Open Web Player
After the initial punk explosion that started in 1974 and injected some real rock and roll attitude back into a business that had gotten far too slick for its own good, with The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash and plenty of others leading the way, it became obvious that if any of these bands or those that would soon follow wanted to be successful and prove to the world they weren't just posturing and taking advantage of what ultimately became just another fad, they would have to learn to play more than a couple of chords and write real songs.
The challenge would be keeping the punk ethos intact, and still incorporate elements of musicianship that initially wasn't very well tolerated. So in 1981, Greg Ginn would form both the most successful band and independent label, SST, and all but create a whole new genre in the process. Hardcore would be the form of rock and roll that would stomp all over the line between punk and metal, proving as I had always maintained myself during the time that the two forms were closer in spirit than most people wanted to admit. Black Flag married punk ferocity and by the time "Damaged", the first true album with Henry Rollins on vocals was released, more precise metal flavoring, with meaty riffs and Ginn's patented insane lead work that sounded like he had just learned how to play.
"Damaged" features some material that had been on previous releases and a few new ones for the album. The remaking of older tracks made sense, as the very earliest versions of "Police Story", "Gimme Gimme Gimme" and "Damaged I" were poorly recorded and oftentimes poorly played. This album would set the template for future albums, although lyrically Rollins would start to be much more politically motivated beginning with the next album, the legendary "My War".
"Damaged" is a punky nasty album full of piss and vinegar. The guitars are thick and wonderfully sloppy in the right places, Rollins is already a very expressive vocalist, and in the face of synth pop, wimpy New Wave and the dying gasps of AOR bloated rock still hanging on, Black Flag and many to follow would keep rock and roll alive until metal started to get a lot heavier, blew off hair bands, fought off grunge, which, except maybe for the late great Gruntruck, who were the most metal of all Seattle grunge slobs, and created thrash and death, once again scaring easily intimidated adults and for a while keeping underground scenes alive.
Now of course Black Flag is considered a crossover pioneer, along with Suicidal Tendencies, who were more metal to begin with, DRI, perhaps early Prong and a handful of other like minded bands. "Damaged" brings us better versions of "Everything Went Black" cuts, and is a fan favorite. It's a great album, and thanks to them, Motorhead, The Minutemen, Husker Du, Bad Brains and others we can remember that the '80's were full of real rock and roll and passion, despite history insisting on sucking up to hair metal, post New Wave, and worshipping Wall Street and Ronald Reagan. A piece of important rock history that still rips.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Sounds pretty okay, not perfect but with the price you get what you pay for. Shipping took longer than it predicted, but all in all I’m glad I added this one to my collection.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Richard House
The most visceral, authentic, ALIVE music you could ever hear
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 11, 2010
