For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

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For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
A photo of the "VH" flying-V logo embossed in metal on a leather surface
Studio album by
Van Halen
ReleasedJune 17, 1991 (1991-06-17)[1]
RecordedMarch 1990 – April 1991
Studio5150 Studios, Studio City, CA
GenreRock[2]
Length52:00
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
Van Halen chronology
OU812
(1988) 		For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
(1991) 		Live: Right Here, Right Now
(1993)
Singles from For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
  1. "Poundcake" / "Pleasure Dome"
    Released: June 1991
  2. "Top of the World"
    Released: October 1991
  3. "Right Now" / "Man on a Mission"
    Released: February 1992

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (often abbreviated as the F.U.C.K.) is the ninth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released on June 17, 1991,[3] on Warner Bros. Records and is the third to feature vocalist Sammy Hagar. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and maintained the position for three weeks.

The album marked the first time the band had Ted Templeman working in a producer capacity since 1984, when David Lee Roth was still lead singer. He had, however, assisted in determining the track sequencing for the 1986 effort 5150.[4]

Title[]

The album's title came from lead singer Sammy Hagar, who wanted to push the issue of censorship by naming Van Halen's album with a vulgarity, stating, "That's when censorship was a big issue. I wanted to name the album just Fuck."[5] Hagar eventually backed away from the outright vulgarity after he was told by his friend, former world lightweight boxing champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, that the word "fuck" was an acronym for the phrase "for unlawful carnal knowledge" (though this is a false etymology).[5][6][7] Their tour promoting the album was unofficially named F.U.C.K. 'n' Live. Prior to recording, the term "for unlawful carnal knowledge" was used by the band Coven as a track on their album Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls in 1969.

Recording[]

Van Halen started work on the album in March 1990 and finished in April 1991, two months before its release. The album itself was marketed as the "return" to Van Halen's hard rock roots, with most songs being guitar driven, and the synth sounds being replaced by pianos. The band also reconciled with producer Ted Templeman, who produced earlier Van Halen albums to return to work on the album. According to Eddie Van Halen, this happened because singer Sammy Hagar did not want to work with Andy Johns and Templeman "let him get away with everything".[8] The year-long production led to the labored sound.[9]

This was the first album that Eddie recorded without his trademark Marshall Super Lead serving as the primary amplifier. The Marshall was fading,[10] so Eddie went with his 1989 Soldano SLO-100 to record the album primarily, though the Marshall was used sparingly.[10] A prototype for what would become the Peavey 5150 series of custom amplifiers was also used.[10] Peavey's release of the 5150 series coincided with the release of the album.

"Poundcake" featured the sound of a battery operated power drill, which Eddie held to the pickups of his guitar and revved, creating the intro. The song "Top of the World" features a riff that was first heard during the outro of the 1984-era hit "Jump". For this reason, "Top of the World" is frequently played directly after "Jump" and appears immediately after it on the Best of Both Worlds compilation. The instrumental "316" is named for the March 16 birthday of Eddie's son Wolfgang, who was Van Halen's most recent bass player, although the song predates his birth (as part of it was used by Eddie at the beginning of his guitar solo on tour, as seen on "Live Without a Net", and was originally written for 5150).[11]

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic2.5/5 stars[12]
Entertainment WeeklyC[13]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(dud)[14]
Rolling Stone2/5 stars[15]
Ultimate Guitar4.5/5 stars

Rolling Stone's John Milward rated the album two out of five stars, explaining that it "is so stuffed with zigzagging guitars and blustery vocals that it almost forgets to rock. Eddie Van Halen, who probably has more guitars than teeth, upends such a tackle box of hooks that they only start to surface after repeated listenings. Tasteful simplicity, which is never really simple at all, would have proved a better course to follow." He concluded that the guitars "are busier, the beats are heavier, and the fun is fleeting. Van Halen has chops to burn, but For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, like its lumbering opening track and first single, 'Poundcake,' is stale."[15]

Gina Arnold of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a C and said, "It would be nice to believe that the acronym formed by the title of Van Halen's new, top-charting album was intended as a covert blow against censorship in America. Unfortunately, it's far more likely that the punny name merely indicates VH's love of the kind of bathroom talk that third graders think is funny. [...] For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge doesn't contain even one mind-numbingly catchy melody. Only 'Top of the World' and 'The Dream Is Over' come close to working up a truly fist-thrusting chorus, and the gist of the latter—'dream another dream, this dream is over'—may well be advice that Van Halen and their fans ought to take to heart."[13]

In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a "dud" rating.[14]

A retrospective review by AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was mixed. He stated that the title "indicates the true nature of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge [...] Backing away from the diversity of OU812, the band turns in some of the most basic, straightforward rock & roll of its career." However, he also stated that it was "undeniable that [Sammy Hagar's] limited vocal power had a great deal to do with the obvious nature of most of this music." He concluded that, even though the band continued to be tight and professional, the songwriting "is, by and large, undistinguished, with the anthemic 'Right Now' standing out as the most memorable song of the batch, mainly because of its incessant chorus."[12]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Eddie Van Halen, Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar and Alex Van Halen.

No.TitleLength
1."Poundcake"5:21
2."Judgement Day"4:38
3."Spanked"4:53
4."Runaround"4:20
5."Pleasure Dome"6:58
6."In 'n' Out"6:04
7."Man on a Mission"5:03
8."The Dream Is Over"3:59
9."Right Now"5:21
10."316" (instrumental)1:29
11."Top of the World"3:54
Total length:52:02

Personnel[]

Van Halen

Additional personnel

Production

  • Andy Johns – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Jeri Heiden – art direction
  • Lee Herschberg – engineer
  • Michael Scott – engineer, mixing
  • David Seltzer – photography
  • Ted Templeman – producer, mixing
  • Van Halen – producers
  • Glen Wexler – photography

Charts[]

Singles[]

Billboard (United States)

Year Single Chart Position
1991 "Poundcake" Album Rock Tracks[28] 1
"Right Now" 2
"Runaround" 1
"Top of the World" 1
Billboard Hot 100[29] 27
1992 "Man on a Mission" Album Rock Tracks[28] 21
"Right Now" Billboard Hot 100[29] 55
"The Dream Is Over" Album Rock Tracks[28] 7

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[30] Platinum 100,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[31] Gold 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[32] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[33] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Awards[]

Grammy Award

Year Nominated work Category Result
1991 For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Best Hard Rock Performance Won[34]

References[]

  1. ^ "Gold and Platinum". RIAA. March 16, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  2. ^ March 2, Chad ChildersPublished; 2021. "25 Best Rock Albums of 1991". Loudwire. Retrieved June 19, 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge-mw0000263042
  4. ^ Ted, Templeman (2020). Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music. ISBN 978-1770414839.
  5. ^ a b Rosen, Craig. The Billboard Book of Number One Albums. Billboard Books, 1996 ISBN 0-8230-7586-9
  6. ^ World Wide Words: Fuck
  7. ^ The idea that the word "fuck" is derived from an acronym is generally disbelieved by etymologists. See Fuck#False etymologies.
  8. ^ "Eruptions"; Steven Rosen, Guitar World (December 1996)
  9. ^ Corgan, Billy. "Best Of Both Worlds". Guitar World (April 1996)
  10. ^ a b c "The Champ's Amp", by Brad Tolinski, Guitar World Magazine 1991.
  11. ^ "The Story Behind Edward Van Halen's Most Personal Song: '316'". Van Halen News Desk. March 16, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  12. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge at AllMusic
  13. ^ a b Arnold, Gina (July 12, 1991). "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  14. ^ a b Christgau, Robert. "CG: Van Halen". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  15. ^ a b Milward, John (August 22, 1991). "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  16. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  17. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  18. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  19. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  20. ^ "Charts.nz – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  21. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  22. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  23. ^ "Van Halen | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  24. ^ "Van Halen Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  25. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  26. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1991". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  27. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1992". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  28. ^ a b c "Van Halen - Chart history". www.billboard.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  29. ^ a b "Van Halen - Chart history". www.billboard.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  30. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". Music Canada.
  31. ^ "Japanese album certifications – Van Halen – Fuck" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved February 27, 2020. Select 1991年11月 on the drop-down menu
  32. ^ "British album certifications – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". British Phonographic Industry.Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  33. ^ "American album certifications – Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". Recording Industry Association of America.
  34. ^ https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/van-halen

Further reading[]

  • Templeman, Ted; Renoff, Greg (2020). Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music. Toronto: ECW Press. pp. 425–30. ISBN 9781770414839. OCLC 1121143123.
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