Loveless Van Halen regrouped in March 1990 to begin to grapple with the new decade. During the three years since they had recorded an album, popular music had registered tectonic shifts. In a strange harbinger of changing tastes, Van Halen indirectly scored a number 2 single in early 1989 and a subsequent number 1 album via slush-mouthed rapper Tone L o-c’s “Wild Thing,” a springy party anthem built entirely on a looped sample of “Jamie’s Cryin’,” licensed almost as an afterthought for a flat fee in the free-for-all pioneer days of digital sampling. Protected by their layers of platinum, and weighted by maturity, Van Halen fought against inertia by recording a rowdy rock record titled For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. After years of working with Eddie and building the 5150 studio from lumber and blueprints to hit factory, producer Donn Landee was out of the picture. Surprisingly, the band was back in touch with Ted Templeman, the guiding hand of Van Halen’s early albums.
