Has this been posted anywhere?
http://trickledown.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/blackflaghair_chronology.jpg
― Josefa, Friday, 25 October 2013 23:29 (ten years ago) link
If I'd seen this picture before, say, today I'd have made it my profile picture on FB.
― RAP GAME SHANI DAVIS (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 15 October 2014 00:17 (nine years ago) link
shouts out to kira and bill for absolutely killing it on "the bars"
― american bradass (BradNelson), Wednesday, 22 May 2019 17:49 (five years ago) link
think slip it in is my fav black flag record these days
I feel that
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 22 May 2019 23:00 (five years ago) link
As I said way the fuck upthread:
Fuck vocals; Slip It In wins for me because of Bill Stevenson's drumming on the title track and on "The Bars."
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 22 May 2019 23:08 (five years ago) link
i often forget that both of the live records are really great
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 September 2020 15:19 (three years ago) link
who the fuck voted for Family Man??
― sleeve, Friday, 25 September 2020 15:25 (three years ago) link
i like their style tbh
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 September 2020 15:27 (three years ago) link
rollins' early writing is kinda charmingly amateurish to me, like very self-consciously Dark and Heavy, Man while also getting very playful and silly. "armageddon man" + the instrumental side are great and have always been imo
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 September 2020 15:30 (three years ago) link
OK good point on the instrumentals
― sleeve, Friday, 25 September 2020 15:33 (three years ago) link
the timeline of this band is fucking wild to me. early singles with lineup shifts seemingly every few seconds -> damaged -> two years of legally being unable to record -> five studio albums in two years -> break up
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 September 2020 15:42 (three years ago) link
x-post
I did not vote for Family Man but I bet my finger hovered over the button for a few seconds
Not mention in two yrs being unable to record they went through three drummers!
An insane band
― chr1sb3singer, Friday, 25 September 2020 16:20 (three years ago) link
would prob vote for in my head at this point, beautifully deranged record
rollins/ginn/roessler/stevenson is objectively the best lineup of this band
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 14 April 2022 15:48 (two years ago) link
Their most iconic work (Damaged) is not their best. This I am sure of. Mostly because it sounds like absolute dogshit. It’s not even the good kind of crappy production. Muddy is OK with hardcore (cf. the Bad Brains ROIR debut); paper-thin bass and drums is not.
― thewufs, Thursday, 14 April 2022 17:01 (two years ago) link
First Four Years is my go-to, but those last two records are intriguing and I need to revisit them.
― thewufs, Thursday, 14 April 2022 17:03 (two years ago) link
all you really need is whos got the 10 1/2 and damaged!
― xzanfar, Thursday, 14 April 2022 17:17 (two years ago) link
Much as I have trouble with Rollins, it'd have to be a tie between Damaged (though the occasional goofiness detracts) and My War (esp. when they get into that proto-Caspar Brotzmann Massaker slow groove). Can only dream of how great those records would have been with Dez singing.
― atonar, Thursday, 14 April 2022 17:33 (two years ago) link
Muddy is OK with hardcore (cf. the Bad Brains ROIR debut); paper-thin bass and drums is not.
I've only ever owned a beaten-up vinyl copy of Damaged but it sounds great and not paper-thin to my ears (I've always thought SST CDs sounded p bad)
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Thursday, 14 April 2022 17:35 (two years ago) link
damaged is totally their best-sounding record.... lol
i do love the watery flooded basement sound where every instrument feels like it's recorded separately yet is still slightly out of sync
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 14 April 2022 17:42 (two years ago) link
in the best cases (second side of my war, entirety of in my head it serves the murky confusion of the music itself
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 14 April 2022 17:46 (two years ago) link
Damaged sounds physical, like you're being whalloped by a heavy object or something
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Thursday, 14 April 2022 17:47 (two years ago) link
Anyone notice that The Stains, the early SST band whose freak guitar arguably influenced Ginn's guitar style, just started an instagram page? Their debut is brilliant, and costs $$$ and has never been reissued.
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Thursday, 14 April 2022 17:48 (two years ago) link
otm - great album
― even the birds in the trees seemed to whisper "get fucked" (bovarism), Friday, 15 April 2022 01:24 (two years ago) link
Black Flag records do sound pretty murky - sometimes wonder if someone accidentally turned the treble down when they were mixing the albums
― even the birds in the trees seemed to whisper "get fucked" (bovarism), Friday, 15 April 2022 01:26 (two years ago) link
The treble supply was used up making the Husker Du records.
― bendy, Friday, 15 April 2022 02:09 (two years ago) link
lmao
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 15 April 2022 02:16 (two years ago) link
also lmao
people say oh well it was an underground punk label they had a low budget but I think we have to accept that SST were just shit at recording punk music. there are loads of punk labels and bands from that time with a lot less sales than SST that sound way better
― even the birds in the trees seemed to whisper "get fucked" (bovarism), Friday, 15 April 2022 02:18 (two years ago) link
like Dischord releases from then sure they sound a little thin maybe but it blares out of the speakers
― even the birds in the trees seemed to whisper "get fucked" (bovarism), Friday, 15 April 2022 02:20 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp_x1BIGwUs
hello
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 15 April 2022 02:38 (two years ago) link
I think a lot of it is Spot's aesthetic. But also, those records are what they are, and I don't know if production can always be plotted on an axis of good/bad. And Meat Puppets II still sounds divine to me.
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Friday, 15 April 2022 08:06 (two years ago) link
Blight would have been a better nickname for Spot
― Maresn3st, Friday, 15 April 2022 10:56 (two years ago) link
My fav recording of the band was teh one time I saw them marquee 84. the 4 piece with Kira and Bill Stephenson. Seemed to have an element of Link Wray or similar buried in the sound alongside the writhing heaviosity. Not sure if that comes out as much elsewhere . Didn't seem to feature in Live 84 to what I could hear, I know the live video was within a couple of days of that Marquee gig so may be there. Do wonder how different taht band would have been if Kira had been writing her own parts. Not sure how long jam sessions worked with her using lines Ginn had given her. Anyway do love that sound in 84 and that particular live set is one that I have probably listened to more than any other live set. The material they were recording around taht time sounds really great in the form of the 5 piece band with Dukowski still on bass and Cadena on 2nd guitar in the recordings of the final days of that lineup and the demoes introducing the material .But that heavy, writhing thing that I think was a major influence on the stoner rock of a few years later is so great. I think it was heavily disliked in the hardcore scene at the time but presumably must have been influential there too.THink the band might be another one that was much better live. & My War was recorded with Ginn on bass under a pseudonym so means tha teh set up presumably wasn't as great as it could be. I assume the best set up for recording would have been as close to live as possible certainly not with a whole part being missing. Doesn't that effect spontaneity etc. & i thought improvisation was part of teh sound by tht point at least. I do like Damaged a lot too
― Stevolende, Friday, 15 April 2022 12:22 (two years ago) link
Love the Bill and Kira era rhythm section, and often think of what Kira told me while I was researching my Flag book, that she and Bill would rehearse the songs at half-speed, and slowly increase the tempo, so they could be both fast and heavy.
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Friday, 15 April 2022 17:20 (two years ago) link
I appreciated that part of the interviews, yes
Damaged sounds amazing, wtf. listen too "What I See" for the full bass/drum overload attack
― thinkmanship (sleeve), Friday, 15 April 2022 17:24 (two years ago) link
would love to hear the rhythm section playing together with anybody else. has that happened at all? Like her now ex Mike Watt spent like half his career playing around in different combinations often pretty pick up, so taht wasn't a habit she got into at all was it. Like not sure who else she played with at all outside of BF & Dos with Mike Watt.
― Stevolende, Friday, 15 April 2022 19:22 (two years ago) link
My opinion on Damaged is a big challop (controp?), one of the only ones I actually have about a canonical record. But I only know the CD - maybe a poor master was the problem. But I also don't have the same issue with any Husker Du before Candy Apple Grey, or even most other Spot productions. Damaged just sounds thin, thin, thin to me. Anemic. I was SO disappointed when I got it as a teenager, and unlike a lot of other consensus classics it never grew on me with repeat listens. And I blame the production. Just not my style.
What can I say - I hate tinny-ass drum sounds. Took me decades to really appreciate something as foundational as the 808 in rap, for instance, but I got there eventually. Maybe I'll come around on Damaged, too. Songwriting-wise, I like the first side fine. And I do love the cover.
― thewufs, Friday, 15 April 2022 19:43 (two years ago) link
And sound quality aside, I'd still argue that First Four Years beats Damaged song-for-song. I'll take Bad Brains or Minor Threat over pretty much any Black Flag, though. BF were funnier, I'll give them that.
― thewufs, Friday, 15 April 2022 19:50 (two years ago) link
Spot was a terrible producer, face it. Almost everything he touched could have sounded much better. But it is what it is.
― akm, Friday, 15 April 2022 22:27 (two years ago) link