
Fair Warning is Van Halen's fourth studio album, released on 29 April 1981 through Warner Bros. Records. It followed Van Halen, Van Halen II and Women and Children First, and it sits in the middle of the David Lee Roth era, just before Diver Down and 1984. Its sound is hard rock with a heavy metal edge.
It reached number 5 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than two million copies in the United States, though that made it the slowest seller of the band's years with Roth. The single "So This Is Love?" only reached number 110 on the Bubbling-Under list. Critics were mostly positive, and Esquire later named it among the "75 Albums Every Man Should Own". For anyone who knows the band mainly through their bigger hits, it is a record well worth going back to.
Fair Warning: tracklist, credits and charts
9 tracks · 30:58Tracklist
- 1Mean StreetAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen4:55
- 2“Dirty Movies”Anthony, Roth, Halen, Halen4:06
- 3Sinner’s Swing!Anthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:08
- 4Hear About It LaterAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen4:33
- 5UnchainedAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:27
- 6Push Comes to ShoveAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:48
- 7So This Is Love?Anthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:05
- 8Sunday Afternoon in the ParkAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen2:00
- 9One Foot out the DoorAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen1:56
- Produced by
- Ted Templeman
- Recorded at
- Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California
- Recorded
- March–April 1981
- Engineered by
- Donn Landee
- Labels
- Warner Bros. Records, Warner Bros.
- Length
- 30:58
Line-up
- Michael Anthony · bass
- Alex Van Halen · drums (drum set)
- Edward Van Halen · guitar
- David Lee Roth · vocals, lead vocals
Singles
- “So This Is Love?” · June 1981 (US)
- “Unchained” · July 1981 (Europe)
- “Mean Street” · 1981 (Europe)
- “Hear About It Later” · 1981 (NL)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 1981 | 5 |
| UK Albums Chart · 1981 | 49 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1981 | 11 |
| Dutch Albums · 1981 | 13 |
| Swedish Albums · 1981 | 18 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1981 | 20 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1981 | 27 |
| German Albums · 1981 | 37 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1981 | 61 |
| Australia Albums (Kent Music Report) · 1981 | 97 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | Platinum |
| United States | 2× Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
77.3
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
2.8k
ListenBrainz listeners
156k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
9.4k
Deezer fans (all editions)
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More from Van Halen
Full discography →
Van Halen
1978
Van Halen II
1979
Women and Children First
1980
Diver Down
1982
Jump!
1983
1984
1984
5150
1986
OU812
1988
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
1991
Live: Right Here, Right Now
1993
Balance
1995
Best Of, Volume I
1996
Van Halen III
1998
The Best of Both Worlds
2004
A Different Kind of Truth
2012
Tokyo Dome Live in Concert
2015
The best of 1981
All of 1981 →The Rolling Stones 4 Sucessos 1981
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Faith
The Cure · 1981
Diary of a Madman
Ozzy Osbourne · 1981
October
U2 · 1981
Discipline
King Crimson · 1981
High ’n’ Dry
Def Leppard · 1981
Mob Rules
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Point of Entry
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 29 April 1981 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 29 April 1981 | |
| Wikidata | 29 April 1981 | |
| US release | 29 April 1981 | earliest US date |
30 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | Warner Bros. Records | 075992354028 | other |
| — | CA | Warner Bros. Records | 075992354028 | other |
| — | US | Warner Records | 081227954970 | other |
| — | US | Warner Bros. Records | other | |
| 1981 | PT | Warner Bros. Records | other | |
| 1981 | DE | Warner Bros. Records | other | |
| 29 April 1981 | US | Warner Bros. Records | original | |
| 29 April 1981 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 075992354011 | original |
| 1987 | US | Columbia House | 075992354028 | other |
| 1987 | DE | Warner Bros. Records | 075992354028 | other |
| 1987 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 075992354028 | other |
| 25 June 1987 | JP | Warner–Pioneer Corporation | 4988014338233 | other |
| 1989 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4988014720335 | other |
| 2000 | CA | Warner Bros. Records | 777495383481 | other |
| 2000 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 081227976477 | other |
| 2000 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 093624774020 | remaster |
| 2000 | XE | Warner Bros. Records | 075992354028 | other |
| 27 July 2005 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674057344 | other |
| 5 March 2013 | CA | Rhino | 603497924578 | other |
| 2015 | XE | Warner | 081227954970 | other |
| 2015 | US | Rhino | remaster | |
| 31 March 2015 | XW | Rhino | 603497894185 | other |
| 31 March 2015 | — | Rhino | 603497892433 | remaster |
| 31 March 2015 | — | Warner Bros. Records | 603497892570 | remaster |
| 31 March 2015 | XW | Rhino | 603497892648 | remaster |
| 10 July 2015 | XE | Warner Bros. Records | 081227954970 | remaster |
| 10 August 2016 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674240500 | other |
| 23 March 2019 | JP | Rhino | 603497924578 | other |
| 20 May 2025 | US | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | 821797224666 | other |
| — | — | Warner Bros. Records | 081227954970 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 2400x2400
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 2400×2400 | native: native 2400x2400 |
| deezer | 1800×1800 | native |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |