Why does Fair Warning sound so much better?

**ohcello** · 03.28.07, 10:03 AM

Fair Warning, my fav VH album.... and the sound quality is amazing.... a big, fat sound that was so clean... all parts could be heard so easily, which is not true for many of VH's stuff, etc. The drums even had a big fat sound.... (the snare especially... was perfect, and usually Alex's snare is very thin in comparision)

Curious as to why the album before and after, WCF and Diver Down, sound like crap in comparision?!?

**rh2752** · 03.28.07, 10:35 AM

I know the Diver Down record was rushed. Warner Brothers put a rush on that album. I don't know if the covers tunes on that album were done to get the album out. I know Eddie did alot of work at night with Donn Landee on the Fair Warning album. I heard Eddie would work during the day and come back at night to do the guitar parts over again. Eddie was perfectionist on that album with the sound.

**Hammer Guy** · 03.28.07, 10:35 AM

I never understood why Sabbath's first two albums sounded amazing and their third album "Master Of Reality" sounded like shit. In the same way I wonder why "Diver Down" is so thin sounding after they made a great recording with "Fair Warning"

You would think they would go by their previous albums as some sort of reference to go by.

I guess there is alot to take into consideration: Drugs, Time, Money, Giving a shit........

**vhrocker** · 03.28.07, 10:41 AM

Fair Warning just fuckin' ROCKS!!!!

**Gypsy King** · 03.28.07, 10:51 AM

The sound on Fair Warning is much more polished than previous albums and Diver Down because it was an album that was not rushed in the recording process. The first 3 albums contained mostly songs that Van Halen had been playing since their club days. For Fair Warning, they needed to write some new material. The writing and recording took time.

With the recording of Diver Down, Pretty Woman had already been released as a single. WB wanted an new album from Van Halen, pronto!! Hence, we got Diver Down with some great new songs and some covers (a time-saving move).

**Dave's Dreidel** · 03.28.07, 11:48 AM

Diver Down was also recorded in a different studio than the prior releases. And yes Diver Down was a rush job pushed onto them by Warner Brothers, they wanted to strike while the popularity of the Pretty Woman single was hot.

**MF5150** · 03.31.07, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Hammer Guy

I never understood why Sabbath's first two albums sounded amazing and their third album "Master Of Reality" sounded like shit. In the same way I wonder why "Diver Down" is so thin sounding after they made a great recording with "Fair Warning"

You would think they would go by their previous albums as some sort of reference to go by.

I guess there is alot to take into consideration: Drugs, Time, Money, Giving a shit........

I agree that Diver Down was no Fair Warning.....but I actually don't hate DD. There's some material on there that is really fresh and unique.

One of my fav songs on that album is Big Bad Bill...imagine hearing a band play a song like that now?...they would get shot...although I'd love to hear more bands play like that...nobody takes chances anymore in music...

The Grunge bands dress like fuck ups...and their playing re-affirms their dress code...
The Emo bands...act like losers and they have absolutely NO ego whatsoever
The Rock bands now are trying to recreate what was done 35 years ago...to the point where they wear the same clothes...

Your gonna tell me that Hang Em' High sounds thin??? Opinions are great but I disagree.

**MF5150** · 03.31.07, 04:07 PM

This is how I look at the early Van Halen albums:

Van Halen I - An album that will render you speechless after listening to it
Van Halen II - An album that you put on in the summertime by the pool
Women and Children First - An album that you play during a rainy day at home...just cranked...
Diver Down - An album that will make you laugh...
1984 - An Album that will make you say, "WOW".

Fair Warning - .....An album that will kick the shit out of you...and then when you think it's over...it beats the hell out of you some more.

**LLFHS** · 03.31.07, 05:18 PM

God one day materialized in the form of four men, went into a studio, and emerged seven days later with Fair Warning.

Fact.

**Menlow** · 03.31.07, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by LowLifeFlatHeadScum

God one day materialized in the form of four men, went into a studio, and emerged seven days later with Fair Warning.

Fact.

Amen.

**VH122** · 04.01.07, 08:25 AM

You got that right the sound on that album was just great.
It just kind of sucks that the lyrics were not that great.

**onefootoutthedoor** · 04.01.07, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by LowLifeFlatHeadScum

God one day materialized in the form of four men, went into a studio, and emerged seven days later with Fair Warning.

Fact.

Can I get a witness?

AT · 04.01.07, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by VH122

You got that right the sound on that album was just great.
It just kind of sucks that the lyrics were not that great.

Wha...?! Some of my favorite Dave lyrics are from Fair Warning! He really turned it up on the catch phrases and puns.

AT · 04.01.07, 05:19 PM

I think Fair Warning sounds better than any of the Dave-era stuff. It's definitely the best that Mike sounded on any of the records until FUCK and Balance. It has the "warmth" of 70s era LPs, and thankfully the remastered CD version brought that back mostly.

1984 was also a damn good sounding album (especially considering the limitations they had with gear and space).