Van Halen have shared incredible footage of Top Of The World, recorded in December 1991 at a free outdoor gig they played at the West End Marketplace in Dallas, Texas.
It’s professionally shot and catches the group near the peak of their powers during the Sammy Hagar era. There are fans climbing up traffic signs and hanging out of windows to catch a better glimpse of the band. You can even spot a Christmas tree in the background; it was, of course, holiday season, but this being Texas, there’s no snow to be seen.
Top Of The World was one of the highlights of the band’s 1991 album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, which is set to be reissued next month. Rhino are releasing an ‘expanded’ edition, which will include a newly remastered version of the original album, alongside previously unreleased audio and video footage from December ‘91 concert in Dallas.
Their set at the time drew heavily from the new album as well as 1988’s OU812 and 1986’s 5150. Hagar had lost his voice during the band’s previous Dallas date in 1988 and they had promised to make it up to fans with a free show, which they duly delivered that day.
The reissued album includes two LPs, two CDs, and a Blu-ray. Plus there’s an exclusive bundle featuring the release and a set of four seven-inch singles, including Poundcake, Pleasure Dome, Top Of The World, In N’ Out, Right Now (Organ Version), Man On A Mission, Right Now (Guitar Version) and The Dream Is Over (Instrumental).
The original version of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge came out in June 1991 and was the third Van Halen album to feature Hagar as lead vocalist. It went to Number One in the US, but times were changing. Grunge arrived later that year in the form of Nevermind and groups like Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses never quite recovered their poise and position as the kings of guitar rock they had held up until then.
The band released one more album with Hagar before new vocalist Gary Cherrone came on board for 1998’s Van Halen III. The band continued touring and would release a final album with a returning David Lee Roth in 2012, but were finally dissolved after Eddie Van Halen’s death from cancer in October 2020.
The Expanded Edition of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is released on July 12 through Rhino.
