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
All Music Guide 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. 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, saying "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 (mis)informed 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."^[1].

The album itself was marketed as the "return" to Van Halen's 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 F.U.C.K.'s release. This can be prominently heard on "Right Now," the most popular song from the album. The band also reconciled with producer Ted Templeman whom produced earlier Van Halen albums to return to work on the album. This was the first album that Edward recorded with his signature 5150 series of amplifiers, manufactured by American instrument company Peavey.

"Poundcake" featured the sound of a battery operated power drill, which Van Halen 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 also took that immediate track after it on the "Best of Both Worlds" compilation. The instrumental, "316" is named for the March 16 birthday of Edward Van Halen's son Wolfgang, who is currently Van Halen's bass player, although the song precedes his birth (as it can be heard on "Live Without A Net". [1]

Track listing

all songs by Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Edward 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

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

Miscellanea

• 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.

• "Right Now" was used by Pepsi in their TV ads to introduce Crystal Pepsi.

• 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" you can hear band members talking before the song begins.

Charts

Album

Billboard (North America)

Singles

Billboard (North America)

Awards

Grammy Awards

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Rosen, Craig. The Billboard Book of Number One Albums. Billboard Books, 1996 ISBN 0-8230-7586-9

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