The Crow Very solid debut from a very solid group!

Fair Warning is one of these bands which continued to play 80’s influenced AOR-hard rock through the 90’s. But the difference is that they made it better than most of their contemporary similar groups. And that’s was not really a surprise given the experience and quality of the members!

The album has also a great production, thanks to a good engineering work by Frank Wuttke. The keyboards sounds dated today, but that’s just the style of early 90’s AOR. Take it or leave it!

Fair Warning starts with Longing For Love, where we can hear the great vocal capabilities of Tommy Heart and the professional work of every member of the band. The strong guitars of Helge Engelke and Andy Malecek, together with Heart’s vocals, are maybe the most remarkable aspect of this band. Great electric solo on this track!

When Love Fails is a good mid-tempo with strong AOR sounding hard rock, elegant and with a good songwriting, while The Call of the Heart a very good hard rock ballad, which remembers me to the best moments of Bon Jovi. Crazy is funnier and faster, with good doubled guitars.

One Step Closer is a harder, more dramatic track, in contract to Hang On with its almost funky rythms, good chorus and another interesting solo. Out on the Run is heavier, and it remembers me to the Judas Priest of Point of Entry. Very good!

Long Gone is another ballad, just correct and this time with acoustic arrangements. The Eyes of Rock is a piece of accelerated hard rock, flirting with heavy metal again. Take a Look at the Future is not so remarkable, but it contains good choirs in the chorus nevertheless.

The album takes its final stretch with The Heat of Emotion, very melodic, with some pop elements and tons of keyboards. The style is a bit different, because it’s a track which was originally composed for Zeno, a band formed by Zeno Roth where the bassist Uli W. Ritgen played. And Take Me Up is another soft ballad in the style of Scorpions, making a good ending for the album.

Conclusion: Fair Warning is a very good AOR-Hard Rock album. It has strong songwriting, very good musicianship highlighting the great voice of Tommy Heart and the good guitar solos, and a pristine production.

Today it sounds a bit dated, and can be even boring if you are not experienced in AOR, but I consider it will make an excellent addition to any hard rock collection anyway. Recommended!

Best Tracks: Longing for Love, The Call of the Heart, Crazy, Hang On.

My Rating: ***

Stephen Fair Warning is one of the most successful and consistent German melodic rock act that's quite big in Europe and huge in Japan, but unfortunately, a relative stranger in USA, that's because when they came out, grunge has been all over that place. Formed after bassist Ule Ritgen and singer Tommy Heart left Zeno, this debut captured Heart’s strong character and mighty voice, built on a foundation of solid melodic hard rock which was based on the combination of their senior fellow German bands, Bonfire and Scorpions, and also influenced by American heroes, Bon Jovi and Journey. The whole thing compounded flawlessly to a unique Fair Warning sound. Andy Malecek and Helge Engelke also put out an extraordinary guitarmanship here and you can hear their cheering and shrilling plays throughout the tracks.

The band runs back and forth on a balance platform of rockers and ballads, standing proudly on the borders of hard rock and AOR. Out of twelve tracks, I can say that mostly are well-crafted and high-quality arrangements. "Longing For Love", is one of my fave midtempo track, I recalled first hearing this song from a radio when it topped the local magazine's rock chart. It smartly blends the chugging AC/DC riffs and climb up to a soaring melodic chorus. Zeno's old track, "The Heat of Emotion", makes its way here, and this is definitely another winner packed with a blissful harmonies. Some other good rockin' tracks such as "Hang On" and "The Eyes of The Rock" worth checking, but the best uptempo track of the album is "Out On The Run" with an energetic verse and flying chorus. On the ballads side, "The Call of The Heart", "One Step Closer", and "Long Gone" are just marvelous, classic, and hauntingly beautiful.

Fair Warning's eponymous debut is a superb effort and though they kept releasing great records, it seems they just can't surpass this one. The sound production is excellent, the musicianship is above average, the songs are timeless, and nothing really can't stop me from giving this a full five stars. A perfect and essential buy for big fans of melodic hard rock and AOR freaks!