Black Flag: Damaged

Black Flag: Damaged

1981

SST Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc and Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Rise Above  2. Spray Paint  3. Six Pack  4. What I See  5. TV Party  6. Thirsty and Miserable  7. Police Story  8. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie  9. Depression  10. Room 13  11. Damaged II  12. No More  13. Padded Cell  14. Life of Pain  15. Damaged I

Henry Rollins takes over as vocalist, on Black Flag's first proper full-length album...

My cd copy has the cover art shown above, but my vinyl copy has a black and white cover for some reason...It looks like this...

For years, my friends and I used to wonder if that was Henry Rollins punching the mirror on the cover...It kind if looked like him, but back then there was no way to Google it to find out for sure...

Turns out it was...Here are some alternate shots from the album cover photo session...

I like this one even more...It's not as straightforward, but I think it still gets the anger across...This would look sweet with the Black Flag logo emblazoned across it...

And this one is cool cos it's in color! And it looks like they have glittery curtains!

This record was also famous for the blurb sticker, which was inspired by a quote from the president of their record company...

 "As a Parent...I found it an anti-parent record..."

"Anti-Parent" is just the tip of the iceberg really...This album seems to be anti-everything...  You can hear it in the playing, this record wants to destroy society as we know it...It's the biggest "Fuck you, world!" ever recorded...

The sound of "Rise Above" opening the album must have been some pretty frightening stuff at the time...Greg Ginn's tumbling guitar intro has trouble written all over it...The drummer plays like he can't end the song fast enough...And uh-oh...Here comes Henry Rollins! All muscly and angry, shouting, "JEALOUS COWARDS  TRY TO CONTROL!""

The mob roars, "RISE ABOVE! WE'RE GONNA RISE ABOVE!"..Amazingly, Greg Ginn  even finds time to get in one of his ominous and dissonant guitar solos...

 You get a breather here and there, to choke down a few beers on "Six Pack" and catch up on "That's Incredible!" on "TV Party" but those are really the exceptions....Soon enough Henry will be pissed off, screaming "There's no relief for a person like me!"...And by the time they get to "Damged I" they sound like they're drowning in a world of hurt, with no hope of salvation...



So yea... Play this record on some lonely Friday night when it feels like the whole world's against you and see how long your mirrors last! I'm betting they don't make it to "Room 13."

Before we smash the dining room set, let's take  check out "TV Party" by Black Flag...