I'm pretty ignorant about American Hardcore being more old school UK, but recently heard a bit of Black Flag with Henry Rollins on vocals- not sure what it was- and liked what I heard. Could someone please recommend the best album by them that I should get hold of first?
I'm sure most people would probably recommend "Damaged" but I personally like "Slip It In" better.
+1 on 'Slip it in' is better than damaged
Thanks very much, "slip it in" it is then
Slip It In or Damaged?...Damaged...Slip It In is great but it has this other thing going on.
I would actually suggest you listen to The First Four Years...it has a lot (all?) of the pre-Damaged 7"s and EPs and a whole bunch of other singers.
But shit...your talking about Black Flag...Get them all!!!! The band really changed sound and style...So it's quite interesting to hear the way the band developed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrzpawfLDQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBjhpXVvUwA
(11-06-2011 12:49 PM)el diablo blanco Wrote: [ -> ]Slip It In or Damaged?...Damaged...Slip It In is great but it has this other thing going on.
My biggest problem with Damaged is that it has too many goofy songs like TV Party...back beat clap tracks put me in a Bruce Banner kinda rage.
(11-06-2011 12:49 PM)el diablo blanco Wrote: [ -> ]I would actually suggest you listen to The First Four Years...it has a lot (all?) of the pre-Damaged 7"s and EPs and a whole bunch of other singers.
By far the best out of all their albums. probably because it's missing Henry Rollins.
(11-06-2011 01:05 PM)bushpusherman Wrote: [ -> ]My biggest problem with Damaged is that it has too many goofy songs like TV Party...back beat clap tracks put me in a Bruce Banner kinda rage.
Yes, but out of Damaged Vs Slip It In...there is some gems on Damaged...Depression, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Police Story...etc. But I think Dez sang them better. Shame they never released an album with Dez.
(11-06-2011 01:05 PM)bushpusherman Wrote: [ -> ]By far the best out of all their albums. probably because it's missing Henry Rollins.
Like a lot of people I never liked BF with Rollins (loathe the guy now), although I don't blame him for the change of direction the band took. I think the best thing Flag released with Rollins was the TV Party 7"...the A side sucks, but the B side is incredible.
So I'm guessing i'm the only one here that likes "My war" better...
(11-06-2011 01:05 PM)bushpusherman Wrote: [ -> ]By far the best out of all their albums. probably because it's missing Henry Rollins.
...but w/Hank, my vote is for 'Damaged'.
Thanks everyone! I'll give all those three a listen then - Slide It in, First Four Years and Damaged- and then move on to the other stuff. I was a bit surprised over the anti Rollins comments- is there something negative he has done that I should know about? Or is he just an inferior singer when compared to the original vocalist? (or both
?)
There was few singers before Henry Garfield (haha) one being Keith Morris, who went on to Circle Jerks.
I just prefer the vocal style of Dez Cadena, well, that's my favourite era of BF and Dez's vocals suited the bands sound...Dez on the first 7" would have sounded quite bad. I also don't like Rollins as a performer, all that cheesy-macho posing. Personally Rollins should just come out of the closet...It's ok to be gay. I find him sickening self-absorbed and a whiner. Anyone can look tough to a bunch of insecure 16 year old males.
After Damaged Black Flag kinda changed their sound, which a lot of people hated...some people blame Rollins for that. But according to some guy in some book (American Hardcore?), Rollins had very little influence on Black Flag's music, and the change in style was not his decision, Ginn (guitarist and founder) has been accused of being a bit of a dictator in the band and the changes were his thing...Whether that is true or not...*Shrugs shoulders*.
(11-06-2011 04:02 PM)redclaw Wrote: [ -> ]I was a bit surprised over the anti Rollins comments- is there something negative he has done that I should know about? Or is he just an inferior singer when compared to the original vocalist? (or both?)
I don't know if I'd say he was an inferior singer...I'd say it's more to do with the actual material and his influence on it. The pre-Rollins Black Flag stuff is pretty much everything you'd want in a punk band..fast, stripped down, great hooks, aggressive, and under 3 minutes in length. After Rollins came along, it pretty much went to shit because of Rollins adding all his artsy spoken word type rants as lyrics and by this point I believe Greg Ginn had gotten bored with fast 3 chord punk and started getting more into "guitar noodling" which both led to these lame 5 minute plus songs of overplayed guitar noise with Rollins ranting poetic psycho babble over the top of it. They still had their moments though...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6jcySfFI...E20AC73A5F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5JYzPcqwiM
(11-06-2011 04:42 PM)bushpusherman Wrote: [ -> ]by this point I believe Greg Ginn had gotten bored with fast 3 chord punk and started getting more into "guitar noodling"
I think the later stuff would have sounded better if Ginn was a more accomplished guitarist, which I don't think he was at that point (IMHO). A second guitarist would have helped on later releases too, but I think Ginn's ego got in the way of that.
to the OP - Compare 'rise Above' to these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqi3Czm9yZc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xEj95mkD...re=related
1. Damaged
2. My War
3. Loose Nut
4. In My Head
5. Slip It In
For me, the peak of both Black Flag & Hardcore music period, was when the band introduced the heavy stuff like "Scream", "Three Nights", "Damaged", "Nothing Left Inside". The five man line-up that toured in 1982-1983 was the shiznit.
Worth mentioning that for 3 of those 4 songs, the best and definitive renditions were never officially released. They appear on the 1982 Demos.
I gotta go with the 'Damaged' 'My War' one-two....I get why it's fashionable to hate on henry but I have a lot of respect for the man...