Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is the ninth studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1991 on Warner Bros. Records.
It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and maintained the position for three weeks.
The album marked the reconciliation of the band with producer Ted Templeman, who they had not worked with since 1984, when David Lee Roth was still lead singer.

The album's title came from lead singer Sammy Hagar, who wanted to push the issue of censorship with 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." 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).

The smirking title indicates the true nature of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Van Halen's third album with Sammy Hagar. Backing away from the diversity of OU812, the band turns in some of the most basic, straightforward rock & roll of its career.
At times, F.U.C.K. recalls the sleek hard rock of Hagar's early-'80s albums, and it's undeniable that his limited vocal power had a great deal to do with the obvious nature of most of this music.
While the band is still tight and professional -- and Eddie Van Halen's guitar work remains impressive -- 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.


Track listing

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" - 1:29
11. "Top of the World" - 3:54

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


Van Halen

• Sammy Hagar – lead vocals
• Eddie Van Halen – guitars, keyboards, electric drill on "Poundcake", backing vocals
• Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals
• Alex Van Halen – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Steve Lukather – backing vocals on "Top of the World"

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

Notes
Released: June 18, 1991
Recorded: March 1990 – April 1991 Studio 5150 Studios, Studio City, CA
Genre: Hard rock
Length: 52:00

Label: Warner Bros. Records