Black Flag - Live '84

With tracks culled mainly from My War and Slip It In, 

this is a fiery document of a band kicking down any
preconceptions of how hardcore was supposed to sound.
I know that many people hold Damaged as their finest
hour but without taking anything away from that awesome
album, the next two were my personal highlights. Rollins was
sinking even deeper with his personal problems and this was
reflected in the lyrics and Greg Ginn was forging ahead with
his intense metal/jazz riffs and writing slower, longer songs
which just seemed to intensify the power and aggression. This
is a searing set with a band finding their peak.

Black Flag - Damaged (1981)

Is this the blueprint for hardcore?

There are other bands and albums that shaped that genre

but for me, this was my benchmark for many years.

Any band that released a record that laid claim to being

aggressive had to be as good as this - and in the early '80's

there were only a handful that could put up a challenge.

Drums and bass were welded into an unstoppable groove

machine, Rollins was at his most frenetic and Greg Ginn

showed the world how jazz scales could be played at top

speed and with masses of distortion.

It still sounds fantastic now - Listen

Band Info

Black Flag - Process of Weeding Out (1985)

In the same vein as the second side of

"Family Man", this EP showcases Greg

Ginn and his atonal guitar attack on 4

instrumental tracks.

Stomping on what can be done in a hardcore

band, these tracks see free form jazz scales

played with distortion and aggression, solos

go where they want and the bass and drums

really seem to be having a solid groove workout.

No Rollins or lyrics but if you like the music

from "My War", turn up the speakers and Listen.

Buy

Black Flag - My War 1984

At a time when other hardcore punk bands were

sticking to the fast, raw, 3 chord song format, Black Flag

raised their game, playing slower, longer, more complex songs

often with instrumental passages that took in punk/metal/free jazz.

Greg Ginn and Henry Rollins meshed perfectly to make this

ground breaking albun.

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