Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 27, 2024

Historical accuracy probably necessitates at least a brief mention that the supposed acronym culled from this album's title is not the "official" etymology of that particular word, but in the Absolute Hilarity Department, in doing a little research on that etymology, I found a frankly hysterical (to me, anyway) series of charts showing the frequency of usage of that "acronym", starting as far back as the 1600s. And while there are some variations in these graphs, as might be expected given different researchers, more than one of them pretty much has a flat line for centuries indicating next to no use until around the mid-20th century, when evidently a bunch of potty mouthed people starting utilizing it with relative abandon. To continue this joking approach for just a moment longer, one doesn't have to really stretch the imagination very far to include the members of Van Halen in that group, but one way or the other For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge turned out to be a major success for the band, debuting at the vaunted Number 1 position on the Billboard album chart, and spawning (sorry for any unintentional pun) several singles. Once again Rhino is offering a really incredibly packaged release with not one but two LPs (you know, vinyl), two CDs and the disc that may have brought readers to this site, a Blu-ray featuring a 1991 Dallas concert and other music videos.

While perhaps not quite at the levels mentioned in my recent Faces: Faces at the BBC Blu-ray review of another massive set from Rhino, this Van Halen package offers a glut of material spread over various media. The complete contents of all the discs are as follows:

• CD 1: Original Album (Remastered)

  1. Poundcake (Remastered)
  2. Judgement Day (Remastered)
  3. Spanked (Remastered)
  4. Runaround (Remastered)
  5. Pleasure Dome (Remastered)
  6. In ‘n’ Out (Remastered)
  7. Man On A Mission (Remastered)
  8. The Dream Is Over (Remastered)
  9. Right Now (Remastered)
  10. 316 (Remastered)
  11. Top Of The World (Remastered)

• CD 2: Rarities & Live At Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91

  1. Right Now (Organ Version) [Single Mix]
  2. The Dream Is Over (Instrumental Version)*
  3. Right Now (Guitar Version) [Single Mix]*
  4. Poundcake (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  5. Judgement Day (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  6. There’s Only One Way To Rock (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx,12/4/91)*
  7. Runaround (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  8. Why Can’t This Be Love (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  9. Panama (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  10. A Apolitical Blues (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  11. Finish What Ya Started (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  12. I Can’t Drive 55 (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  13. Best Of Both Worlds (Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  14. Top Of The World (Live At The Westend Market,Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91)*
  
  *Previously Unreleased

• Blu-Ray

  1. Live At The Westend Market, Dallas, Tx, 12/4/91

  Poundcake
  Judgement Day
  One Way To Rock
  Runaround
  Why Can’t This Be Love
  Panama
  A Apolitical Blues
  Finish What Ya Started
  I Can’t Drive 55
  Best Of Both Worlds
  Top Of The World

  2. Poundcake (Promo Video)
  3. Runaround (Promo Video)
  4. Right Now (Promo Video)
  5. Top Of The World (Promo Video)

• LP:

  Side A

  A1. Poundcake (Remastered)
  A2. Judgement Day (Remastered)
  A3. Spanked (Remastered)
  A4. Runaround (Remastered)

  Side B

  B1. Pleasure Dome (Remastered)
  B2. In ‘n’ Out (Remastered)
  B3. Man On A Mission (Remastered)

  Side C

  C1. The Dream Is Over (Remastered)
  C2. Right Now (Remastered)
  C3. 316 (Remastered)
  C4. Top Of The World (Remastered)

  Side D

  D. Van Halen Logo Etching

Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots 1 through 10 are from the live performance. Screenshots 11 through 13 are from the music videos.

Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge has a Blu-ray disc among its several components, offered by Rhino with AVC encoded 1080i transfers in 1.34:1. As with the recently reviewed Faces release linked to above, this is another upscale and so needs to approached with that in mind. Detail levels can be fuzzy not just due to the source, but also simply because the guys are so active that their constant motion kind of unavoidably gives at least the perception of a lack of clarity and fine detail (I actually had a challenge getting even reasonably "intact" screenshots). All of this said, there are a number of close-ups of Sammy and Eddie in particular where detail levels are at least reasonable, and coverage throughout the concert of all the players tends to be good if not optimal (where's Alex?). The palette is nicely intact. There are typical signs of an interlaced presentation, including combing artifacts on things like drumsticks, in the fleeting moments where Alex is featured. The music videos are pretty much in the same ballpark, video quality wise, with a somewhat smeary, undefined appearance that is probably only exacerbated by some of the stylistic bells and whistles they employ.

Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Blu-ray disc features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, and perhaps unsurprisingly the music videos probably come off a bit more consistently than the live performance. The live performance has a just slightly tinny, overly bright high end that can be most noticeable in some of the massed crowd reactions, but the actual music has some good, full bodied midrange if perhaps a slightly anemic low end. Things are a bit more forceful in the music videos, which I'm assuming offer soundtracks taken directly from the original recorded source rather than a live performance.

Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This is another pretty gorgeously appointed release from Rhino, who seem to be single handedly devoted to meeting audiophiles' "want lists" in terms of not just on disc content, but actual packaging and non-disc swag. The complete disc contents are included above for those interested, but this comes packaged in another quasi-DigiBook or perhaps more accurately tri-fold (way oversized) DigiPack that measures around 12 3/4" wide by 12 1/2" high by 3/4" deep. The two CDs and Blu-ray discs are housed in slots in thick cardboard glued to the inside of the back cover. Opening the left side offers two separate sleeves (open at the top) with the LPs. The middle sleeve also contains a nicely appointed booklet (around 12" square) that has a ton of absolutely fantastic photos along with the package credits.

Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While the Blu-ray disc may be of prime interest to many readers of this site, this is another release jam (band?) packed full of other material, and some of the rarities on the CDs may also really pique excitement in the band's fan base. While technical merits "are what they are" on the Blu-ray disc due to the upscale, it's a ton of fun to see the band in such a high energy performance. The rest of the release offers beautiful packaging and excellent additional material. Recommended.