For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Studio album by Van Halen
Released	June 18, 1991
Recorded	1990
Genre	Hard rock
Length	52:08
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Andy Johns, Ted Templeman, Van Halen
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau link Rolling Stone link
Van Halen chronology
OU812 (1988) For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) Live: Right Here, Right Now (1993)

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (also known as F.U.C.K.) is the ninth album by the American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1991. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, and maintained the position for three weeks. 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."^[1] 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 generally considered a false etymology).^{[1] [2]} Their tour promoting the album was named F.U.C.K. 'n' Live.

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, as the synth sound had become very dated by the time of the album's release. This can be prominently heard on "Right Now", the most popular song from the album and likely from the "Hagar era". The band also reconciled with producer Ted Templeman who produced earlier Van Halen albums to return to work on the album. This was the first album that Eddie Van Halen recorded without his trademark Marshall Super Lead serving as the primary amplifier. The Marshall was fading^[3],so Eddie went with his 1989 Soldano SLO-100 to record the album primarily, though the Marshall was used sparingly^[4]. A prototype for what would become the Peavey 5150 series of custom amplifiers was also used^[5]. 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 is currently Van Halen's bass player, although the song predates his birth (as part of it was used by Eddie at the beginning of his guitar solo on "Live Without A Net". [1]

Track listing

All songs by Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen.

1. "Poundcake" – 5:22†
2. "Judgement Day" – 4:41
3. "Spanked" – 4:53
4. "Runaround" – 4:21†
5. "Pleasure Dome" – 6:57
6. "In 'n' Out" – 6:05
7. "Man on a Mission" – 5:04†
8. "The Dream Is Over" – 4:00†
9. "Right Now" – 5:21†
10. "316" – 1:29
11. "Top of the World" – 3:55†

† denotes a single

Personnel

Band

• Sammy Hagar - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Eddie Van Halen - lead guitar, keyboards, electric drill (used on "Poundcake"), background vocals
• Michael Anthony - bass, background vocals
• Alex Van Halen - percussion, drums

Guest musicians

• Steve Lukather - background vocals on "Top of the World"

Production

• Producers: Andy Johns, Ted Templeman, Van Halen
• Engineers: Lee Herschberg, Andy Johns, Michael Scott, Mike Scott
• Mixing: Andy Johns, Michael Scott, Ted Templeman
• Art direction: Jeri Heiden
• Photography: David Seltzer, Glen Wexler

In pop culture

"Right Now" was used by Pepsi in their TV ads to introduce Crystal Pepsi. Adidas also used it in some ads for overseas markets.

The same commercial was referenced in the English dub of the anime series, FLCL, in its third episode.

Miscellaneous

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008)

• The opening riff of "Pleasure Dome" is highly similar, and most likely an homage, to a prominent guitar line in the Rush song "Xanadu," which is about the fabled "pleasure dome" of Mongol/Chinese emperor Kublai Khan. Coincidentally, Rush signed to Atlantic Records, a sister label to Van Halen's then-label Warner Bros. Records in 1989, and Van Halen would later be represented by Rush's long-time manager Ray Danniels.
• When playing the song "Poundcake" in concert, Eddie Van Halen often slides the rotating drill up and down the fret board.
• At the beginning of "Poundcake" band members can be heard talking before the song begins followed by the sound of Eddie Van Halen plugging in his jack-plug to the guitar. The hissing in the background is the amp warming up. The song itself enters ten seconds after the record starts playing.

Charts

Album

Billboard (North America)

Singles

Billboard (North America)

Awards

Grammy Awards

References