Customer Reviews

In My Head

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Last and Best (Bittersweet!). Slickest sounding of all Black Flag albums (that is by no means a bad thing). Greg Ginn is equally exceptional as a song writer and guitarist. I would like to have been a fly on the wall around these guys from early '84 to early '86 (probably the most prolific band ever over a 2 yr span). Nothing gets the heart pumping quite like "Society's Tease". It's money well spent.

Most people can't figure out Black Flag post-Damaged. Pidgeon-holed as merely a hardcore punk band, the shorthairs went a'runnin' when the band grew their hair long, discovered jazz and Black Sabbath and started getting increasingly eccentric/esoteric with every release. Those who dismiss their post-Damaged period are missing out on some great music, and this is one of the real highpoints. Given the period, the songs are longer and keep a relative mid-tempo, though unlike the rather average Loose Nut LP - which kept a fairly standard meat'n'potatoes rock'n'roll sound, In My Head has Ginn and the crew going through some pretty serious jazz/prog moves intertwined with the punk/rock stylings they're known for. The opener, "Paralyzed", is one of the best ever 'Flag songs, a perfect combination of Rollins' howl and Ginn's Frippian-style guitar dynamics, and the entire side two, both lyrically and musically, is a great poke in the eye to the rabid conformity and sheepishness that had become so prevalent in Reagan era America, attacking all the right targets with a wit/sarcasm most people probably never associate with the band (mostly people who just don't GET Black Flag). "Society's Tease" ranks up there with "Rise Above" and "Police Story" as one of the essential 'Flag anthems. A great record from a truly great band.

The quote in the title is from Will Shatter (Flipper) and in hindsight it is easy to see how innovative Black Flag really were, always -aginst the grain- pushin their music and themselves forward - even if it meant stealing spare tyres, going without sleep for five days and eating dog food. I remember there was a poll in Flipside around the time this album came out titled 'band you think should call it a day' and yes - Black Flag came out top and whilst that may have been right as the band was crippled by the hatred between Henry Rollins and Greg Ginn, this album shows they still had it. For anyone who hasn't heard it, the album is a lot more experimentally "sonic" that the preceding albums with Ginn creating creepy crawling spidery riffs more complex than out and out metal riffing of 'Loose Nut'. The songs have weird shape shifting tempos with everthing treated with hallucinatory reverberation. Rollins vocals are buried in the mix and could be called 'psychotic whispering' which I believe is down to the fact that this album was originally intended to be an instrumental album (i also read it was to be Greg Ginn's first solo album) and was recorded in its entirety without Rollins. That is what gives it a quality unlike any other BF album that takes most of the songs away from normal 'rock' into almost improv riffing as Henry jams on songs like 'Black Love', 'Crazy Girl'. There are a few bootlegs of the band at this time floating around and i would recommend people to track them down as well as it shows how great the band would have been live at this time. They play this material tight but at faster 4/4 tempos and Rollins is screaming the lyrics. Great album from a great band.

I think the musicianship on this album is stellar. They were doing things no one was doing, or was even capable of doing. However I've long wished that Ginn would re-mix this album. I think every aspect of its sound would benefit, including Ginn's guitar.

Mostly what Black Flag did, especially in their later albums, was ingratiate themselves to the disaffected. The vibe of this album, for me at least, was the evolution of that ethos. Early on, the ethos was: 'The world sucks and no one knows you'. With this album, the caveat added at the end of that true-ism, is that you are responsible for what you do, and that you can't be the things you hated that were done to you without also becoming the evil of the world.

That meant a lot to me when I was 15 and could not have articulated it. It means just as much to me now that I'm 36, and can barely articulate it.

A lot of people that like early Black Flag don't like their later stuff but I don't consider myself among that number. I love how Greg Ginns guitar sound evolved into a heavy sludgy jazz fusion mish mash. Also the weird esoteric paranoia infested direction that the lyrics took on the later albums as opposed to the more direct in your face paranoia of the early albums were much to my liking. I bought this album in the mid 80s and still listen to it on occasion and it stands the test of time as well as any of the other Black Flag albums. In My Head is probably their most underrated album.

Mid-80s Black Flag was the end of an era. The best hardcore band ever kept putting out heavy, depressing, grungy albums with lost of rants and screams by frontman Henry Rollins. I had this 20 years ago and it was never my favorite, but always had that catchy sound to headbang.
I Still dig this cd, it is primal hardcore/rock pre-metal and marked the end of great run. Not as good as previous 80's releases, but every song is solid and well worth the used price, buy it!

In My Head was the last album by Black Flag before vocalist Henry Rollins formed The Rollins Band. This album does not disappoint. It's not my favorite Flag album, but it certainly is good. Greg Ginn's guitar sounds a little different than on previous albums, and that's a good thing.

There are very unique melodic changes in the songs. The album opener, Paralyzed, is a good example. My personal favorite song on the album is The Crazy Girl. Good lyrics, guitar, and attitude. This song's slower parts remind me a little bit of the song Rat's Eyes from the album Slip It In. This song plain rocks. The song White Hot is a favorite of mine. The title track follows, and is typical Black Flag attitude. Out Of This World begins with guitarist Greg Ginn dragging his pick on the guitar strings, then the song explodes with furiosity and great vocals by Rollins. The song Retired At 21 is kind of a throwback to their Damaged days. Their Damaged album has songs that are more upbeat and on the lighter side. The song You Let Me Down is the album closer and is one of my favorite songs on the album. Henry Rollins doesn't scream as much on this album compared to previous albums, but he still does a great job when he does scream and moan. I almost view this album as a preview of what was to come with The Rollins Band.

If you like raw and powerful music with a punk edge to it, then I highly recommend this album.

My only complaints for this record is the song 'I Can See You', which I usually skip, and MAYBE the production... but that's nitpicking. Other than those two complaints it's full of extremely solid, straight ahead punk ROCK. The experimental type songs are hear too with 'Black Love', The Crazy Girl, and You Let Me Down... which may take a while to grow on you but trust me, listen to them about 10 times and they'll stick with you. If you love My War, Slip It In, and Loose Nut then there is no reason you shouldn't own this album. Get it, now.

Black Flags last album, In My Head. My personal 2nd favorite album by the band. It's slower than their earlier stuff, but I'm in love with some of Ginn's guitar work on this one. If you're looking for some fast slam dance Black Flag, get Damaged or one of their earlier EPs.

This album is very strange. if i had to describe it, i'd say its "jazz punk". This strays from the average black flag album by a great deal. Consider: the abundance of odd-metered songs like black love and crazy girl, a nutty mixing job, a disturbingly subdued rollins, and really really boppy riffs courtesy of greg ginn. Also, everything has a huge amount of reverb, which gives the music an eerie quality. seriously, i probably couldn't listen to "i can see you" in the dark, its that freaky. Anyways, buy it for its unique sound, keep it for ginn's awesome guitar work.