“Al used to drive producers, engineers, everybody, nuts with that [laughs].”
Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony looked back on recording “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” as Van Halen, noting in particular Alex Van Halen’s extreme attention to detail and the desire what Anthony described as John Bonham’s snare drum sound.
Critics may not have been kind to Van Halen’s ninth studio album (the third of the Van Hagar era) when it came out in 1991, but even the reviews that slighted the record for bringing more of the same and gratuitously indulging in middle-school-level innuendo couldn’t deny the excellence with which every band member executed their role.
“You wouldn’t believe how many people he drove nuts”
And while “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” may yet find more enjoyers in the future, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony seem to enjoy reminiscing about that time, judging by a new video posted on Hagar’s YouTube page. Reflecting on the particularities of the recording process, Anthony also singled out Alex Van Halen’s pursuit of the perfect snare drum sound to match that of the legendary Led Zeppelin drummer (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
“Alex was always chasing one thing throughout all of this — John Bonham’s snare drum sound”, Anthony said. “And kick”, Hagar added. The bassist continued:
“You wouldn’t believe how many people he drove nuts. There would be cases of snare drums coming in, all the time. Al definitely is a drummer that had a very unique drum sound, especially the snare. To me, he had the best snare sound in all of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Hagar added:
“Absolutely the most identifiable. I could tell Al the second the drums had come in. You could tell Eddie’s guitar sound — in Van Halen, everybody had an identity. Roth had it, [Anthony] had that vocal identity, but Al’s drum sound — he really chased it.”
Michael Anthony went on, explaining the cost at which his sonic identity came with:
“But Al used to chase it. Al used to drive producers, engineers, everybody, nuts with that [laughs]. That was the difference.”
Hagar chimed in, noting the dedication with which Alex approached studio work:
“He would go in, a week or two ahead of everybody else, and just [try out] every fuckin’ place in the room, moving drums over here, tuning the snare like this… I mean, I would be, ‘Call me when you guys are ready.’ He really went on a rampage on this record, but — it’s a badass-sounding record.”
Van Halen’s studio perfectionism is nothing new — in fact, engineer Donn Landee said last year that Eddie & Co. were originally dissatisfied with the sound of their 1978 self-titled debut, now largely considered as one of the most influential releases in all of rock:
“They were extremely quiet. We didn’t hear anything about [the sound of the album] until well after Van Halen was out. They were disappointed; it’s not what they had in their mind when they came in to do the record. But Al told me we got it [right] later on. What we got on tape for ‘1984’ was much more to his liking.”
